There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. Such a simple, short introduction to one of the most recognizable, and arguably important, characters in the gospel story. Two things, however, that stand...

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This, I think, is one of the most poignant lines in Scripture. It first offers an affirmation about the light. The light of the Word, the light of Jesus, shines in the darkness, illuminating, bringing hope, making...

What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. There is, John says, a point to the universe. That is a debatable conclusion these days. Theories about the beginning of the cosmos, evidence of an expanding universe, the discovery of dark matter, and so on...

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. Each of the four Evangelists has a symbol – Mark is a lion, Luke a bull, Matthew a man – that represents something of the character of the Gospel associated with that author. John’s symbol is the...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. This is perhaps the central claim of John’s Gospel and, indeed, Christianity. That the divine Word that takes on human flesh in Jesus is not just from God, or only was with God,...

In the beginning was the Word…. Readers of Scripture over the centuries have been taken by John’s choice of words in these introductory verses of his Gospel. People often refer to these first eighteen verses as the Prologue, the words before the main word. Prologues open up a story, set...