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The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word
And the Word was with God
And the Word was God
He was in the beginning with God

Through him all things were made
Without him nothing was made that has been made
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it

There was a man sent from God whose name was John
He came as a witness to testify concerning that light
So that through him all might believe
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him
The world did not recognize him
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name
He gave the right to become children of God—
Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will
But born of God
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son
Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth
And with him all has begun

(John testified concerning him
He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said
He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me’”
You people have to believe in that)

Out of his fullness we have all received grace
In place of grace already given
For the law was given through Moses
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ as it was written

No one has ever seen God
But the one and only Son, who is himself God
And is in closest relationship with the Father
Who has made him known as his Word

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
Now this was John’s testimony
When the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests
And Levites to ask him who he was
He did not fail to confess

But confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally they said
“Who are you?
Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us
What do you say about yourself? Reply to us”

John replied
In the words of Isaiah the prophet
“I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness
‘Make the way for the Lord straight’”

Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him
“Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah,
nor the Prophet
nor Elijah?”

“I baptize with water,” John replied
“But among you stands one you do not know
He is the one who comes after me
The straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie though so far he is unknown”

This all happened at Bethany
On the other side of the Jordan
Where John was baptizing
Doing things which should be done

John Testifies About Jesus
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
This is the one I meant when I said
‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me due to will of God’

I myself did not know him
But the reason I came baptizing with water
Was that he might be revealed to Israel
As pure as God’s word”

Then John gave this testimony:
“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him
And I myself did not know him
But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me

‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain
Is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit’
I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One
And I truly with all my heart believe in it”

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus
Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see it soon”
So they went and saw where he was staying
And they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said
And who had followed Jesus
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him
“We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ), who will lead us

And he brought him to Jesus
Jesus looked at him and said
“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas”
(which, when translated, is Peter and nothing more than that)

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee
Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me”
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida
Philip found Nathanael and told him

“We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law
And about whom the prophets also wrote—
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph
The God’s word”

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked
“Come and see,” said Philip
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him
“Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, hard to believe in it”

 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you”
Then Nathanael declared
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel and I will follow you”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree
You will see greater things than that then”
And He added, “Very truly I tell you,
You will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man”