The Word Became Flesh

1 aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. 5 hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. 7He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. 8 mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 nThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet othe world did not know him. 11 He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, 13 who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. 15 (fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 17 For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father’s side,7 nhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” 20 qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ithe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.10 40 lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”

Bibliography

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Charles, J. Daryl. “Vice and Virtue Lists.” In Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Electronic ed. Edited by Porter, Stanley E. and Craig A. Evans. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

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Timothy L. Jacobs

Vision (ὅραμα, horama; ὅρασις, horasis; ὀπτασία, optasia; מַרְאָה, mar'ah; חֱזוּ, chezu; מַחֲזֶה, machazeh; חִזָּיוֹן, chizzaiwon). May also be described as a revelation. Witnessing something supernatural that is not visible to the naked eye. May be related to God’s working in the present or the future and may involve the ability to see spiritual entities at work in the physical world. Related to, but not necessarily synonymous with, the concepts of prophecy and prophetic dreams.

Defining Terms: Dreams, Vision, and Prophecy

In biblical usage, dreams (חֲלוֹם, chalom) seem to be slightly distinguished from visions (חָזוֹן, chazon). Visions seem to occur while people are awake, while dreams occur in sleep. However, the information passed to a person through a dream or vision may be functionally equivalent. Both dreams and visions could be described as modes of transmitting prophecy; prophecy could also be described as distinct from dreams and visions in that it usually involves the act of the deity directly speaking, whereas a dream or vision often involves a visual representation of the deity’s will that could require interpretation (Jer 1:13–19; Amos 7:7–9; compare Zech 3:1–10; Acts 10:10–16).

It is also important to note that the word used for “vision” in Hebrew (חִזָּיוֹן, chizzaiwon) also may involve dreams, as the context of the vision coming to Nathan, who prophesied Yahweh’s covenant with David, seems to imply (2 Sam 7:4, 17; 1 Chr 17:15; compare Gen 15:1). This particular example seems to further blur the lines between the traditional categories by speaking of the “word of Yahweh” coming to Nathan, implying that a divine oracle (prophecy itself) has reached Nathan by means of his vision (2 Sam 7:4; compare 2 Sam 7:17, which mentions both “words” and a “vision”; also compare Job 20:8).

In addition, 1 Samuel 3:1 says: “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to Yahweh in the presence of Eli. And the word of Yahweh was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision (חָזוֹן, chazon)” (ESV, adapted). With the usage of both the “words of Yahweh” and “vision,” it seems that visions often involved the transmission of what is usually defined as prophecy: words from Yahweh (compare Psa 89:19; Num 24:16).

The type of transmission of God’s will does not take away from its power or intention; instead, in accordance with His desires, He transmits information differently to different people and may even change approach in different contexts. In this regard, one should not interpret prophecy, vision, or dream as more important than any other means of receiving information from God in the biblical context.