The first chapter of John is divided into three discrete sections (which in gospel studies are usually called pericopes): a theological introduction, John the Baptist’s statements attesting to Jesus’s identity, and an account of the first interactions between Jesus and some of the men who will become his disciples. The first section, which spans the opening 18 verses of the chapter, is a description of the divine identity of Jesus, here referred to as “the Word” (in Greek, the Logos): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (1:1-3). Calling Jesus “the Word” positions him as the active agent of creation and the pre-existent Wisdom of God (see Genesis 1:1; Proverbs 8:22-31). John also uses the imagery of light to describe Jesus throughout this opening section: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (1:9).

The opening section introduces John the Baptist, a figure sent to bear witness to Jesus’s identity. The second section (verses 19-34) contains a set of

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