Thoughts on the Gospel of John (1) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

In the beginning was the Word.
John 1:1

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (1)
With this simple, yet mysterious sentence John begins his gospel. He writes differently from the other evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, who often describe the same occurrences in the life and work of Jesus, though from a different viewpoint. The apostle John, on the other hand, records largely events and sayings of Jesus that the others do not mention.

The gospel of John bears the distinctive mark of a precise, reliable eye-witness report. Although John did not write his gospel until the last decades of the first century, when he was already very old, he could still remember many details, including the time of day. According to a saying of Jesus he was reminded of the words of Jesus by God, the Holy Spirit. John thus wrote his gospel by divine inspiration (cf. ch.14:26; 2 Timothy 3:16). His particular concern for the recipients and readers was that they should "believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" and that believing they might "have life in his name" (ch. 20:31).

Precisely this is the subject of the gospel of John: the excellencies of the Son of God. In extremely simple language, the vocabulary of which comprises approximately only seven hundred words, John sets forth this great truth in his gospel that the eternal Son of God became Man. God the Son's existence is just as eternal as that of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This is clearly the reason why John mentions nothing of the descent, the birth and the childhood of the Lord Jesus. Instead he takes the reader, already in the first verse, back into eternity: "In the beginning was the Word".

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today's reading: Joshua 4:9-24 · 1 Corinthians 3:1-10