{"id":47815,"date":"2020-10-14T12:45:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T19:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=47815"},"modified":"2023-01-26T07:44:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T15:44:42","slug":"wright-on-john-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wright-on-john-1\/","title":{"rendered":"N.T. Wright on John 1: A Winding Driveway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you’re trying out a new restaurant, it’s always good to order something simple to compare with other experiences. For instance, if you love coffee, you may order an espresso or a plain latte at a new shop. Or maybe you rank Mexican-style restaurants on their enchiladas. In the same way, it can be helpful to look at a well-known passage to understand the style and quality of a commentary. For these reasons, we are sharing an excerpt from N.T. Wright’s For Everyone Commentary Series<\/a> on John 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never heard of N.T. Wright<\/strong>? He’s known for bringing biblical scholarship to life with engaging writing and inspiring anecdotes. Once you start reading his commentary, there’s no way you can miss it! In fact, a little teaser of what’s ahead… N.T. Wright starts off his explanation on John 1 with a story! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you aren’t looking for a new commentary<\/em>,<\/strong> this post won’t disappoint! So, get started by reading the passage of Scripture below. Then we’ll share the excerpt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:1-18<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"reading<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1 <\/strong>In the beginning was the Word. The Word was close beside God, and the Word was God. 2<\/strong> In the beginning, he was close beside God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 <\/strong>All things came into existence through him; nothing that exists came into existence without him. 4<\/strong> Life was in him, and this life was the light of the human race. 5<\/strong> The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness didn\u2019t overcome it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 <\/strong>There was a man called John, who was sent from God. 7<\/strong> He came as evidence, to give evidence about the light, so that everyone might believe through him. 8<\/strong> He was not himself the light, but he came to give evidence about the light.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

9<\/strong> The true light, which gives light to every human being, was coming into the world. 10 <\/strong>He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn\u2019t know him. 11<\/strong> He came to what was his own, and his own people didn\u2019t accept him. 12<\/strong> But to anyone who did accept him, he gave the right to become God\u2019s children; yes, to anyone who believed in his name. 13<\/strong> They were not born from blood, or from physical desire, or from the intention of a man, but from God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

14 <\/strong>And the Word became flesh, and lived among us. We gazed upon his glory, glory like that of the father\u2019s only son, full of grace and truth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 <\/strong>John gave evidence about him, loud and clear.
\u2018This is the one\u2019, he said, \u2018that I was speaking about when I told you, \u201cThe one who comes after me ranks ahead of me, because he was before me.\u201d\u2018<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

16 <\/strong>Yes; it\u2019s out of his fullness that we have all received, grace indeed on top of grace. 17<\/strong> The law, you see, was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus the Messiah. 18<\/strong> Nobody has ever seen God. The only-begotten God, who is intimately close to the father \u2013 he has brought him to light.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commentary on John 1:1-18<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This content is adapted from the For Everyone Commentary Series<\/a> by N.T. Wright.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But First, A Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"reading<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s on the right just beyond the end of the village,\u2019 my friend had said. \u2018You\u2019ll see where to turn \u2013 it\u2019s got the name on the gate.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sounded straightforward. Here was the village. I drove slowly past the pretty cottages, the small shops and the old church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin with, I thought I must have misheard him. There didn\u2019t seem to be any houses just outside the village. But then I came to the gateway. Tall stone pillars, overhanging trees and an old wooden sign with the right name on it. Inside, a wide gravel drive stretching away, round a corner out of sight. There were daffodils on the grass verge either side, in front of the thick rhododendron bushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned in to the driveway. He never told me he lived somewhere like this! I drove round the corner; then round another corner, with more daffodils and bushes. Then, as I came round a final bend, I gasped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There in front of me was the house. Sheltered behind tall trees, surrounded by lawns and shrubbery, with the morning sunlight picking out the colour in the old stone. And there was my friend, emerging from between the pillars around the front porch, coming to greet me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John’s Gospel: a Grand, Imposing House<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Approaching John\u2019s gospel is a bit like arriving at a grand, imposing house. Many Bible readers know that this gospel is not quite like the others. They may have heard, or begun to discover, that it\u2019s got hidden depths of meaning. According to one well-known saying, this book is like a pool that\u2019s safe for a child to paddle in but deep enough for an elephant to swim in. But, though it\u2019s imposing in its structure and ideas, it\u2019s not meant to scare you off. It makes you welcome. Indeed, millions have found that, as they come closer to this book, the Friend above all friends is coming out to meet them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

John’s Introduction: The Winding Driveway<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like many a grand house, the book has a driveway, bringing you off the main road, telling you something about the place you\u2019re getting to before you get there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These opening verses are, in fact, such a complete introduction to the book that by the time you get to the story you know a good deal about what\u2019s coming, and what it means. It\u2019s almost as though the long driveway contained signs with pictures of the various rooms in the house and the people you were going to meet there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This passage has become famous because it\u2019s often read at Christmas carol services \u2013 though it isn\u2019t just about the birth of Jesus, but about the full meaning of everything he was, and is, and did. And the more we explore the gospel itself, the more we\u2019ll discover what a complete introduction to it this short passage is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John’s Most Unforgettable Words<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The gateway to the drive is formed by the unforgettable opening words: \u2018In the beginning was the Word.\u2019 At once we know that we are entering a place which is both familiar and strange. \u2018In the beginning\u2019 \u2013 no Bible reader could see that phrase and not think at once of the start of Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament: \u2018In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.\u2019 Whatever else John is going to tell us, he wants us to see his book as the story of God and the world, not just the story of one character in one place and time. This book is about the creator God acting in a new way within his much-loved creation. It is about the way in which the long story which began in Genesis reached the climax the creator had always intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"gateway:<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And it will do this through \u2018the Word\u2019. In Genesis 1, the climax is the creation of humans, made in God\u2019s image. In John 1, the climax is the arrival of a human being, the Word become \u2018flesh\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Word Become ‘Flesh’<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I speak a word, it is, in a sense, part of me. It\u2019s a breath that comes from inside me, making the noise that I give it with my throat, my mouth and my tongue. When people hear it, they assume I intended it. \u2018But you said \u2026 \u2018, people comment, if our deeds don\u2019t match up to our words. We remain responsible for the words we say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet our words have a life which seems independent of us. When people hear them, words can change the way they think and live. Think of \u2018I love you\u2019; or, \u2018It\u2019s time to go\u2019; or, \u2018You\u2019re fired\u2019. These words create new situations. People respond or act accordingly. The words remain in their memory and go on affecting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Old Testament and God’s Word<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the Old Testament, God regularly acts by means of his \u2018word\u2019. What he says, happens \u2013 in Genesis itself, and regularly thereafter. \u2018By the word of the Lord\u2019, says the psalm, \u2018the heavens were made\u2019 (33:6<\/a>). God\u2019s word is the one thing that will last, even though people and plants wither and die (Isaiah 40.6-8<\/a>); God\u2019s word will go out of his mouth and bring life, healing and hope to Israel and the whole creation (Isaiah 55:10-11<\/a>). That\u2019s part of what lies behind John\u2019s choice of \u2018Word\u2019 here, as a way of telling us who Jesus really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Original Context and God’s Word<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

John probably expects some readers to see that this opening passage says, about Jesus himself, what some writers had said about \u2018Wisdom\u2019. Many Jewish teachers had grappled with the age-old questions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n