REJECTION
Verse five hints at rejection: ‘The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it’ but verses nine to eleven again take up the idea of Jesus as light and forecast his rejection, a major theme of the gospel. The world is generally indifferent to him (1:10) but ‘He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him’ (1:11) emphasizes the hostile response of Israel. The term ‘The Jews’, although not in the Prologue, is used sixty-nine times in the Gospel and, in the opinion of Lincoln (p.71), ‘frequently serves a representative function’. Their response ‘indicates different types of belief and unbelief’. The irony in the Gospel is that although Jesus was brought up in a Jewish home his own people wanted nothing to do with him. As the Gospel progresses ‘His own’ describes a new group consisting of those who accept him and heed his message (10:34; 13:1).
BELIEVE AND RECEIVE
In contrast to his rejection by the world (1:10) and Israel (1:11) there were those who ‘received’ him. These were given authority to belong to God as children (1:12). This birth into the family of God was totally an act of God and not dependent upon race or any human act. That it has nothing to do with ordinary human birth is stressed three times in 1:13: ‘not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will.’ The theme of the ‘new birth’ is taken up in chapter 3. This description of believers as God’s children occurs again in 11:52, with the diminutive ‘little children’ occurring also in 13:33. While all men may become sons (tekna) of God the Prologue emphasises that Jesus was in a unique sense the son (huios) of God.
INCARNATION
In verses 14-18 the author explicitly identifies the Logos as Jesus. He is said (1:14) to have ‘become flesh, and made his dwelling among us’. The Greek ‘skenoo’ for ‘made his dwelling’ literally means “to pitch one’s tent”, a term which, according to Kostenberger (2004, p.41),
‘suggests that in Jesus, God has come to take up residence among his people once again, in a way even more intimate than when he dwelt in the midst of wilderness Israel in the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34-35).’
This statement that the Word became human is the highest point of the Prologue. God himself entered humanity and made it possible for human beings to enter the family of God. In Jesus as the Logos incarnate there was no more need for a tabernacle or temple. God’s shekinah glory was in the world and thus the author adds (1:14): ‘We have seen his glory’.
GLORY
Lincoln (2005, p.105) interprets this ‘seeing’ not in a physical sense but as ‘the perception of faith’ that ‘finds in Jesus the glory of the divine presence’. This mention of ‘glory’ in verse fourteen introduces a significant theme in the Fourth Gospel. ‘Glory’ occurs nineteen times and ‘to glorify’ twenty-three times. ‘We have seen his glory’ would have been encouraging for early Christians facing hostility from Judaism. The Jews would have seen no glory in the life and death of the crucified Jesus but the John’s Gospel insists that for those with faith to see it, there was glory throughout his life, even at what would seem to be the time of his greatest humiliation, the crucifixion.
Kostenberger (2004, p.42) draws attention to the fact that:
‘As the obedient, dependent Son, Jesus brings glory to God the Father throughout his entire ministry, but he does so supremely by submitting to the cross, which for John is the place of God’s – and Jesus’- ultimate glorification (cf. 12:23-33; 13:31-32; 14:13; 17:1, 4-5). In the Fourth Gospel the glory of Jesus is linked with the end of his life on earth rather than the beginning. At the time of triumphal entry he has not yet been glorified (12:16) and at the last supper his hour has come but he has not yet been glorified (12:23; 17:1). In 17:1-5 he asks the Father to glorify him and that the disciples may see his glory (17:24). He assures his disciples that it will happen soon (13:32). His request for glory was based on the work that he had accomplished on earth (17:4) and, as in the Prologue; it involved his revelation of God his Father (17:6).’
(1) THEMES IN THE PROLOGUE TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL.
(2) THEMES IN THE PROLOGUE TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL.
(3) THEMES IN THE PROLOGUE TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL.
Written Exposition 
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