Take some time and meditate on the verses that follow. Read them over slowly several times until something catches your attention. Then ponder what got your attention before you read what I saw in the passage.
John 1:1-18
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”
16 From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
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John’s prologue begins even before creation and continues until the present. He refers to Jesus as the “Word” and the “Light”, and finally in verse 17 He is referred to by name–Jesus Christ.
I was struck by the fact that it is Jesus who “gives us the right to become children of God.” Because we believe we have this right, I never saw it as a “right” before, Here, John also anticipates Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus about the new birth. That also comes from God.
Grace and truth in this translation are translated as “unfailing love and faithfulness.” Good words, but I like “Grace and Truth.”