a few words

A crisis of honour.

Six days echoing the six days of creation, and on the sixth day a wedding

Five people encountered Jesus in chapter 1. And between them they gave us more names and titles for Jesus than any other chapter in the New Testament.

Back to Jacob's dream, and ordinary ground

Jesus saw Nathanael first

We need to go back to a man called Jacob

Too ordinary

The invitation

Jesus saw who Simon would become

Jesus' first words in this gospel are a question

First steps

Eyewitness language

A word that will keep showing something vital

Even John the Baptist didn't have the full picture when he began

The Lamb all the other lambs were pointing towards

Pay attention!

"The straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie"

Hidden in plain sight

What might we hear in the wilderness?

So often where God's renewing work begins

Three denials. And the word that is not Jesus' surname.

Beginning week one of Jesus going public

The whole 'prologue'

The intimacy we are invited to share

The longing in Moses, and in everyone

Something new. And a name.

John 1:15 — "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me, because he was before me." The eternal stepping into time.

Two words that take us back to one of the most extraordinary moments in the Old Testament

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." The Word pitched his tent among us and the glory of God moved in.

"The Word became flesh." A shocking idea...

"He gave them the right to be children of God..."

"To all who received him, who believed in his name." Believe means trust.

"He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him." Not just the world failing to notice a stranger. This is coming home, and not being received.

"He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him." The maker, unrecognised by what he made.

"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." True doesn't just mean real. It means ultimate, the source behind every glimpse of light we've ever known.

"He came as a witness to testify concerning that light." Not the source, but a faithful reflection.

John 1:6 "There was a man sent from God whose name was John." The first human character walks onto the page. What defines him?

John 1:1-5 From Word to Light. A pause before the story begins.

John 1:5 "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John doesn't pretend the darkness isn't there. But...

John 1:4 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all people." From the very first words of the Bible, light has a source. John says it has come into the world.

John 1:4 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all people." What John means by life.

John 1:3 "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." The one we've been getting to know made everything that exists.

John 1:2 "He was with God in the beginning. Not repetition. John knows what we might do with an idea this big.

John 1:1 "The Word was God" The most explosive phrase in the sentence.

John 1:1 "The Word was with God" More than just alongside, face to face.

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word." Why did John choose this word, and what does it tell us about who Jesus is?

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word". A new beginning.

A welcome to "a few words" — a short daily audio reflection. A few words from the Bible, and a few words to carry into the day. Starting with the Gospel of John.