John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-10 (The New Testament for Everyone)

by Tom Wright

According to one well-known saying, this book is like a pool that’s safe for a child to paddle in but deep enough for an elephant to swim in.

That’s the theme of this gospel: if you want to know who the true God is, look long and hard at Jesus.

The Word challenged the darkness before creation and now challenges the darkness that is found, tragically, within creation itself. The Word is bringing into being the new creation, in which God says once more, ‘Let there be light!’

That’s the regular phrase people used in Jesus’ world for what we call ‘running’ water – water in a stream or river, rather than a pool or well, water that’s more likely to be fresh and clean than water that’s been standing around getting stagnant.