JANUARY 1 

" The Word was with God and the Word was God."  John 1:1.

Eternally, essentially He was with God ( Prov.8:22). He is also the word from God, for by Him God has spoken to us in these last days ( Heb.1:2), and has directed us to hear Him ( Matt.17:5). He has made known God's mind to us, as a man's word or speech makes known his thoughts, as far as he pleases, and no further. Christ is called that wonderful Speaker ( Daniel 8:13. John 7:46). He is the Word speaking from God to us, and to God for us. John Baptist was the voice but Christ is the Word. And being the Word, He is the Truth, the Amen, the Faithful Witness of the mind of God.  ( Matthew Henry )

JANUARY 2

" But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God. " John 1:12

The receiving of Christ necessarily implies the assent of the understanding to the truths of Christ revealed in the Gospel viz. His Person, natures, offices, His Incarnation, death and satisfaction [ of God's justice ]. This assent, although it is not in itself saving faith, yet is the foundation and groundwork of it, as it is impossible that the soul should receive and embrace with trust,what the mind does not assent to be true and infallibly certain ( Rom.4:3). ...Opinion is still not a steady and fixed assent, but the man lacks certainty and some fear of the contrary still remains with him. Belief is a full and assured assent to the truth, a full persuasion ( 2 Tim.1:12) .     ( John Flavel )

JANUARY 3

" To them He gave power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on His Name." John 1:12.

Only those who have God as their Father by a second birth, a new birth,have the ' right ' to be called the children of God. They are adopted by God, they

' become ' what they were not before.It was not heredity, race or nationality, or baptism, or child-training that made them children of God. It was being born again, born of God. Now they have faith in Christ ( Galatians 3:26)), now they have God as their Father, now they have the Spirit as their Comforter. " Now[ and not before] are we the sons of God.." ( 1 John 3:1) and shall remain so forever. " Behold I and the children which God has given to Me," says Christ ( Heb.2;13).

" For some believing on His Name is simply that there is such a Being and that what He says is true ( cf. James 2:19). True faith is believing on the Son as our God by way of confidence and reliance upon Him." ( J.C.Ryle)

JANUARY 4

" full of grace and truth." John 1:14.

The incarnate Word was in every way qualified for His undertaking as Mediator. Grace and truth are the two great things which fallen man has need of ; and His possession of these proved Him to be the Son of God as much as the Divine power and majesty that appeared in Him. He had the Spirit without measure, fully acceptable to His Father and therefore qualified to intercede for us. He was full of truth, fully aware of the things He was to reveal, and therefore fit to instruct us. He had a fulness of knowledge and a fulness of compassion...He received that He might give [ grace and truth ] to us, and God was well pleased in Him, that He might be well pleased with us in Him." ( Matthew Henry)

JANUARY 5

" And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." John 1:16

There is an overflowing fulness in Christ, as a fountain overflows, and yet still remains full. ' Grace for grace ' or ' grace upon grace '. Abundance of grace and the increase of graces, one by another. As a child in generation receives member for member... so does the weakest saint receive from Christ. For every grace that is in Christ, there is, in some measure, the same grace in us. Weak saints share with Christ, in the manifestations of His Father. The Lord Jesus, who lies in the bosom of His Father ( vs.18), has the clearest and fullest manifestations of His Father that can be, and He comes and opens the love and heart of the Father to the weakest saints ( John 15:15. 17:6-8). ( Thomas Brooks )

JANUARY 6

" Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. "  John 1:17.

The way to learn truth is to be much in prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself sits upon His throne of grace, beg of Him to teach you Himself, for He is the best Teacher.The words which He speaks are ' spirit and life.' What He writes upon our hearts is written in characters which will stand every storm and live at the last. We forget what we learn from man, but we never forget what we learn from Jesus. Men may deceive, Christ cannot. You can trust no minister really and fully, but what you get from the lips of Jesus you get in all its purity and power. It is He who must speak with power to your souls to do you any real good. Look therefore beyond me to Him alone who can teach us both, Draw living truth out of His heart into your own heart. ( J.C.Philpot )

JANUARY 7

" The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father,he has declared Him."  John 1:18.

The Father - From His talk to the woman at the well to the women at the sepulchre, this was His subject, His Father. In that Name He came, by that Name He spoke, in that Name He taught us our daily prayer. Into that Name we must be baptized. Within that precious Name, as a rampart of sure defence, we are to live. He is the Father's gift, heaven is the Father's home. True worshippers are the objects of the Father's search. Humble hearts are the chosen dwellings of the Father's love, all who belong to Him are dear to the Father's heart. God is the Son's Father and also the Father of all who receive the Son ( vs.12). Others, as Paul said, may be His offspring, but these are His children. No orphans are we, and never to be lonely again ! ( F.B.Meyer)

JANUARY 8

" No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son...has declared Him."  John 1:18.

Throughout the whole of the Old Testament runs the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, the Mediator wherever God enters into a relation to mortals, even when there is no express mention of this. This Angel is the Logos, the Word of the New Testament ( vs.1). God does not make Himself known without such mediation. We see him in the Old Testament Scriptures ( eg.Hosea 12;4,5 ) in prelude to His Incarnation recorded in the New Testament ( John 6:46. 12:41 Matt. 11:27 ). He is in the bosom of the Father - the closeness of His relation to the Father was not disturbed by the Incarnation. He is still in the bosom of the Father. As Luther says," The Son is so near to Him that He certainly knows what the Father has purposed in His heart. No man knows anything of God except as it is revealed by the Son, so that the whole world may be brought under the Lord Christ, and be subject to Him. He who is without Christ is excluded from the knowledge of Christ and salvation." ( E.W.Hengstengerg )

JANUARY 9

" I baptize with water [only]. There stands One among you whom you know not."    John 1:26.

John stated he was only the minister of the outward sign. I baptize with water, and that is all. I am no more and can do no more but what you see. I cannot confer the spiritual grace signified by water baptism. Ministers must not set themselves up as Masters. John directed them to One who was greater than himself, and who would give them what he could not give, if they asked Him. he tells them that He is present among them, now at this time.The great business of Christ's ministers is to direct all people to Him, to the One they do not know. He is to be ' preferred' before all others...If so great a man as John accounted himself unworthy of the honour of being near Christ ( vs.28), how unworthy then should we account ourselves !  ( Matthew Henry )

JANUARY 10

" Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.

This was the great expectation and hope of all ages. This Person whom you behold is desired by all nations. This is God manifest in the flesh. This is the great sacrifice, the Lamb of God. Never did human eyes behold such an object before. This Lamb of God is the very substance which all the legal sacrifices pointed to, and from which they derived all their value and power. The Passover lamb and the lamb for daily sacrifice were but the types and shadows of this Lamb from God. He takes up (upon Himself) and away the sin. He takes it in order to satisfy [ God's offended justice ] for it. The expression alludes to the 'Scapegoat ', mentioned in Leviticus 16:22. Thus Christ really and completely takes away the sin of the world ie. the sin of all believers in the world, for whom He was sacrificed.

Christ is beheld by men in three ways ; by unbelief ( Isaiah 53:2), by the eyes of faith ( John 6:40 ) and by glorified eyes - at first with the soul's eyes and those of the body's at the Resurrection ( Job 19:26,27).    ( John Flavel) 

JANUARY 11

" ...that taketh away the sin of the world."  John 1:29.

This was His undertaking. to appear and put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ( Heb.9:26 )...Our sins shall be pardoned upon our repentance, though our repentance makes no satisfaction for them. The ground of hope which we have is this, Jesus Christ is the lamb of God. He, being the Mediator between God and man, takes away what is principally offensive to the holiness of God and destructive to the happiness of man. He came to take away the guilt of sin by the merit of His life and death, to save us from judgement [ condemnation ]. By this He also takes away the power, the dominion of sin by the Spirit of His grace ( Rom.6:14). Christ, as the Lamb of God, washes us from our sins by His own blood ( Rev.1:5,6) ; He both justifies and sanctifies us. ( Matthew Henry )

JANUARY 12 

" The Lamb of God. "  John 1:29.

Christ is the true Saviour who takes the burden of sin from off His people and bears it Himself, and by bearing it destroys and abolishes it. The virtue and efficacy of Christ's death expiates and takes away the sin of all His elect throughout the whole world, and is not restricted to the Jews only as the typical ( OT) sacrifices were, but extends to all the elect among the Gentiles also. Not all and every man's sins are taken away but only those of His own people ( Mt.1:21) who are scattered throughout the world and in all ages of the world. This means Jews as well as Gentiles, as the word ' world ' is taken in 1 John 2:2. and these chosen people will one day be set apart from the world by their experience of this Lamb of God.   ( George Hutcheson)

JANUARY 13 

" Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and says to them, What seek ye ? "  John 1:38.

They heard Him speak ( vs.37) and they both began to follow Him. Such as rightly hear Christ preached will never get rest until they attain to more knowledge and understanding of Himself. The heart which is spiritually touched by the Word is stirred up to follow after and seek communion with Him. With this aim they will follow after Him, never resting until they have Him. Christ takes notice and well knows who they are that follow Him ; He knew they were behind them and so He turned. He turned to stir them up to exercise faith the more by putting questions to themselves eg. are they following Him for spiritual reasons, for Himself or for His gifts. Therefore Christ at first puts this question, What seek ye ? as something that needs to be answered, and until then He keeps a distance.   ( George Hutcheson )

JANUARY 14   

" He says to them, Come and see. " John 1:39.

He knew their desires, He had read their hearts. He discerned that they sought His presence, His Person, His fellowship. And he never disappoints such longings. ' Come ' is His gracious invitation, ' Come ' is His word of welcome. ' Come ' is what He still says to all those who labour and are heavy laden. When Christ conducted these two men to His dwelling place, would a brief visit suffice them ? No indeed. Mark the remainder of the verse,' They came and saw where He dwelt and abode with Him that day.' So fully had He won their confidence, so completely had He attracted their hearts to Himself, that though this was the first day of meeting with the Saviour, they abode with Him. This is the word which uniformly speaks of spiritual fellowship. We are not told where this was, where He abode. He was a 'stranger ' here, and those who follow Him will be accounted strangers too [ by the world].  ( A.W.Pink )

JANUARY 15

" He first finds his own brother Simon."   John 1:41.

This case is an excellent pattern of all cases where spiritual life is vigorous. As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others ; this relationship has a very strong demand upon our first individual efforts ( Mark 5:19). Are there not some Christians giving away tracts at other people's houses who would do well to give away a tract at their own house ? Let thy religion begin at home. Many tradesmen export their best commodities, the Christian should not. Let him have a care to put forth the sweetest fruit of spiritual life and testimony in his own family...You may but speak a word to a child and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian church in years to come. Andrew had only two talents, but he found Peter. Go and do likewise. ( C.H.Spurgeon)

JANUARY 16

" Nathaniel answered..Thou art the Son of God, the King of Israel." John 1:49.

Christ immediately titles Himself ' the Son of Man '..to draw the thoughts of the hearers to the first Promise, to look for a full recovery by the second Adam of all that was lost by the first Adam. Though the gates of heaven were shut against the first Adam because of his Fall, yet they were opened to the second Adam. Jacob's ladder ( Gen.28:12 ) illustrates that bridge which joins heaven and earth together...Christ is Lord of the angels ( vs.51) even in His state of humiliation, and has them ready at His call, as He or His people shall need their service, to move from earth to heaven or from heaven to earth. This title ' the Son of man ' shows that the Son of God was also the Son of man ; and that He delighted to be so, and therefore so often takes this title to Himself. ( Thomas Brooks)

JANUARY 17

" Thou shalt see greater things than these." John 1:50.

Nathaniel saw something of Christ, but he was to see more. He recognised in Jesus the Son of God, the king of Israel [ the Messiah], but he had yet to learn that Jacob's ladder was a sign of blessing, something beyond the natural limits of his own children. There are yet gaps in our knowledge of Christ. We are still looking for more light on his Person and works. We are hungering to be filled with this knowledge. But the filling can come from no human or earthly source. Take the infirmity, the deficiency, the yearning. " Ye are complete in Him " alone. But the Spirit is promised to apply Christ to us in every respect and for every need. Let us pray not to grieve Him and disturb our channel of blessing. ( F.B.Myer )

JANUARY 18

" The angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of Man." John 1:51.

The angels are ministers of the Divine kindness towards us. Thus, by this expression, we note the two-way communication between God and men. This benefit is received in Christ, because without Him the angels have only an enmity against us rather than a friendly care towards us. They ascend and descend upon Him, not because they minister to Him alone, but for His sake and for His honour they minister to the care of the whole body of the church. Christ alludes to the ladder which was shown to the patriarch Jacob in a dream ( Gen.28:12), and what that vision sketched out is really fulfilled in Christ. The gate of heaven is now open to us, so that we are fellow-citizens of the saints and companions of the angels, who descend from that blessed calm to help relieve our miseries.  ( John Calvin )

JANUARY 19

" Verily, verily I say unto you..." John 1:51.

Christ's promises are to be looked upon as sure and infallible, being not only promised by Him ' who cannot lie ' but most strongly asserted in confirmation to us. And we ought to be humbled for our unbelief, by which we so readily distrust Him, and ought to admire His condescension in speaking to us to assist us in our weakness. Therefore, Christ prefaces the promise with ' Verily, verily ' [ truly, truly ], and by saying this He puts the matter beyond all doubt and controversy. Not that this makes the promise any surer on His part, but because our weakness and unbelief need to hear it reinforced. And, having given this assurance, He expects absolute and entire credit to be given to His promise...and do we ?  ( George Hutcheson )

JANUARY 20

" Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage."  John 2:2.

Christ here sanctifies the marriage relationship. Marriage was ordained by God in Eden and the Saviour here, for all time, set His approval upon it. To be present at this marriage was almost Christ's first public appearance after His ministry commenced. By gracing this festive gathering, our Lord distinguished and glorified this sacred institution. Observe that Christ was invited to be there. Christ's presence is essential to a happy marriage.

Mary's words ( verse 3) seemed to ignore His Deity ( He knew, as God, that they had no wine), and also it appears that Mary was seeking to exert her parental authority, by suggesting what He ought to do under the circumstances.His reply ( verse 4 ) was a plain intimation that she must allow Him to act in His own way. Christ here showed that His period of subjection to Joseph and Mary ( Luke 2:51) was over. His public ministry had now commenced and she must not presume to dictate to Him !  ( A.W.Pink )

JANUARY 21

" My hour has not yet come." John 2:4

He means that He has not been inactive due to carelessness and laziness, He will take care of the matter when the right time comes. And so he does not only charge His mother with mother with unseasonable zeal, but also gives her hope of a miracle. She does not press Him further,but tells the servants to do whatever He commands, thus showing that she expected something new to happen. But this lesson has a wider application ; whenever the Lord keeps us in suspense and delays His aid, it does not mean that He is inactive, but rather that he regulates His works so that He acts only at the right time. In this place He claims the right of taking and choosing the time to work. ( John Calvin )

JANUARY 22

" Whatsoever He says to you,do." John 2:5.

This is very beautiful. Mary meekly accepted the Lord's rebuke, recognised His right to act as He pleased, and left the matter entirely in His hands. There is an important and much neglected lesson here for each of us. How prone we are to dictate to God ! How often we are disposed to tell Him what to do ! This is only another evidence of that detestable self-will which still operates in the believer unless Divine grace subdues it. Our plain duty is to commit our way to the Lord and then leave Him to supply our needs in His own good time and manner.

There was no visible putting forth of Divine power in the miracle, no magical formula was pronounced or command expressed, but the result was seen to be Divine. ( A.W.Pink )

JANUARY 23

" Whatsoever He says to you, do."  John2:5.

The safe way to serve Christ is by faith. Faith is the knowledge of a Person. To believe anything on faith is to believe it because I am sure the Person who tells it to me is trustworthy. To believe anything on sight is to believe it because I myself believe that it is true ( and my perception may be wrong). If we are ' moved ' by the Holy Spirit it is to obey Christ's word. If we do not do what He says, it is another spirit that is moving us, and not a good spirit. Mary trusted Him and therefore encouraged others to trust and obey Him, even before she knew what commandments He would give. Mary is all faith when she says,' Do what He tells you and all must come right simply because He is He.' Blessed the heart that has learned such a faith and can stand among men in all their doubts and darknesses and just point to Jesus Christ and say, ' Do His will and everything shall come right with you. I do not know how, but I know Him.'  ( Philiips Brooks)

JANUARY 24

" and manifested His glory. " John 2:11.

This was the glory of His Deity and Divine Sonship, which was hidden by His assumption of human nature. But now it broke forth and showed itself in His miraculous operations. This miracle of turning the water into wine was the first miracle that Christ did, either in public or in private. The accompanying five disciples believed on Him. Though they believed on Him beforehand, and professed Him to be the Messiah, yet they were, by this miracle, more and more confirmed in the faith of these things. ( John Gill ) The expression ' His glory ' distinguishes profoundly between Jesus and all the divine messengers who had done similar wonders before Him in this way ie that this manifested His own glory. His act contains all that Jesus puts of His own into it, and shows the love full of tenderness with which he uses Divine omnipotence in the service of His own. Miracles are intended to illuminate the hearts of believers by revealing to them in this world of suffering all the riches belonging to the glorious Object of their faith. ( F.Godet )

JANUARY 25

"He drove them all out of the temple." John 2:15.

It is to mock God when men come to commit new sins at the very place [ the place where God is worshipped ] where they are to bewail and repent for their old ones ! His action filled the people with a presentiment of a great impending reformation and overthrow of existing practices. The cosciences of the offenders made them cowards but, above all, we must take into account the majesty of the Person of Jesus, whose face then certainly shone like the sun, and His eyes were as a flame of fire. We have a parallel instance in chapter 18 verse 6. ( E.W.Hengstenberg)

Why then does he cast the buyers and sellers out of the temple ? To restore the worship of God to its integrity, worship which had been corrupted by the wickedness of men, and in this way to renew and defend the holiness of the temple, that it might be exclusively to spiritual uses. Whatever turns us aside from God's command is perverse. Christ disregards the objections offered against the order set up by God for worship. ( John Calvin )

JANUARY 26

" What sign showest Thou to us seeing Thou doest these things ? "  John 2:18

A work of reformation of God's house will never lack opposition from corrupt men. Christ met such opposition so that we might not stumble when we meet with it also. Obstinate wicked men, and especially polluters of the house of God can hardly be reformed, however much they may be convicted. The Jews would answer Him again and again. Enemies of reformation and unbelievers are not satisfied with a warrant from the Word of God, but seek signs of their own making. Christ confirmed His own authority by His actions." Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again."( vs.19) - Christ foreknew all His own sufferings. He would not hinder but willingly permitted them to come upon Him. These words are not a command but a prediction, foretelling their malice, and a permission for them to do their utmost. Christ also knew that He would overcome death and the malice of His enemies. Christ's death and resurrection is an infallible sign that He is the true Redeemer of sinners, having authority to order abuses in His own house. ( George Hutcheson )

JANUARY 27

" Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."  John 2:19.

He indicates that it would be on Himself that this destruction would take place, not the stone building. Upon His body would the fatal blow struck by the hand of the Jews fall. They asked of Christ a sign, a demonstrative miracle, a sign of His authority and power. This miracle He promised, as belonging to the very plan and work of man's salvation. All their religion, resting on this temple, would be found corrupt ; the Jews could only see the material building, not the Person it pointed to. He will raise Himself by His own power ( John 10:17,18). Their verbal challenge to Him was an indication of their moral character. In their speech His delicate ear apprehended not only the sound but the character of it. He perceives from their words what action they will take against Him in the future. In response to such perversely minded people it was the habit of Jesus to utter enigmas, revealing the truth while also veiling it ( as in the Parables. Matt.13:11-16). ( F.Godet )

JANUARY 28 

" But He spoke of the temple of His body." John 2:21.

But now, in the New Testament, God has erected another temple where God will dwell ; that is, the lovely humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. There will God be found, and nowhere else. He calls Christ's body the temple of God, wherein God dwells, in order that the eyes and hearts of all of us may be directed to Christ, that we may worship Him alone, who sits at the right hand of God in heaven. God is not bound to one place, as He did before when the temple was at Jerusalem. Now the true temple, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come, as is said also in John 4:23. The temple at Jerusalem has ceased to be. Now men may worship God at whatever place they may be, and turn their heart and eyes in faith to the Person of Christ, where there is both God and Man. In harmony with this is Revelation 21:22," And I saw no temple there, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." ( Martin Luther )

JANUARY 29

" Many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did." John 2:23.

There was indeed some result in the signs, ie. that many believed in Christ and in His name ( His authority ). This was some sort of a likeness to real faith, but temporary. They were far from the right attitude to progress as they should have done. They were convinced that Christ was some great prophet, and perhaps even accepted Him as the Messiah, who was then widely expected. But since they did not comprehend the Messiah's special office, their ' faith ' was unreasonable, clinging as it did to the world and earthly things. It was also a cold belief, a persuasion empty of any serious attitude of heart. When they saw that His teaching was against their flesh and rebellious desires they were immediately disturbed, and withdrew from the faith they had adopted. Christ excluded them from the number whose conviction could be relied upon. Their faith depended only on the miracles and had no root in the Gospel, and therefore it could not be steady and permanent. ( John Calvin )

JANUARY 30

" But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, for He knew all men." John 2:24.

" They believed in Him, but He did not believe in them. " ( John Trapp ) He did not trust Himself with these persons, He did not take them into the number of His associates, He did not admit them to intimacy with Him. He did not freely converse with them, but soon withdrew Himself from there and went into other parts of the country. He can distinguish between grace and mere profession, He can see the root and progress of apostasy. He knew all these men, and their hypocrisy. He knew their notions of a worldly Messiah, how they wanted to set Him up as a worldly king. He knew they would only be pleased with Him for a while, that their ' faith ' would not hold out for long, and that they would not continue with Him. He knew all men and about all men. He knew the secrets of their hearts. ( John Gill )

JANUARY 31

" He knew what was in man. "  John 2:25.

He knew what man was originally, and what was in man when he had fallen into sin. He knew the amount of damage his nature sustained and also the gravity of man's sin. This Physician also knew what could restore him and was able to apply the cure. Although He knows what is in man, He does not cast him out as they did the lepers, but He is able to cleanse them and dwell with them, and they with Him. He also knows what is in His own disciples and He does not cast them off either, despite what He sees in them. Because He knows what is in man He is able to make all his Word and providences suitable to our conditions. Some conditions and events may be mysterious to us, but they are ' all working together for our good.' He knows what is in man, in the secret chambers of his heart. This is where He searches, nothing is hidden from Him, although it may be from others. " Search me, O God, and know my heart ; try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." ( Ps.139:23,24)        ( William Arnot )