John began his gospel with an extraordinary prologue.  In 18 verses he introduced most of the major themes of the gospel (eg. light, life, the world, belief, truth, rebirth, being children of God) and gave an incredible picture of who Jesus is (including a title that he would not use again – “the Word”).  After introducing Jesus as the creator God (v1-5), the prologue sweeps through redemptive history as it anticipates Jesus’ coming (v6-13) before culminating in the revelation that Jesus is God the Son sent into the world that God’s glory might be revealed and known (v14) and so that people might receive grace and become God’s children (v12-13, 16-18).  The prologue also introduces the rest of chapter 1 by setting the context for John the Baptist’s ministry.