The Word
“In the beginning was the Word” in verse 1, in all probability, duplicates the words of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God.” The ‘beginning’ in each case carries the reader back beyond creation into an eternity inhabited by God alone. Before God uttered the first word which called the universe into existence. the Person (the Word) existed as and with God. John the Apostle reminds us as he begins the gospel that we must never ever forget that Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, teacher and miracle worker of Israel, crucified and risen Saviour, is also God enfleshed. He is the immutable, immortal, only wise God, to whom we owe honour and worship for ever and ever. He was with the Father in the beginning – He was never created but existed with God and as God.
The Greek term for the Word is logos, which usually focuses attention on the spoken word, but on the meaning rather than simply the sound. In Greek philosophical thought, logos was used of the rational principle or Mind that ruled the universe. In Hebrew thought, “the word of God” was His active self-expression, the revelation of Himself to humanity through which a person not only receives truth about God, but meets God face-to-face. Jesus is the pre-existent Word of God, the “logos”, with its deep roots in both Greek philosophy and Hebrew thought. John’s use of “logos” is clearly stating that the Word has the same quality as God, and is God; he strongly affirms that the full deity of Jesus who was the Word made flesh.
John then presents Christ as the active agent in creation – all things were created by Him and through Him and for Him (compare Col.1:15-17). John envisions a beginning for the material universe, and for those created beings who populate the spiritual universe – all these were created by Christ and they were created for Him, whether things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all encompassing, without exception. He not only creates all things but in Him, all things hold together.
John then went on to portray the Word, Jesus, as the source of life, who vitalises the living and gives eternal spiritual life to men. The word “life” occurs some 36 times in the gospel of John. Human sin was the source of death. God alone is the source of life, for God “has life in Himself” (5:26). All other life is derived – only God is the source of life and Jesus is declared by John to be the source of life in the universe. Jesus is also the source of vitality for the believer’s experience of eternal life here on earth; He. as the Mediator sent from God, is the source in which the eternal life from God can be found (1 John 1:1-2).
He, the life, is “the light of men”; only by seeing a glimmer of hope and turning to the Saviour can we human beings lay hold on eternal life. In a real way, “darkness” represents the world dominated by Satan, whose lost inhabitants are energised by those same passions which led to Satan’s fall. Only by following Jesus’ words and walking in the light can human beings avoid the “darkness” and not allow it to overtake them. In Jesus, God’s light continues to shine and no matter what forces array themselves against Him, the darkness will never overcome the light; those who are in union with Him continue to remain and ‘shine’ in that light.
Sadly, the true light was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own people but they did not receive Him. Then comes this astounding statement -“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, born ..not of the will of man but of God”.
And the Word became flesh and dwell among us: With the Old Testament image of the tabernacle in mind, John expounds the incarnation of the Word. The Word that was hidden in the bosom of God, the Word through which all things were made has become flesh, has tabernacled among men and women – the Word has become a man in Jesus Christ. The Word actually becomes flesh in the midst of Israel: it enters our very existence and becomes one with us!
He takes His dwelling as man among humanity; He becomes creature in all His sovereign freedom as creator and without ceasing to be that creator Word He becomes flesh, without any diminishment of His freedom or His eternal nature. John was actually saying that the Word fully participates in human nature and existence, for He became man in becoming flesh, true man and real man.
He who knew no sin became sin for us, exchanging His riches for our poverty, His perfection for our imperfection, His incorruption for our corruption, His eternal life for our mortality. If the Word of God did not actually come into our fallen existence, if the Son of God did not really come where we are, and join Himself to us where we are in sin and under judgement, how could it be said that Christ really took our place , took our cause upon Himself in order to redeem us? He entered into complete solidarity with us in our sinful existence in order to save us, without becoming Himself a sinner. Although the Son enters into resistance and hostility of our flesh against God, He does not resist God but throughout the whole course of His life is obedient and true and faithful. The obedience of Christ in the flesh was not light or sham obedience but was agonising real in our flesh of sin – His obedience was a battle, in agony of blood, ‘with strong crying and tears’ (Heb. 5:7) in the things that He suffered, bringing His holy relation with sinners to its perfection and completion at last on the cross.
The Witness of John the Baptist
John the Baptist refuses to identify himself as the Christ, as Elijah returned to announce the end, or as the prophet, probably a reference to the prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15). John is less interested in explaining who he is than what he does. So he presented himself as one who is “a voice crying in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord” (Isa. 40:3). John the Baptist saw himself as one preparing the nation for the eschatological way of the Lord. When asked why he baptised various ones, John replied that his baptism was preparatory for the main ministry that follows his -one would come and baptise with the Holy Spirit and that was none other than the Messiah Jesus Christ.
Later on, John the Baptist testified that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and Jesus will baptise with the Spirit, showing that He is God’s chosen One or Son. John the Baptist merely points to Jesus and he admitted that in the face of the greatness of Jesus, he sensed his own unworthiness, even to carry out a task to untie His sandal.
The First disciples
The Apostle John turns to discuss how some became exposed to Jesus and became disciples of the Lord Jesus. The Baptist’s testimony was the catalyst: he pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. John first recounted how Peter and Andrew encountered Jesus. Andrew was the one who told Simon about Jesus. The Lord issued an invitation to Philip to follow Him and Philip told Nathanael about Jesus. Nathanael was initially sceptical whether anything good could come out of Nazareth but subsequently, he recognised that Jesus’ awareness of his whereabouts was beyond normal human understanding and he confessed Jesus as both ‘Son of Man’ and ‘King of Israel’, acknowledging Jesus as the promised Messiah. Jesus then pointed to Nathanael that many will see an ‘open connection’ between heaven and earth as the Son of Man ministers in their midst. Jesus is the ‘ladder’ between heaven and earth, sent with divine endorsement (Gen. 28:12). The “Son of Man” is a human figure who has received diving authority (Dan. 7:13-14) and John the apostle uses this term thirteen times in association with remarks about the cross and an end-time figure.