John: In the Beginning

John 1:1-5

The seminary I attended required four years of Greek and three years of Hebrew, the original languages of the Bible. After a year of Greek grammar, syntax, and vocabulary, we started reading in the New Testament. That was an exciting day!  Eagerly opening our Greek Bibles, we began with the gospel of John. I can still remember knowing the first words, in arche hen ho logos, “In the beginning was the Word.” I was so proud of myself. 

However, for anyone who has become proud of themselves for their discipline in reading God’s Word or the knowledge they are attaining, John puts a stop to that. From his first words, John takes the focus off the reader and onto the Redeemer. He makes certain that the primary attention is on Jesus—who he is, and how he works in real life. 

Let’s work our way through the first five verses of chapter 1. 

John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

In the beginning is most likely an allusion to Genesis 1. Both Genesis and John address the spiritual and physical creation. John’s emphasis is on the re-creation that Jesus offers. Also, in both Genesis 1 and John 1, similar concepts are presented; for instance, “life” (1:4), “light” (1:4), and “darkness” (1:5). 

We gain insight by bearing in mind that John is speaking to Jews and Greeks. Let’s look at two indications of this in John 1:1.

• In the beginning is a phrase tying the Jewish reader back to Genesis and the Old Testament, the book on which their religion is anchored. For the Greek reader, in the beginning answered the first question in Greek philosophy. The Greek philosopher Aristotle asked, “What is the beginning and what is the origin of the things that are made?”[1]
  
  
• Both Jewish and Greek readers would have been familiar with the Word (logos), a term that John uses to introduce Jesus. In the Old Testament, the “word” of God is used as the instrument to execute his will. Psalm 33:6 says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made….” (see also Ps. 107:20; 119:89; 147:15-18).
  
  In Greek philosophy, the term logos was used to describe the “intermediate agency by which God created material things and communicated with them. . . Therefore, for the Greek readers, the use of the term logos would have likely brought forth the idea of a mediating principle between God and the world.”[2]

The apostle John utilized distinguishing language to appeal to his readers. Cognizant of his purpose for writing this gospel, and desiring Jews and Greeks to know Jesus, he draws them in with the biblical phrase in the beginning and by describing Jesus as the Word. This is a brilliant opening statement in reaching his audience.

But he is not finished. John explains that the Word was not only with God in the beginning, but the Word and God are one in essence. God and the Word are the same. The Word is eternal. The Word is in relationship with God. The Word is God!

The Word was with God in the beginning, but not as a passive bystander. The Word was the agent of creation.

John 1:3
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

We can mentally picture Jesus as an infant, the One we celebrate at Christmas. And we can follow Jesus on the road with his disciples, teaching and performing miracles. However, if you are like me, it stretches my mind to think about Jesus at creation. Yet…he was there.

The apostle John states that everything that was made during the six days of creation, as described in Genesis, was instituted by Jesus. Paul says it like this in his letter to the church in Colossae:

Colossians 1:16-17
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.[3]

The Word is the Creator. The Word spoke the world into existence. He breathed into humanity the breath of life. 

John 1:4-5
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John uses the word zoe (life) thirty-seven times in his gospel. Seventeen times it occurs with the word aionios (eternal). In the remaining instances, it is normally clear from the context that John is referring to eternal life (see 5:26; 6:57; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6; 17:3; 20:31). This is a major theme of John’s gospel, and the message of the book: to have eternal life in Jesus.

Jesus as the source of life was also the “light of men.” Later, Jesus explains that whoever follows him will have the “light of life” (8:12). Light is used to describe God and his work. Darkness is used to describe death, sin, and separation from God. Isaiah explained the coming salvation this way: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isa. 9:2).

A major quality of light is to dispel darkness; hence, those who desire to embrace the darkness have “not overcome it.” The Greek word for “overcome” (katelaben) can also mean “grasp” or “comprehend.” Left to ourselves, we enjoy the things that “darkness” offers. John points out that people “loved the darkness rather than the light” (3:19). We read in Psalms 36:9: “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” This is a great reminder of how the Old and New Testaments fit together—both inspired by God and both necessary in our walk with the Lord. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD 
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on John’s powerful introduction: John 1:1-5.

Talking to God:  Thank God for opening your eyes to the Light.  

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