Prologue:
Gospel of John “Word”
John Chapman
John’s gospel
is unique from the other three.
John on the
other hand begins, not by giving us an earthly genealogy, but a heavenly
one. Describing to his
readers the true nature of the One that had come from above.
ETERNAL
1In the beginning was the
Word,
“the beginning” as we know it, i.e.; Creation
“was” – imperfect tense: in time past continuous. The Word already “was” when the beginning of
things as we know them occurred.
or, the Word existed before the Creation took place.
the “Word” in Greek is “Logos”.
1.
The Aramaic
word for Logos is “memra” and was used as a designation
for God in Aramaic translations of the O.T.
(Scofield)
2.
To
the Jews
a. Logos
was the idea of God speaking. For
example, in
·
God spoke and the sky was formed.
·
God spoke and the waters were gathered
together.
·
God spoke and the herbs, grasses and
trees produced food.
·
God spoke and put the sun, moon and
stars in the sky.
·
God spoke and created man in His own
image.
Logos was the authoritative power of God
to create.
b. Logos also encompassed the authority with which the profits spoke,
22And thou shalt say
unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORDH3068, Israel
is my son, even my
firstborn: (Ex.
3. To the Greeks, the word Logos
had a different meaning derived from
their fascination with philosophy (Aristotle, Sophocles, Plato, etc.). Logos was the principal underlying
everything. It was considered the “key”
to understanding life; the “good force” that brings about happiness and
fullness in life in spite of negative circumstances.
John was speaking to as wide an audience as
possible; Jew and Gentile. John
is telling them, Jesus is not just a Rabbi, king, prophet or philosopher. His genealogy goes way beyond David and
Abraham. He’s much, much more.
F. B. Meyer puts it like this, “As
words utter thought, so does Christ utter God.”
That is the idea behind “Logos.”
In the
beginning was the Word…
We
all had a “beginning.” We know that our
mothers and our fathers were before our beginning as the Word was before the
beginning of Creation. It gives us a
sense of continuity, a sense of foundation that extends back in time to our
earliest human ancestors, Adam and Eve.
We derive a sense of security in knowing that there were those who came
before us. And, knowing that the Word
came before, not only us, but before the beginning of time gives us even more
security knowing that the One who has always existed loves us.
In the
beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God, …as IDENTICAL TWINS
The Word was with God in
time past from all eternity. Because he
was with God we can know that the Word has a separate personality, a uniqueness. The Word
has always existed in relationship with God. The Greek here actually indicates that the
Word was “continually facing toward God.”
How comforting to know that the One who loved
us and died for us has always been in direct intimate relationship with God the
Father.
And now we can have a relationship with God through the Word, through
Jesus Christ. Through
his call to us to believe in Him.
This is the same One spoken of in Revelation 19:13 where it says,
“13He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is
called The Word of God.”
and the Word was God. YET
IDENTICAL!
Not only was
the Word with God, the Word was God.
Not, ‘the Word was the God’. If that were the case there would be no
Trinity, no uniqueness of the Son. But
it is stated “the Word was God.” The
picture here is much like a rubber stamp that creates the image perfectly each
time. The Message paraphrase of the
bible says this in
This
“Word” or “Logos” is eternal, without beginning and without end.
Logos was
and has been with God throughout eternity.
Logos is
and has the nature of God.
This
substantiates Christ’s claim, “I and the Father are
one.”
To
the Jew it says “God is eternal” and the “Logos” is eternal. Logos=God
To
the Gentile it says “the central force of the universe, the key to
understanding all life is God because Logos=God”
To
us today it says that there is something and someone greater than ourselves
that has existed, not only before us, but before time itself began. Yes this is the One that is our Savior,
Redeemer and Friend but He is also well beyond our comprehension: eternal, God,
yet man. To Him we owe, not only our
lives, but our respect and awe.
2He (lit. “This one) was in
the beginning with God.
First
of all, notice the humanity assigned to the Word; He or ‘this one.’ Not just an esoteric idea floating about in
space but “some one.” Not just a vague
philosophical principal but “some One.”
And
that “some One, who was with God and was God, was there, not only before the
beginning of time as we know it, but at
the beginning of time as well…when the world was created, He was with
God at the beginning; in the beginning; involved in the beginning.
That same One was there with
God when you and I were born. That same One knows us intimately because He
created us.
3
That
some One: the Word, the Logos, was an active part of
creation. Nothing exists that He did not
have a hand in creating. Remember the
Jew associated the Logos with “God spoke” and “Thus saith
the Lord.” The Gentile believed that the
Logos was the essence of life, the key to all understanding. Here John is tying it all together. Nothing exists that Logos didn’t create!
Yes,
Jews, you’re right! Yes Gentiles, you’re
right…Logos is important: eternal, in relationship with God…Logos was God’s
partner in Creation!
John
has put forth the idea to his readers that this Logos is a “someone.” He ties this “some One” to the Creation,
showing how the Logos was part of the creative process of all that we know.
For us he has clearly laid
out that the one we know as Jesus Christ is eternal, has always been with God,
is God, is the Creator…what better qualifications could you have for being the
Savior of the World? Who could we owe greater allegiance to than
the One who made us!
4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
In Him, the Logos, was the
essence of Life…after all He created Life! He is the very source of that Life.
What we commonly refer to as life is
really “self-life;” what we do for a living, how we “get ahead,” how many “toys”
we have, the “station” we have in “life.”
But the “Life” talked about here is the source of our being. Jesus is the source of our being, our very
existence! In Him, ONLY in Jesus, do we
find true life…what God intended for us when he created us.
This life that was in Him
shone brilliantly upon all men and illuminated them. This light that shone forth from the source
of all life pierced the darkness of a sinful world. And this darkness, whether
sin, evil or any other name, could not understand, overtake,
overcome or over power the light.
John is showing Jew and Greek alike that
the Logos is not only the source of Life but has come to illuminate all men. Logos
was the shining example of what we were/are supposed
to be!
Remember we were all made in the image of
God? Well think of illumination like
this; when the light of the source of all life shines on you, it shows that
image; kind of like an x-ray. It brings out that image that we were originally
formed around. It sheds light on our
true essence. That same light also shows
everything that is out of line with that image.
John used here examples
that tied the “Logos” to the Old Testament process even further. Knowing that God created light and that Logos
is God and that Logos created all; he uses dark and light as in Genesis:
4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from
the darkness.
19“This is the judgment, that the Light
has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for
their deeds were evil.
We see this clearly
today…people refusing the light, refusing God’s plan for their lives, refusing
Jesus…Trying to “live” on their own, in their own power….Looking for meaning
through drugs, cutting/self-mutilation, sex….Or perhaps by setting other things
above God: work, material possessions, or family!
George Barna recently reported that only the evangelicals put God
above family and they are only 7% of the Christian population.
Those in darkness are
alienated from God through their own blindness. (Eph 4:17-19)
But, the darkness could not extinguish it (v.5: the light of the LOGOS)
Sin=darkness; Crucixion of Christ=darkness but the Light overcoming the darkness is seen in the resurrection!
For us today it says that the Logos is the
source of all life and true light (Truth).
Logos shines it’s light on us to show us our
“possibilities”; how to live as God desires us to live. Logos is eteranl
and can never be defeated by darkness or sin.
The
Witness of Someone other than the Author…
6There
came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to
testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him (The
Light/Logos). 8He
(John) was not the Light, but he (John) came to testify about the
Light.
Everybody had heard of this crazy man who lived in the
wilderness, ate locusts and honey, wore sack cloth and preached repent and be
baptized. They respected him for his
conviction and his devotion to God. The
Gnostics, who believed that material things were evil, loved John because he
didn’t have any!
John the Baptist was not the light nor
the source of life but came to testify about the One that was….the Logos, the
God’s Christ and Messiah, Jesus.
9There
was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every
man.
The one whose essence lit up everthing
around him.
10He
was in the world,
and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
This One who made the world and everything in it came here
(Phil 2:5ff)
but Creation and the created did not even recognize their
maker.
11He
came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
Even those whom God chose as a people unto himself, the
Jews,
Did not accept Him.
HOPE
12But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those
who believe in His name, 13who
were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God. GRACE!
Now
remember there were those who did believe Him, even some Greeks! To these he assigned the privileges
associated with being Sons of God.
And of course for us today, that
believe He was who He said He was, we too are accepted as Sons of God. (Romans 10:9)
14And
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of
the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This
Logos:
BECAME FLESH
LIVED HERE ON EARTH WITH THOSE HE CREATED
HE RADIATED WITH GOD’S GLORY
HE WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF GRACE &
TRUTH
For you and I today it says that
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever would
believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life.
This Logos was Born of a
woman and yet, He created woman.
15John
testified*
about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes
after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” - ETERNAL
16For
of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17For the Law was given
through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
The question is, “What would you rather have, the law or
grace?
Living
under the pressure of keeping hundreds of laws or
The graceful, loving acceptance of a loving Savior.
Only Christ could bring
Grace
to a world that knows only revenge and what “I deserve”
Truth to a world that knows only compromise and
relative truth
18No
one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the
bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
Jesus was the “utterance” of God.
His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power. (
…everything about him represents God exactly. (
When you are in need…do you not
seek help from the one that is best qualified?
If you need a carpenter, you look for the best carpenter. If you are in need of medical attention you
seek out the best doctor. When it comes
to needs for life, go to the Source of that life and the One
who lived on earth; the One who conquered sin & death-Jesus.