Chapter One
John 1:1-18 * * *
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the
beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing
was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.
6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was
John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so
that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not
the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true
light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made
through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet
to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God-13 children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's
will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This
was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed
me because he was before me.'" 16 From the fullness of his grace
we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law
was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and
Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.
Original
Meaning
One reason why the Gospel of John was symbolized
in the ancient church by the eagle is the
lofty heights attained by its prologue. With skill
and delicacy, John handles issues of profound
importance. It comes as no surprise that this prologue has been foundational
to the classic Christian formulation of the doctrine of Christ. Here divinity
and humanity, preexistence and incarnation, revelation and sacrifice are each
discussed by John with deceptive simplicity.
This prologue may well have been an ancient Christian hymn. We know
of other hymns extant especially in Paul's writing, and here too there is an
artful flowing of language and theology. In the medieval church the prologue
was so venerated that it was sometimes worn in an amulet around the neck
to ward off disease and evil spirits. The Roman church read it over the sick
and newly baptized. It was even the final prayer of the Roman mass.
Many scholars have attempted to give some literary form to the hymn,
and it is impossible here to survey their results. I have found a satisfying structure
that combines a number of scholarly insights and breaks down the prologue
into four theologically distinguishable strophes. In Greek literature a
strophe was a turn (as in dance) or a choral poem or lyric used with dance.
In poetry we might call it a stanza. Here John offers four artful "turnings,"
which give us separate glimpses of the Word and his relation to God and the
world.
This prologue is also an overture to the story of the rest of Gospel.
Themes mentioned here will be picked up later and given fuller development:
the preexistence of Christ (1:1; 17:5), divine light entering the world (1:4,
9; 8:12; 9:5), the opposition of light and darkness (1:5; 3:19), the visibility
of glory (1:14; 12:41), Jesus as the only Son (1:14, 18; 3:16), divine birth
(1:12-13; 3:1ff.), and the place of John the Baptist in Jesus' work (1:7, 15;
1:19, 30). More precisely, 1:11-12 reflect the layout or the emphasis of the
Gospel's entire structure: "He came to that which was his own, but his own
did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in
his name, he gave the right to become children of God." The first half of the
Gospel (chs. 1-12, the Book of Signs) describes the rejection of Jesus by
Judaism, "his own people." The second half of the book (chs. 13-21, the
Book of Glory) describes the "flock of Jesus," those who have embraced his
messiahship and followed him.
In its earliest edition, John's Gospel may have begun at 1:19 with the
story of John the Baptist. This hymn was presumably later added by John
about the same time he wrote his letters (cf. the opening verses of 1 John and
the Gospel) to serve as a literary preface or prologue. In order to knit this section
to his Gospel, John added material from the story of John the Baptist
(1:6-8, 15) as well as his own personal commentary on the hymn (1:13, 17-18).
Of course, any reconstruction such as this is speculative; but when examined
closely, it enhances our understanding of the theological message of the
prologue.
The First Strophe
In the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God, And the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
The Second Strophe
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify
to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he
came to testify to the light.]
The Third Strophe
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own people, and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who received him, who believed on his name, he gave the power to become children of God.
[Who were {who was} born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man,
but of God.]
The Fourth Strophe
And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, full of grace and truth.
And we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son.
[John testified to him and cried out, "This is he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me
ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'"]
From his fullness
we have all received grace upon grace.
[The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God. It is {God} the only Son, who is close to the
Father's bosom, who
has made him known.]
The First Strophe: The Logos and God (1:1-2)
The first verses of John's Gospel are a triumph of Christian theology. John
begins by establishing the preeminence of the Word existing before the creation
of the world. The initial allusion to Genesis 1 cannot be missed (John
1:1). This is a Gospel that will record the re-creation of men and women, the
giving of life in darkness where there is no hope. This parallels the thought
of Genesis 1, in which God breathes life into the nostrils of Adam and provides
new possibilities for the world.
John begins by introducing Jesus as "the Word" (logos) and is building here
on much contemporary Jewish thought, where the word of God took on personal
creative attributes (Gen. 1; Ps. 33:6, 9). In the New Testament period
it was personified (Wisd. Sol. 7:24; 18:15-16) and known by some as the
immanent power of God creatively at work in the world (Philo). John identifies
this Word as Jesus Christ. As such John can attribute to him various
divine functions, such as creation (John 1:3, 10) and giving of life (1:4, 14, 16).
(Continues.)
