“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).
The common error with many students of scripture is that little time is taken to be acquainted with a proper use of the written text at hand. This in no way means that any student of God’s Word will hear what is being spoken after intense study. But it does mean that many will make hasty conclusions based upon ‘assumed’ interpretations. And this, often too late to attend to the counsel of the Holy Spirit. “Those who have ears to hear, they will hear” (Luke 8:8).
Hence, we must be well acquainted with Scripture, in the midst of err, to know the genuine from the imitation, “correctly dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Now with that being said, let us take a serious look at the complete picture, just as the apostle Paul resolved to do, with “his wisdom from God”, (2 Peter 3:15) by “…reasoning with them according to the Scriptures”, (Acts 17:2) and use a form of interpretation known as – Exegesis.
Exegesis means: “(From the Greek: ξηγε σθαι ‘to lead out’) involves an extensive and critical interpretation of any text, especially of a Holy Scripture, such as the Old and New Testaments, the Talmud, the Midrash, the Qur’an, etc. An exegete is an expert in this science, and the adjectival form is exegetic. The word exegesis means to ‘draw the meaning out’ of a given text” (Wikipedia).
Simply, a true exegete has well researched his subject. He has an accurate rendering of the worldview of the time, knows the history of their ancient writing, and is familiar with the use of their language and its terminology compared to modern speech and expression. Then, he clarifies that information while applying it to present times and what its meaning represents to us, the reader of today. Thankfully, this method leaves little room for wrong thinking.
So, let us begin then, our scientific exegetical study.
The Author of the book in consideration is John the apostle, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 20, 20:2, 21:7, 24). He was prominent in the Church and new the life and customs of the Jews as well as the Greeks. John begins his Gospel with the profound announcement that Jesus, The Son, is the “in the beginning” (John 1:1) creative Word of God who had become embodied, incarnated in the flesh, as a human being. Wisely, he uses the most potent terminology understood by the Greek scholar with the most daring expression ever applied to Jesus in Scripture – The Logos.
Now, in John’s day, the Greeks were deep thinkers. They spent years in philosophical debate while flirting with the latest theories any of their minds would present. They pondered many difficult subject matter including; the nature of spiritual concepts, the many facets of the mind and it’s various counterparts, the purpose of religion, various doctrines within the mystery of life, and the possible ramifications of life after death. These erudite masters, from under their founding fathers; Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, among others, delved into areas of the elements, principalities, substances, and the forces of nature. They spent decades and even lifetimes forming their ideas and cultivating them with the latest insights that added to each avenue of thought. They were intense analyzers of spirit, mind, and body. They were the physicists of their time.
John new this all too well. He was one to use whatever means was available to communicate the Gospel and make sure there was no lesser argument to diminish his statement of terms. He was no proletarian to reason.
In that light, he speaks to them on their ground with a most profound prose: “In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).
First, notice that John uses the vernacular to personify the term. He does not say “It was with God in the beginning” But, “He was in the beginning.” A personal characteristic of the living God – One that denotes an ever present eternal being, having always been.
Consider these definitions of the infamous Greek word Logos. The term only John used in his most courageous Gospel:
– New Testament Greek Lexicon –
“In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world’s life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man’s salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.
A Greek philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John’s purpose in John 1″ (NT Greek Lexicon).
– The Britannica Encyclopedia –
“(Greek : “word,” “reason,” “plan”) In Greek philosophy and theology, the divine reason that orders the cosmos and gives it form and meaning. The concept is found in the writings of Heraclitus (6th century BC) and in Persian, Indian, and Egyptian philosophical and theological systems as well. It is particularly significant in Christian theology, where it is used to describe the role of Jesus as the principle of God active in the creation and ordering of the cosmos and in the revelation of the divine plan of salvation. This is most clearly stated in the Gospel of John the Apostle, which identifies Christ as the Word (Logos) made flesh” (Britannica).
“…the principle of God active in the creation…” – (Genesis 1)
“…the revelation of the divine plan of salvation.” – (Revelation 1)
Indeed!
This most insightful term is literally meant to convey an eternal quality of God in His pre-existent state, without a beginning and without an end, having not been created. In other terms, He was in the Eternal Mind of the Father, as in His most Divine and pre-eminent Thought. This is the true meaning of the Logos and one in which John makes use of to the fullest. It is an idea he purposefully used to express the nature of the Son – being that of the Eternal Logos in the Father by which all things were created. “God spoke…and it was so” (Genesis 1).
How else did God speak all things into existence if not through His most effective Word. It is no wonder that the words of John start with, “In the beginning the Word…” just as in the first words of the book of Genesis start with, “In the beginning God…” This was no chance phrase. And in this voice the author of the Gospel according to John relays, it is this very Word that “…became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The very presence of God among His people! (Immanuel: God with us). Therefore, not only does God’s Word create life, but He becomes the life within the beginning…within every beginning. Without Him, there would be no beginning what so ever.
Just as the great thinkers of John’s day, he knew what he was proposing. Indeed, their understanding was that nothing comes about without a source, or some form of idea developed within the Mind, the First Thought. Nor would there be a creation unless there was Intelligence present. And that was exactly the idea John was entertaining to his company of cohorts.
Therefore, according to the Gospel of John, given the evidence from all other possibilities, the truth was, The Word (Logos), the eternal Logos, was that very person in the Mind of God whom the Father sent by way of the Son – the Life through which only He could manage to begat.
Even the Jewish leaders, in their own words, speak of the Son’s divine primacy, where His true deity is sited by them, arguing, “…(how is it) you being a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33). If His claims we not true, why then did He claim them? Saying, “I and the Father ARE ONE” (John 10:30). A deliberate announcement of His position and the true reason for His crucifixion. Blasphemer? No! This is what John was attributing to his Lord. And non else would do.
The simple truth is, The Word (Logos), The Life and The Light made flesh, is the only means by which everything can begin or end. That is, without God’s Word, nothing would form and everything would cease to be. For, “the Word WAS God” and, “…the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9). The Life of God He is.
“I John am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood. “I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen” (Revelation 22:8-21).
Seth En Way (Edward John Scola) – 2005
