In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

Pivotal between the OT and NT, this verse packs a huge punch, being significant on several levels. While the Gospel According to John holds fourth place in the standard arrangement of the NT canon, it presents the story from John’s perspective in continuity with the OT.

The term “gospel” does not technically refer to the book, as people today popularly refer to the first four books of the NT (e.g. “There are four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”) There is one, and only one, Gospel: the story of the good news of Jesus Christ. The earliest titles of the four books were “According to Matthew,” “According to Mark,” etc. Each one starts at the beginning. Matthew, Mark and Luke are often referred to as the “synoptics” because they cover many of the same incidents of Jesus’ life and ministry and have a great many similarities in presentation. They all begin with the start of Jesus’ earthly life. But the Gospel According to John is different in many ways, and begins at the beginning of all things, similar to Genesis 1:1.

The central figure of the story is, of course, Jesus. The writer of our passage today, John, focuses in his account on only seven of the miracle stories but provides a great amount of commentary for each. He writes with simple Greek grammatical construction and vocabulary but conveys lofty concepts. Most likely, he wrote many years after the three other accounts were penned, and being aware of their writings, he wanted to give not just a different emphasis but a much deeper understanding of Christ in His divinity.

So he begins with an identity statement. Now it is clear that “the Word” refers to Jesus Christ: “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” (John 1:14). But why describe Him as “the Word” (“logos”)? Much has been written on this subject. A common understanding comes from the Greek philosophical context that sees “logos” as the ultimate controlling principle that animates all living things. While there may be some hints of this usage in John’s writings, he himself was not educated in the philosophic writings of the secular thinkers of the ancient world. Remember, he was a simple fisherman by trade. While Greek philosophy had indeed saturated Roman culture during John’s day, he was more a child of Hebrew thought. And together with the many parallels in his gospel account with the OT stories, it is best to understand the meaning of Christ being “the Word” in the Jewish context.

Lord, thank You for preserving the written Word, the four gospel accounts.