In the Beginning was the Word
“IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) Unlike the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, which present the birth of Jesus and then his life and ministry, the gospel of John presents Jesus as the word of God that was at the beginning of everything. How can we understand this quote? Let’s discover what logos is and how it is described in the prologue of the Gospel of John!
In the Beginning was the Word
What is logos?
Logos is a Greek word used in the New Testament and means “word, verb”. In the gospel of John, Jesus is presented to us as the Logos, the very word of God. Thus, at the beginning of everything, Jesus, the Logos, was. This passage is also translated as follows: “In the beginning was the one who is the word of God. He was with God, he was God himself.” (John 1:1 version of the Sower’s Bible).
The word made flesh
This logos that was with God came to live on earth. Indeed, the apostle John testifies that Jesus is God and the very embodiment of the word of God. That is why Jesus himself said: “(...) “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Thus, when we study who Jesus is through the New Testament, and mainly the gospels, we receive the revelation of the word of God and come to know God.
Prologue of the Gospel of John
“IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
02 He was with God in the beginning.
03 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 all mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all 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 everyone 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 did receive 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 Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)
