John 1:1 says,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word. was. God.
The Gospel of John begins much like Genesis, the
“book of beginnings”
The account of creation in Genesis begins with the phrase
In the beginning
(Genesis 1:1),
which is translated from the Hebrew word bereshit.
In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), which shares the
same language as the Gospel of John,
the words used in Genesis 1:1a are identical with John 1:1a:
en arche, or “in the beginning.”
“In the beginning was the Word”
(John 1:1).
To the audience receiving the gospel,
John’s intentions in this statement
would be clear—“the Word” is connected with the
God of Israel, the Creator
of all things. John further explains this idea two verses later in John 1:3,
“All-things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being
that has come into being”
“The Word”
is the sole means by which reality -finds- its "existence"--
He -is- the Creator of all things, and without Him
no created thing would exist
Before anything was created, “the Word” existed
“The Word”
is used within the first chapter of John four times.
The context for each occurrence is used to
• describe the eternality of “the Word” (1:1a)
• describe the distinction of “the Word” from God (1:1b)
• describe the identity of “the Word” as God (1:1c)
• identify the person described by the phrase the Word (1:14)
Jesus Christ IS. “the Word” that was in the beginning
(see John 1:14–18).
Word”comes from the Greek term -logos- Logos would have been a -familiar- concept
for both the Jews (Psalm 33:6) and the Greeks
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-TODAY-
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U-Turn
The -Jew- would *-understand- the word of God
to -point- to -creative- and --communicative *acts
of their --personal -God-
-Greek- philosophers
-utilized- the -concept to -*identify- the -reason, thinking, or -mind of
divine *authority
as words were utilized to -explain- the *thinking of the one using them. To both potential groups
-receiving- John’s writing, the emphasis on the -object behind-
"the Word” was clear Interestingly, John utilizes Logos in the first verse of his prologue (John 1:1–18)
while explaining it in the last verse of the prologue.
Much like Paul explains Jesus as revelatory
(Hebrews 1:1–3; Colossians 1:15–20),
John shows that Jesus is the complete revelation of God
when he states, “He [Jesus] has explained Him [the Father]”
(John 1:18, NASB).
“The Word”
also finds connection with the Hebrew word dabar,
which means, “word, matter, word of God.”
This Hebrew word, in connection with God’s name,
Yahweh appears 261 times in the Hebrew Old Testament and is
translated most typically as "the word of the Lord.”
The repeated usage of the phrase establishes a
foundational connection between God and His personal interaction with His creation Not only was -everything created through- the use of words
(Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26),
But God continues to Interact with Creation through the use of his words,
THE WORD (2 Timothy 3:16–17) and the Word (John 14:6).
The statement
“In the beginning was the Word”
encapsulates the eternality of the Word, the creating power of the Word, and the revelatory nature of the Word.
As John later defines theWord as being Jesus
(John 1:14–18),
the purpose of the Gospel of John becomes clear--“ that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in
his name”
(John 20:31).
Jesus is the revelatory and actual
eternal Creator-- the object of the Christian’s faith. He is not simply a
representation of God, He IS GOD and He has always been so:
“In the beginning was the Word.” The remaining chapters of
the Gospel of John endeavor to show this statement to be
true.
In John 10 Jesus presents Himself as the Good Shepherd and,
in a debate with the Jewish leaders, makes the claim,
“I and the Father are one”
(John 10:30).
It was a bold statement—one His audience found quite audacious-- and it reveals much about who Jesus is.
Five key observations can be made concerning this passage.
First,
Jesus claimed to be -one- with God in the sense of
being -equal- to Him. Jesus did not claim to be merely a messenger or prophet of God, but of equal power with God
Second,
His audience understood that Jesus was claiming equality
with God the Father In verse 31, “The Jews picked up stones -again-
to stone him.”
Why?
Blasphemy was a crime punishable by death-according to the-
Jewish Law When Jesus asked why they were planning to kill Him,
they answered, “For blasphemy, because you, being a man,
make yourself God”
(John 10:33).
If Jesus had been lying or deceived, His statement would have been blasphemous. In fact, the only way His words were not blasphemy
is if Jesus was telling the truth about His equality with God.
Third,
Jesus referred to Himself as God’s Son and to God as His Father
(John 10:36–37).
He used Psalm 82:6 to show that the Messiah has the right to claim the title “Son of God.”
Fourth,
Jesus claimed that the Father --sent-- Him: “the one whom the Father
--set apart--
as his -very own- and -sent- into the world”
(John 10:36).
In this statement,
Jesus claimed --preexistence--in the Father’s presence-- No biblical prophet had --ever-- made --such a claim before-- yet Jesus claimed to ---exist----before- Abraham
(John 8:58).
Fifth,
Jesus only stated that the Jews did not believe Him; He never said they misunderstood His claim to be God. John 10:38 notes,
“Even -though- you do -not believe- me, -believe- the works,
that you may -know- and -understand-
that the Father -is in- me and ''I" -in- the -Father-
Jesus was not
correcting a misunderstanding. They understood what He said perfectly. He was correcting their willful rejection of Him.
Colossians 1:16–17
affirms Jesus’ same teaching:
"In him all things were created: things in -heaven- and on 'earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” John 1:1
explicitly notes that Jesus was both with God in the beginning and was God.
In summary,
Jesus claimed to be -one with- the -Father- ''as part" of a -larger-
argument to note that He had -existed from eternity- past,
lived in perfect oneness with the Father,
held the same power as God, and was
--sent-- by God the Father’s --authority--
Unfortunately, He was rejected as divine by the Jewish leaders.
Jesus’ claim to have equal power -as- the Father
was not blasphemy. It was the plain
truth.