The Prologue to the Gospel of John

The Gospel According to Saint John

John 1:1-5

(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God; (3) all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (4) In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The commencement of everything visible and invisible begins with God. In the first chapter of Genesis, God brings order to the universe out of primal chaos. Moses uses the story of creation to show God’s all powerfulness, how he is uncreated, infinite and, eternal.  Moses uses words to depict this scene such as, “In the beginning,” (which preludes to how God is the beginning, the Alpha and the Omega, Rev1:8) and “Then God said… and there was” (the prevailing Word God).

The prologue of John’s Gospel is rooted so firmly in the creation story to show that John is no doubt portraying the good news to mankind that the Jewish God of the Pentateuch is the same God being made flesh. John uses three motives to make this point; God is the beginning, God is the Word, and God is the light. The initiation of John’s Gospel is grounded into the Old Testament story of creation so that he can adequately reveal that “the Word became flesh.” The Gospel of Saint John starts with the same three words as Genesis 1:1, “In the Beginning.” Genesis goes on to say however, “when God created the heavens and the earth,” the keyword being the adverb “when” which tells us that creation is about to happen.

John on the other hand, offers an ever deeper look at the situation by starting even before creation, when God and his Word was all of existence. John finishes the sentence with “was the Word.” The keyword being the verb “was”. John uses the word “was,” where as Moses uses the word “when.” John says “was” three times with three different meanings. He is speaking of a point in eternity before creation to show that God is existence “was the word,” God is relationship “was with God,” and God is predication “was God.” Looking at these three uses, a very deep connotation is found. “The Word” otherwise know as the Greek logos, is used as God’s instrument to personify the story of creation. John 1:1 is a direct parallel to the very same logos that Moses writes of in Genesis 1:3, “Then God said… and there was.” “With God” is then used to show the relational subscript of God and his word. The relationship is communication, as something that is God but external of him. “Was God” implies that “the Word” is external of God, but is fully God. The lack of a defined article between “the” and “Word” indicates predication rather than classification.

The Gospel of John uses the recurring theme of light and darkness to portray ethical dualism which illustrates good and evil. In Genesis 1:3 the powerful word of God is used for the first time when God speaks and it is done; “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” It is no surprise that the first marvel God spoke into the world was that of light. God spoke his illuminating power into the world, the life giving light that makes growth possible. The light that God spoke into the world tells us about God, it reveals his power and purpose that John also speaks of; to “shine in the darkness.” Continuing to root his gospel into the creation story, John parallels verse four and five directly to Genesis 1:3-5. Genesis shows us the physical and actual light that makes the day light, and the darkness night. John once again writes with a deeper understanding. While Genesis shows us the physical characteristic of light, John shows us the spiritual and supernatural aspect. Moses writes about the light that makes life on earth possible, and John writes about the light that makes eternal life possible.   

In both John and Genesis it is clear that God is in the beginning with the Word and all things are made through him. In verse four John then says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men,” John’s third motive. John is taking what Moses said about how good the light was in creation and using the same method to deliver the light of the world: Jesus Christ. John is grounding his introduction into Genesis in order to make a strong foundation for what he is about to reveal. John has made it clear that God is truly the life giving light, but he must emphasize the importance of the creation story in order to fully illustrate that the second person of the Trinity is truly God. The correlations between John 1:1-5 and the creation story, fully prepare the reader to receive Jesus Christ as God. 

John continues, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Once again, a corresponding verse is given in Genesis 1:4-5, “And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” In these comparable verses, it is seen again that Genesis is drawing the conclusion that the light is physically good and greater than the darkness, but John is delivering a different message. John grounds this message into Genesis to show that the physical light is indeed God, but that the light of the New Testament is the light of the world: the Messiah. John uses the creation story to convey this message; however, he does not affirm the clarity of the “light of the world” until later in his Gospel. John is foreshadowing here what he will explain in 9:5 and 12:46, when Jesus is speaking as the light that has come into the world. Once again referring to Genesis, Jesus is now announcing that he is truly the light that is God, the light that was spoken into the world in the beginning. Jesus is revealing that he is the one that “darkness has not overcome.” Moses spoke of the illuminating light, but with the good news of the Gospel, John makes known that the Word has become flesh and the light of the world has come.

           These poetic first five verses of St. John’s Gospel are deeply profound and present an extraordinarily divine revelation of the New Testament. Their roots being grounded onto the creation story of Moses are of great importance as they tie the Jewish God of the Pentateuch to the Christian God of the Bible. The direct parallels that John establishes at the beginning of his Gospel set the platform to introduce Jesus Christ into the world as the light and the Messiah. As Jesus’ beloved disciple, John understood the tremendous importance of this message the best and thus prepares the world to value it with deep significance. John makes this message as clear as possible with the use of his three motives which prevail that God is the beginning, God is the word, and God is the light. John wrote such profound words to indicate that Jesus Christ truly is consubstantial with the father.  The Word becoming flesh is no doubt one of the highest climaxes to human salvation; John uses parallels to Geneses which paint this picture better than any of the other Gospels.