In the beginning was the Word

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

- John 1:1-18

Today we begin a new book of the Gospel, the Gospel of John.  These verses, 1-18, form what is called the "Prologue" of the Gospel, which proclaims the identity of Christ.  In the Eastern Church, it is read during the Easter (Pascha) liturgy.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  These few verses tell us an extraordinary amount of our theology, and continue to inform the worldwide Church about Christ.  The first verse alone tells us so much that was to be debated and continues to be the source of what we understand and question.  My study bible has several notes from which I will attempt to quote in part.  It suggests that in the beginning not only recalls creation but also the Creator.  Genesis, it says, introduces the original creation which is by itself an incomplete existence;  but this verse reveals the new creation, a fulfilled and complete existence.  The Word exists eternally, the word was indicates existence without a starting point, eternally with the Father without a beginning.  The Greek word Logos "signifies wisdom and reason as well as word:  the Creator," says my study bible.  Creation is logikos in the Greek, that which participates in the Divine Word.  "With the Incarnation, the Logos fully participates in human nature."   With God tells us about Father and Son, as separate Persons, but one is essence.  My study bible adds, "The Old Testament prophets saw the Word of God as the presence of the Lord.  This phrase reveals He is not only from the Father, He is coequal and coeternal with the Father:  one in divinity with Him."  He is also co-Creator of all things, "will, operation and power are seen to be one in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."  Light will play an important role in this Gospel, and Christ Himself is the light, He is the "source of life and enlightenment," a note continues.  "By seeing and participating in Christ's life believers become light and children of light (John 12:36).  Moses saw this light in the burning bush (Ex. 3:2), Isaiah saw it in his heavenly vision (Is. 6:1-5), and Peter, James and John saw it on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:2)."  Darkness is that which "actively opposes the light.  Though the world has embraced darkness (3:19), the Word freely offers light to all."  The word in Greek for "comprehend" has the same meanings it does in English:  both to understand and to take in, or overcome.  "Darkness," my study bible says, "will oppose the light, yet cannot defeat the light."

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  Here we get a sense of witnessing, of testimony:  John the Baptist bears witness.  He is a prophet in the mold of the Old Testament prophets.  The true Light is Christ but Christ illuminates all those who wish for that light, including the prophets such as John.  Even so, the world did not know Him, did not receive Him.  Even as Creator, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But each has the right to do so, to become children of God, reborn in God, in Spirit, as Christ will teach.  To believe, in the Greek, is to trust -- and all the implications of this word form the basis of the long journey of this faith.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.  My study bible says, "We [those among whom He dwelt] are the disciples, the people of God, pilgrims in the transient world.  In the Old Testament, God's glory, His radiant power, dwelt ["tabernacled" or "tented" in the Greek here] in the temple.  Here, the eternal Word in His divine glory comes to dwell in the midst of humanity through the Incarnation."  Thus, He is both fully God and fully human.  My study bible says regarding full of grace and truth:  "This phrase qualifies not only 'the Word' but also 'the glory.'  Grace is Jesus' uncreated energy manifested to us through His lovingkindness and redeeming love.  Truth includes His faithfulness to his promises and covenants, and the abiding reality of His gifts.  By His grace and truth we enjoy a life in union and communion with God through Christ."  As Christ's nature illumined and transfigured His human nature, so He sets for us an example; by His grace we, too, can become "like God," or godlike, we can grow in the illumination and light through His gift, through those uncountable graces of the Spirit for human beings.  "Grace for grace" is a Semitic expression, says my study bible, which means an abundance of grace.  Only God can know God in God's essence (no one has seen God), but through Christ, God has been declared to us.  As "Light of Light" Christ reveals light to us as we can "comprehend" it and grow in it, and share it with others.

So, what is the fullness of His grace?  The fullness of Christ?  The fullness of His truth?  Surely this is a key phrase here, something we are to focus on.  John's Gospel, out of all the Gospels, really focuses us in on exactly who Jesus is, what His truth is, what it is to be reborn in Spirit.  We can't know the identity of Christ merely as a historical narrative.  We cannot understand this fullness without the light that John the Evangelist will come back to and tell us about repeatedly through his Gospel.  There must be more to Jesus than a historical set of facts, certain stories, and even His preaching.  There is more that we can only perceive through His grace, through the work of the Spirit, and even the revelation of the Father.  There is so much more to the fullness of Christ, this complete and absolute gift, this divine Light, ever-illuminating and compelling us to see a way forward.  It is always giving, there is always more to illumine us.  And this is the real point of John's Gospel, the chief message, the thing we are to understand.  The graces, gifts of the Spirit are myriad and uncountable, infinite in distribution and fullness.  But all of this is possible, given to us freely through the fullness of the grace and truth of Christ, who became as fully human as He is divine.  It's all on offer, that infinite fullness, at any time.  And the key to it, really, is love, because love is inseparable from the trust of faith.  Grace for grace, the Light is there for each of us, all the time, in every moment which we can take for that union, that time for prayer, to turn our hearts to the place where we can know Him, at least as we are able.