In Him was life, and the life was the light of men

 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, for He was 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

Our recent readings have been those in the end of the Gospel of Matthew.  At the Resurrection,  Christ and the angel appeared to the two women (Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary").  They were told to go to the disciples and tell them that Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee.  ON Saturday, we read that while they were going, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.  When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.'  And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure."  So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in haven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

 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.   In Saturday's reading, it was established that not only Jesus' authority as divine Son of God is over heaven and earth, but after Incarnation and Resurrection, this is true also of His glorified human nature.  Here in John's Gospel, we begin with the establishment of the identity of the Word, "in the beginning," echoing Genesis.  But this is an eternal existence without beginning, as "in the beginning was the Word."   John teaches us attributes of the Word, the Son:  the Greek is Logos, which can mean "wisdom," "reason," and "action," as well as "word."  He is the One by whom creation was spoken into existence.  He was with God: an eternal communion, and a separate Person.    He was God:  co-eternal and co-equal, with the same divinity as the Father.   He is co-creator, through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made that was made.   He is life; being God, the source of life together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Here is a clue to the Gospel news:  this life is the light of men, and it comes into the world as gift to human beings, and for the life of the world.  Light becomes the vision of this life:  as in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), in Isaiah's vision of heaven and the seraphim or "fiery ones" (Isaiah 6:1-5), and at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-5).  Darkness is spiritual ignorance, and also satanic opposition to the light (a preference for spiritual ignorance).  My study bible says, "Those who hate truth prefer ignorance for themselves and strive to keep others ignorant as well (3:19).  Here the Greek is well-translated as comprehend, because it means both "understand" and "overcome," as in to "take in."  Darkness, says my study bible, cannot overpower the light of Christ, nor can it understand the way of love.

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.    John's Gospel turns to John the Baptist, the Herald or Forerunner, who bears witness of the Light, and is also the last and greatest Old Testament-type prophet.  Light will figure prominently all through John's Gospel. 

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.  Christ offers light to all people, but the world and many of His own refuse to receive Him; therefore they can neither know nor recognize Him.  To accept Him is to have His light and life; the gift of sonship, as heirs; that is children by adoption and inheritors of all that is His by nature.  To believe in His name, my study bible says, "is to believe and trust in the One who in His humanity took the name Jesus as Word, Son, Messiah and Savior."  Children of God are not those by descent (blood), nor birth (will of the flesh), nor decision (will of man), but rather by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit.

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, for He was 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 writes of the Incarnation; the Word became flesh but did not cease to be the Word, fully human and fully God.  "As God and Man in one Person, Christ pours divinity into all of human nature, for anything not assumed by Christ would not have been healed," says my study bible.  The word translated as "dwelt among us" means "tabernacled" (or "tented") in the Greek, just as God's presence was in the ark of the covenant and in the temple.  Here the Word comes to dwell among all of humanity.  His power and service to the world are revealed, in His works and on the Cross; in such was His glory as One sent from Father is beheld, He is full of grace and truth.  My study bible says that grace is Christ's uncreated energy given to us through His love and mercy; truth includes His faithfulness to His promises and covenants, and to the reality of His words and gifts.  His fullness fills us; His grace can fill human nature and make us "God-like," allowing us to become children of God by grace while we remain human beings.  Grace for grace is a Semitic expression meaning an overabundance of grace.  No one has seen God; but the Son can declare Him.  Christ's revelation of God's energies (grace) may be received by the faithful.  Moses saw the "back" of God, (Exodus 33:21-23), Isaiah saw God's glory (Isaiah 6:1, John 12:41).

This is what is called the Prologue of John's Gospel.  He introduces us to Jesus Christ, giving us a full theological understanding in these first eighteen verses.  Right off, the tone of John's Gospel sets it apart from the other three (called the Synoptic Gospels).  While Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us the events of Jesus' life, culminating in His death and Resurrection,  John's Gospel begins with Jesus' eternal identity as Son and Logos, the One who already in the beginning was with God.  John is given the title Theologian in the Eastern Church for this reason.  As we read, we should keep in mind this Prologue, especially as the emphasis on light will keep recurring.  Images of light come to permeate the text with meaning, and we should remember that Christ's light and life itself are synonymous.  That is, the life of God (in whom only is life), and the light of knowledge and participation by grace in that life -- and all the things that can mean for us.  We should notice the contrast in the Prologue between Light and Darkness.  Light is the life God offers and all that the Incarnation brings to us; darkness is that which seeks to deny the light and to keep true life from human beings.  It is both ignorance of the light and the deliberate desire and activity for ignorance of that light. The earliest Church documents show us that the teachings of the Apostles were rooted in this theology of the way of life in opposition to the way of death, as a choice open to us.  In another sense, the absence of life and light means an absence of true substance and meaning.  Jesus' Incarnation as the Word or Logos of God is to bring us all the choice of this light and what it offers to us,  "grace for grace."  It's up to us, to what we truly desire, where our treasure is.  The fear of the light is just that, fear:  it's what we're left with minus the light.  John is also the Evangelist of love, giving as theology the teaching that God is love.  In this we dwell when we choose the light.