In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

 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

 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  Today the lectionary begins its new cycle with the beginning of the Gospel of John.  This "beginning" is known as the Prologue, and it begins by introducing us to God the Word, the only-begotten eternal Son.  The other three Gospels (called the Synoptic Gospels) speak chronologically of the life and ministry of Jesus, but John's Gospel gives us right from the beginning the theological orientation of the early Church.  That is, by the time this Gospel was written, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was understood in His divine identity, and not only in the human identity of Jesus.  Therefore, an understanding of both at once is necessary to the story of Christ.  In the beginning, my study bible says, reminds us of the story of creation in Genesis.  Genesis spoke of the first creation, but this Prologue given in today's reading (verses 1-18) reveals the new creation in Christ.  It tells us first off that in the beginning was the Word, which is Logos in the Greek.  The Word is the eternal Son of God.  The word was as written here indicates an existence without reference to a starting point -- that is, the Word exists eternally without beginning.  In the beginning, the Word already was.  Logos can take on many meanings from Greek history and literature:  it can mean "wisdom," "reason," and "action" as well as "word."  Each of these meanings are attributes of the Son of God.  The Word was with God:  The Word, who is the Son of God, is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father.  He Himself is God with the same divinity as the Father.  

 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.  My study bible notes here that the Word is the co-Creator with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1; Psalms 33:6, 9; Hebrews 1:2), and not an instrument or servant used by the Father.  It says that will, operation, and power are one in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Therefore the heavens and earth are the works of the One who made them, while the Son was not made but is, rather, eternally begotten of the Father.  Moreover, the text tells us, only God has life in Himself.  Therefore, the Word, who is God, is the source of life, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The life was the light of men:  My study bible points out to us that John now introduces humankind as receiver of divine light.  As we participate in the life of the Son, believers become children of the light (12:36; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).  Moses saw the divine light in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2); the whole nation of Israel saw it at the Red Sea (Exodus 13:21); Isaiah saw it in his vision of heaven (Isaiah 6:1-5); and three apostles (John, the author of this Gospel, his brother James, and Peter) saw it at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-5).  Darkness is an indication of both spiritual ignorance and also satanic opposition to the light, my study bible tells us.  Those who hate truth prefer ignorance for themselves and they also strive to keep others ignorant (3:19); this is true both of worldly and spiritual forces of darkness.  The important contextual word that is translated as comprehend means in Greek (as it does in English) both to "understand" and to "overcome."  It is akin to the expression to "take in."  Therefore, darkness can never overpower the light of Christ, my study bible says, nor can it understand the way of love.  As we read the story of Jesus and even come to know our own journey of faith, these are important things to keep in mind.

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.  John here is John the Baptist (not the attributed author of the Gospel).  My study bible notes for us that Christ offers light to every person, but the world and even many of His own refuse to receive Him; therefore they can neither know nor recognize Him.  The first "His own" indicates His own things or domain, and the second indicates His own people.  Those who accept Him, my study bible says, have His light.  In Orthodox liturgies, after receiving communion, a hymn proclaims, "We have seen the true light, we have received the heavenly Spirit."

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.  My study bible explains here that right also means "authority" and that it indicates a gift from God, not an inalienable right.  Those who receive Christ, it says, become children of God by adoption (Galatians 4:4-7) and by grace they inherit everything Christ is by nature.  (That is, we were endowed with the capacity to become more "like God"; see Genesis 1:26, and also the "fruit of the Spirit" given by St. Paul in Galatians 5:22-23, and 2 Peter 1:1-11.)  Adoption as a child of God, my study bible adds, is neither a matter of ethnic descent (of blood) as in the Old Testament; and neither are we children of God by natural birth alone (the will of the flesh); nor does it come by our own decision (the will of man).   To become a child of God is a spiritual birth by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit.  This clearly suggests its accomplishment and manifestation in the sacrament of Holy Baptism, but it also remains a lifelong process (see 3:5-8, and Titus 3:4-7).

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.' "    My study bible says that the Word became flesh is a clarification of the way in which the Son and Word of God came to His people (as indicated in the verses above), and it points specifically to Christ's Incarnation.  The Word became fully human without ceasing to be fully God, it notes here.  God the Son assumed complete human nature:  body, soul, will, emotion, even mortality; that is, everything that pertains to humanity with the exception of sin.  As Christ is God and Man in one Person, He pours divinity into all human nature -- for anything which was not assumed by Christ would not have been healed.  We are to understand that the entirety of this great central spiritual event of world history is for healing and salvation, a gift to us.  That He dwelt among us is a translation of a Greek word that literally means "tabernacled."  Similarly to the way in which God's presence dwelt in the ark of the covenant, and later in the temple, so Christ was in the world:  the eternal Word comes to dwell in and among humanity itself.  My says also that His glory refers both to Christ's divine power that was shown in His signs and wonders (2:11; 11:4, 40), but also to His humble service to human beings, which was shown most perfectly on the Cross (12:23-32; 13:31).  In both ways, it is revealed by Christ that He is the One sent from the Father.  Only begotten of the Father:  My study bible notes that the Son has no beginning, but rather has the Father as His source from eternity.  It says that He is called only begotten because there is no other born from the Father.  (In the understanding of the historical Church, the Holy Spirit exists eternally from the Father through another mystery which is called "procession" -- see 15:26).  To be full of grace and truth modifies both "the Word" and also "His glory."  Grace, my study bible explains, we are to understand as Christ's uncreated energy, which is given to us through His love and mercy.  Truth includes both His faithfulness to His promises and covenants, as well as to the reality of His words and gifts. 

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.  My study bible notes that in saying we have all received of His fullness, the Scriptures are confirming that God's grace can fill human nature to the extent of actually deifying it.  That is, in Christ, God's children become like gods by grace, without ceasing to be human (see Jesus' statement in 10:34-35, which references Psalm 82:6).  In patristic tradition, this process is likened to a piece of metal thrust into fire, which takes on the properties of the fire -- such as heat and light -- but without ceasing to be metal.  So human nature permeated by God, my study bible explains, takes on properties of the divine nature.  Grace for grace is a Semitic expression which signifies an overabundance of grace.

No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.  This statement emphasizes that no one can see the nature, or essence, of God, my study bible explains, for to see God is to die (Exodus 33:20).  This means that only One who is also divine can see God, and therefore the Son is the only One who can declare God to the world.  My study bible says that this revelation of the energies of God can be received by the faithful.  This is simply the nature of grace and mercy.  Moses saw the "back" of God (Exodus 33:21-23); Isaiah saw His glory (see Isaiah 6:1; John 12:41).

Thus begins the theological introduction (or more formally called the Prologue) to John's Gospel.  Right from the beginning, we can hear and witness that John's statement comes from his experience of the Christ and also the perspective of the early Church, having witnessed and understood the work of the Spirit in the world and also the meaning of Christ's teachings.  John's Gospel is generally understood to be the last written of the Gospels, and John -- who became a disciple as  young man -- was quite old when it was written, having survived persecution and exile as a member of the early Church.  Whether this Gospel is actually personally written by John Zebedee, or by a disciple, it matters little.  The testimony of John's witness is the same.   In the Gospel of John, we are given to understand John's earlier discipleship to John the Baptist, his close relationship to Christ as "beloved disciple," and even that he becomes a surrogate son to Mary, the Mother of God, by Christ's designation at the Cross.  Often, I find small hints or glimmers of ideas that link John and Mary, special passages that show her character, or perhaps information that she alone would have had.  This includes her human personality, passed on through birth to form a part of Christ's humanity, a great designation indeed.  As we begin to read this Gospel, keep in mind its uniqueness, and that it was significant enough to our earliest Christian ancestors to pass on their perspective on just who Jesus Christ was, that it is written with this Prologue, in the beginning, and teaching us who He really was as Son.  It is useful to keep in mind that in the early Church, Christ's Nativity was not celebrated separately from His Baptism by John the Baptist.  The perspective shaped through the union of these two events designates that Christ's birth into the world, as well as the birth of His ministry -- and the revelation of the Trinity and the Son's place in it -- are of equal importance and reflected meanings back and forth toward each of these events.  We have just passed through the Christmas season, and also Epiphany, which in the East has always designated the Baptism and revelation of the Trinity, which may also be called Theophany (a revelation or manifestation of God).  Whatever we are to understand from John the Evangelist, Christ's human life is inseparable from its meanings on theological terms, and His identity as Savior and Son of God.  Let us keep this in mind, that the two are not ever separate, nor is one understood -- in the traditional perspective of the Church -- without the other.  So, just the same, we are given to understand that our faith is a living spiritual reality, and our wholeness as human beings incorporating the body, the soul, and the spirit.  This is a mystical reality that gives us a clue to who we really are -- and the fullness or completeness of the identity of Jesus Christ also teaches us about ourselves, who we are, and our faith that invites us into living participation in His life.