John – Chapter 1:1-5
Introduction: Chrysostom: “He effects everything by his speech alone, which is sweeter and produces a more beneficial sound than any harper or music.” Weinrich: “it functions like an overture to an opera… gathers together and introduces the themes that will structure and guide the musical narrative that follows… an overture weaves the themes together, recapitulates, and gives a unity to the story of the opera. The key to understanding the Prologue, as to the rest of the Gospel, is John 5:39: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. Of the opening “hymn” that is the Prologue (v.1-18), the clearest divisions are v.1-5, 6-13, and 14-18. Within v. 1-5 John uses the literary device of step parallelism: ἀρχῇ > λόγος, λόγος > θεόν, ζωὴ > φῶς, φῶ > σκοτίᾳ, presenting a historic summary of the revelation of the Word: the Word revealed and known in Jesus Christ is the divine Word who is eternally Word of God and who spoke and worked throughout the OT. The Word continues to shine in the darkness through the witness of the church. v.1a ἦν – the Gospel begins with three subordinate clauses, all with ὁ λόγος, “The Word,” as the subject and ἦν, “was,” as the verb. This for of “to be” is in the imperfect case, indicating continuing condition or status. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, “beginning,” indicates not the beginning of time but rather that which lies beyond time. This is an echo of Gen 1:1 (LXX). God created by means of the Word (Wisdom). Consider Proverbs 8:22-23: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” Thus, “Word” is not understood as “words” but rather “speech” or “address.” v. 1b “turned toward God” might suggest spatial movement but relationship and status. “In the Beginning was the Word… and the Word became flesh” indicates that all we can know of God and the Word is known in the man Jesus Christ. God apart from His words and works is unknown and unknowable. “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (Ps 33:9; see also Isaiah 55:11) The preexistence of Jesus is emphasized elsewhere (Jn 8:58). Rather here the…