What's in a Word?

Ask many people what they know about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and they might mention the Christmas stories of shepherds, Bethlehem and angels. These themes are present in two of the gospel writers' stories - along with wise men, a star and King Herod.

When John wrote his gospel, however, he began his story of the life of Jesus much further back in time:  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

A little later in the same passage, John identifies this "Word":

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word, says John, is also the Son. 

Finally, John gives us a name to this slightly mysterious person:

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

The Word, says John, is the Son; and the Son is Jesus Christ. 

This blog focuses on the words of Jesus, as recorded by a first-century eye-witness known to us simply as John. Before John quotes any of the words of Jesus, however, he says something profound about Jesus himself: that he is and was the Word. 

John's claims are breath-taking:
  • that Jesus the Word existed in the beginning, before the universe came into being
  • that Jesus the Word was both with God and was God
  • that everything in the universe was made through Jesus the Word
  • that Jesus the Word possesses the life that is the source of all human enlightenment 
Finally, John claims that Jesus the Word was God's Son, in close relationship with God the Father, and that Jesus has made God known to the human race. 

One writer has said that John "throws us in at the deep end" by starting his gospel in this way. What do you make of the claims he makes? Please share your questions and thoughts below.

You can read the whole of the passage quoted in this post here. 

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