In the Beginning
John begins his Gospel at the beginning. Not with the birth of Jesus to Mary in Bethlehem, but with the Beginning of Creation itself. He is deliberately echoing Genesis 1—“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”—and the question is, Why? What’s he trying to tell us? Why would you begin a Gospel in this way?
John wants us to understand that the Word, i.e., the Second Person of the Trinity, is both God and distinct from God, and was in existence before he was born of the Virgin Mary and given the name Jesus. He wants us to understand from the very beginning of his Gospel just who this Jesus is: namely that the carpenter’s son from Nazareth who heals the sick, feeds the hungry, and eats with sinners is God in the flesh.
Although he doesn’t use the term, John is describing God as Trinity.
Go back and read Genesis 1:1-3:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.Genesis 1:1-3
What do you notice? There is God, there is the Spirit, and there is the fact that God creates by his Word!
The rest of the Gospel is going to show us what happens when the Word puts on flesh and dwells among us.
AMAZING.
P.S. The “John” mentioned in the prologue here is John the Baptist. He was a SENSATION in first-century Judea, and so John the Author wants us to be totally clear: John the Baptist wasn’t the point; Jesus is the point!
Update at 2:30 PM: I had some technical difficulties this AM (of course!), so that’s why those of you on my Gospels 2019 mailing list are receiving this post in the afternoon. Tomorrow morning, everything should be back to normal.