The Last Gospel: An Exegesis of the Prologue of St. John's Gospel (1/3)

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“[A] certain Platonist was in the habit of saying that this opening passage of the holy Gospel, entitled, According to John, should be written in letters of gold, and hung up in all churches in the most conspicuous place.”[1] (St. Augustine) So is the prestige which the prologue of the Gospel of St. John has received throughout Christian history. It has been called the Genesis Creation narrative of the New Testament, explaining the role of the Word in God's creative act. Even by St. John's lofty standards, it is arguably the most mystical and theologically profound passage in his Gospel, if not in all of Scripture. It also establishes the recurrent themes and concepts explored throughout his Gospel.

Logos: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14 DRA)

The first indication of St. John's intent to present his prologue as a new Genesis is its opening words: “In the beginning…” As in the first Creation account, God is shown to have created all things with and through His Word.[2] (Gn 1:1-5; Ps 32:6) This new revelation by St. John of the Word as consubstantial with God, however, is also a development of certain images in the Old Testament, where the Word is equated with the Wisdom of God, which is similarly described as personal, coeternal with God and collaborative in the work of Creation. (Prov 8:22-31; Wis 9:1-2, 4) In verse fourteen, the Incarnation of the Word is described, whose identity is later revealed to be Jesus Christ:

Whence came He, who fills all things, and who is everywhere present? What place did He empty of His presence, who holds and grasps all things in His hand? He exchanged not one place for another; how should He? But by His coming down to us He effected this. For since, though being in the world, He did not seem to be there, because He was not yet known, but afterwards manifested Himself by deigning to take upon Him our flesh, he (St. John) calls this manifestation and descent ‘a coming.’[3] (St. Chrysostom)

This helps to clarify the equation of the Word with the Wisdom of God, which is stated explicitly in 1 Corinthians 1:24: “But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” This divine identity is revealed further by Jesus's repeated use of the name of God for Himself in His multiple “I am” statements. (e.g. Jn 8:58) The preexistence of the Word prior to the Incarnation also shows the nature of God as pure spirit, (Jn 4:24) while His essential role in Creation signifies His nature as the perfect reflection of God: “in him were all things created in heaven and on earth”. (Col 1:15-17)