NOTES for Joh 1:1-17
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. |
2 The same was in the beginning with God. |
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. |
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. |
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. |
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. |
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. |
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. |
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. |
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. |
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. |
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: |
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. |
14 And the Word was made 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. |
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. |
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. |
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. |
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The Gospel poem about the Word which was in the beginning has repeatedly become the subject of many different kinds of theological reflection, often quite abstract. Yet it itself is no theological abstraction. On the contrary, like no other biblical text, it bears witness to the concreteness of God.
Of course, the Bible is far from portraying God as an impersonal force or faceless energy. All of it tells us about the will and providence of the One who created the world. But the mystery of God's personhood, the mystery of His inner life, remains a mystery. What is He like? How does He know Himself, and what does He know about Himself?
To answer these questions exactly is, of course, impossible: it is not for man to penetrate the mysteries of God's personhood. But the poem about the Word opens this mystery to us a little. What is a word? For us it is a witness to full awareness of reality: what has been named by a word has been comprehended and understood, if not to the end, then at least to the limit beyond which we are not yet able to penetrate.
For God in His relation to the world, the word is a means, an instrument that God uses to carry out His plans and purposes. And what is His Word for Him Himself? It exists as long as God Himself, which means it is eternal; it is itself God. It reveals something. What? To whom? Does it reveal God to God?
Perhaps: after all, God knows Himself, and in His eternity one cannot first be the knower and then the known. Here everything is together and everything is at once: God, knowing Himself, eternally and forever remains both knowing and known together. And this inner life of the Creator, this mystery of His self-knowledge through the incarnation of the Word, is in some mysterious way connected with His Kingdom: the Word becomes incarnate in the person of Christ, and Christ brings into the world the Kingdom connected with the fullness of the Word which was in the beginning.
The life of the Kingdom and our salvation are thus connected with the very depth of God's personhood, with that depth where there is not and cannot be anything accidental. This means that we ourselves are not accidental or secondary to God either; we are just as absolutely important to Him as He is absolutely important to Himself. In this are our joy and our hope.
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Readings for 19 November 2025
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