In the beginning was the Word
John opens his gospel with a sentence that quietly identifies Jesus as God — and rewrites Genesis 1 in the process.
The episode in a glance.
- 01John intentionally echoes Genesis 1:1 — 'In the beginning…'
- 02'The Word' (logos) was a concept Greek philosophy already used for ultimate reason; John repurposes it.
- 03'The Word was with God, and the Word was God' — distinct from the Father, yet fully God.
- 04By verse 14, the Word becomes flesh — the abstract becomes a person you can meet.
Read along.
John starts his gospel with a deliberate echo: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Any Jewish reader hears Genesis 1 underneath that — 'In the beginning, God created…'
The word for 'Word' is logos. In Greek philosophy, logos was the rational principle behind the universe — the reason things make sense. John picks up that word and says: yes, that ultimate reason behind everything — that's a person, and his name is Jesus.
Then the careful balance: 'the Word was with God' — distinct from the Father. 'And the Word was God' — fully God. Not a lesser version, not a creation. God.
John keeps building. The Word made everything. The Word is life. The Word is light shining in the darkness.
And then verse 14: 'And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' The eternal logos, the one through whom everything was made, took on skin and bones and walked into the neighborhood. That's the story John is about to tell.