At church we’re going through a short series on the Trinity and this past Sunday we unpacked “The Son”. The passage Ray used for his message was John 1:1-14 and this has always been one of my favorite passages in the New Testament. I love the imagery that John uses at the beginning of the passage:

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1-5, NLT)

At first glance, the wording John uses here can seem a little confusing (or at best just fly right over our heads). Why isn’t John more direct? Why doesn’t He just say “In the beginning Jesus already existed…”? Why use the imagery of “The Word” here? A quick study helps to see that John uses this phrasing to kill two birds with one stone…which makes his meaning more complex and deeper.

The Greek word that John uses here is the word: Logos. This word had been around for quite awhile before Jesus was born. It has it’s root in Greek Philosophy. It was used way back around 500 B.C. by Heraclitus (I didn’t make that up) and even by Aristotle (you can read more here). To the Greek philosopher the “logos” represents “the principle of order and knowledge in the Universe.” For them, however, this was about reasoning and rationality.

John steals this word and applies it directly to Jesus. And in doing so he…

1. Links Jesus with the Greek concept of order and knowledge in the Universe. Jesus is what holds Creation together (see Colossians 1:17). This resonates with the Greek mind (John’s principle audience for this Gospel). He embodies this philosophy on the person and deity of Jesus Christ.
2. For the Jewish reader this concept referred back to the Creation story in Genesis where God spoke the world into existence (could that have been Jesus as The Word?)

John uses one word (Logos) to speak to two different cultures…

Now it’s your turn…how does this imagery speak to you and our culture…?