Week 42 John 1
Yesterday I was looking at how John described The Word.
He said that The Word was in the beginning with God.
He also said that The Word was God.
John doesn’t act as though he just said something that’s basically inconsistent. And my take on John is that in normal conversation he wouldn’t say something like: “I got a chance to visit with Pontius Pilate. And I am Pontius Pilate.” John knew he couldn’t be with someone and also be that person. Things don’t work like that. But in the specific case of The Word how things don’t work is the way they do work.
Anyway John adds a couple of more ideas about The Word.
Through him all things were made. So The Word is the creator of all things. Genesis says that God made everything. Now John says The Word made everything. But John already said that The Word was God. So if God made everything and The Word was God then The Word made everything.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men & women. I check a word book. John used the word “life” about 47 times. One tip-off that he’s sometimes using the word in a more-than-physical-life way is that he adds the word “eternal” to “life” about 17 times. So when John says that in him was life I keep in mind that he might not just mean he-was-alive.
Note: quotes from John 1:3 4 (NIV)