'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.'—JOHN i. 1-14.
The other Gospels begin with Bethlehem; John begins with 'the bosom of
the Father.' Luke dates his narrative by Roman emperors and Jewish
high-priests; John dates his 'in the beginning.' To attempt adequate
exposition of these verses in our narrow limits is absurd; we can only
note the salient points of this, the profoundest page in the New
Testament.
The threefold utterance in verse 1 carries us into the depths of
eternity, before time or creatures were. Genesis and John both start
from 'the beginning,' but, while Genesis works downwards from that
point and tells what followed, John works upwards and tells what
preceded—if we may use that term in speaking of what lies beyond time.
Time and creatures came into being, and, when they began, the Word
'was.' Surely no form of speech could more emphatically declare
absolute, uncreated being, outside the limits of time. Clearly, too, no
interpretation of these words fathoms their depth, or makes worthy
sense, which does not recognise that the Word is a person. The second
clause of verse 1 asserts the eternal communion of the Word with God.
The preposition employed means accurately 'towards,' and expresses the
thought that in the Word there was motion or tendency towards, and not
merely association with, God. It points to reciprocal, conscious
communion, and the active going out of love in the direction of God.
The last clause asserts the community of essence, which is not
inconsistent with distinction of persons, and makes the communion of
active Love possible; for none could, in the depths of eternity, dwell
with and perfectly love and be loved by God, except one who Himself was
God.
Verse 1 stands apart as revealing the pretemporal and essential nature
of the Word. In it the deep ocean of the divine nature is partially
disclosed, though no created eye can either plunge to discern its
depths or travel beyond our horizon to its boundless, shoreless extent.
The remainder of the passage deals with the majestic march of the
self-revealing Word through creation, and illumination of humanity, up
to the climax in the Incarnation.
John repeats the substance of verse 1 in verse 2, apparently in order
to identify the Agent of creation with the august person whom he has
disclosed as filling eternity. By Him creation was effected, and,
because He was what verse 1 has declared Him to be, therefore was it
effected by Him. Observe the three steps marked in three consecutive
verses. 'All things were made by Him'; literally 'became,' where the
emergence into existence of created things is strongly contrasted with
the divine 'was' of verse 1. 'Through Him' declares that the Word is
the agent of creation; 'without Him' (literally, 'apart from Him')
declares that created things continue in existence because He
communicates it to them. Man is the highest of these 'all things,' and
verse 4 sets forth the relation of the Word to Him, declaring that
'life,' in all the width and height of its possible meanings, inheres
in Him, and is communicated by Him, with its distinguishing
accompaniment, in human nature, of light, whether of reason or of
conscience.
So far, John has been speaking as from the upper or divine side, but in
verse 5 he speaks from the under or human, and shows us how the
self-revelation of the Word has, by some mysterious necessity, been
conflict. The 'darkness' was not made by Him, but it is there, and the
beams of the light have to contend with it. Something alien must have
come in, some catastrophe have happened, that the light should have to
stream into a region of darkness.
John takes 'the Fall' for granted, and in verse 5 describes the whole
condition of things, both within and beyond the region of special
revelation. The shining of the light is continuous, but the darkness is
obstinate. It is the tragedy and crime of the world that the darkness
will not have the light. It is the long-suffering mercy of God that the
light repelled is not extinguished, but shines meekly on.
Verses 6-13 deal with the historical appearance of the Word. The
Forerunner is introduced, as in the other Gospels; and, significantly
enough, this Evangelist calls him only 'John,'—omitting 'the Baptist,'
as was very natural to him, the other John, who would feel less need
for distinguishing the two than others did. The subordinate office of a
witness to the light is declared positively and negatively, and the
dignity of such a function is implied. To witness to the light, and to
be the means of leading men to believe, was honour for any man.
The limited office of the Forerunner serves as contrast to the
transcendent lustre of the true Light. The meaning of verse 9 may be
doubtful, but verses 10 and 11 clearly refer to the historical
manifestation of the Word, and probably verse 9 does so too. Possibly,
however, it rather points to the inner revelation by the Word, which is
the 'light of men.' In that case the phrase 'that cometh into the
world' would refer to 'every man,' whereas it is more natural in this
context to refer it to 'the light,' and to see in the verse a reference
to the illumination of humanity consequent on the appearance of Jesus
Christ. The use of 'world' and 'came' in verses 10 and 11 points in
that direction. Verse 9 represents the Word as 'coming'; verse 10
regards Him as come—'He was in the world.'
Note the three clauses, so like, and yet so unlike the august three in
verse 1. Note the sad issue of the coming—'The world knew Him not.' In
that 'world' there was one place where He might have looked for
recognition, one set of people who might have been expected to hail
Him; but not only the wide world was blind ('knew not'), but the
narrower circle of 'His own' fought against what they knew to be light
('received not').
But the rejection was not universal, and John proceeds to develop the
blessed consequences of receiving the light. For the first time he
speaks the great word 'believe.' The act of faith is the condition or
means of 'receiving.' It is the opening of the mental eye for the light
to pour in. We possess Jesus in the measure of our faith. The object of
faith is 'His name,' which means, not this or that collocation of
letters by which He is designated, but His whole self-revelation. The
result of such faith is 'the right to become children of God,' for
through faith in the only-begotten Son we receive the communication of
a divine life which makes us, too, sons. That new life, with its
consequence of sonship, does not belong to human nature as received
from parents, but is a gift of God mediated through faith in the Light
who is the Word.
Verse 14 is not mere repetition of the preceding, but advances beyond
it in that it declares the wonder of the way by which that divine Word
did enter into the world. John here, as it were, draws back the
curtain, and shows us the transcendent miracle of divine love, for
which he has been preparing in all the preceding. Note that he has not
named 'the Word' since verse 1, but here he again uses the majestic
expression to bring out strongly the contrast between the ante-temporal
glory and the historical lowliness. These four words, 'The Word became
flesh,' are the foundation of all our knowledge of God, of man, of the
relations between them, the foundation of all our hopes, the guarantee
of all our peace, the pledge of all blessedness. 'He tabernacled among
us.' As the divine glory of old dwelt between the cherubim, so Jesus is
among men the true Temple, wherein we see a truer glory than that
radiant light which filled the closed chamber of the holy of holies.
Rapturous remembrances rose before the Apostle as he wrote, 'We beheld
His glory'; and he has told us what he has beheld and seen with his
eyes, that we also may have fellowship with him in beholding. The glory
that shone from the Incarnate Word was no menacing or dazzling light.
He and it were 'full of grace and truth,' perfect Love bending to
inferiors and sinners, with hands full of gifts and a heart full of
tenderness and the revelation of reality, both as regards God and man.
His grace bestows all that our lowness needs, His truth teaches all
that our ignorance requires. All our gifts and all our knowledge come
from the Incarnate Word, in whom believing we are the children of God.