Today and Tomorrow

Jesus: Word, Light, Grace, Truth

The account of Jesus begins in the Gospel of John with these words.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

John was an old man when he finally sat down to write the words you just read.  He had  had many years to ponder the mystery of Jesus. The Holy Spirit had given him insight and understanding as he grew deeper in the Lord.  Finally, at the age of 90 he was prepared to write. 

And what wonderful words he wrote! In all of literature, ancient or modern there is no equal.  In all the sacred scriptures there is hardly a comparison. These words stand above all that men have written in wisdom, insight, truth and beauty. So exalted and beautiful is this truth.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

 The first phrase, “in the beginning,” intentionally echoes the first words in Genesis: “In the beginning, God…”

 Before all things began there was God. Eternal, with no beginning  and no end, unchangeable, all wise, all knowing, all powerful. God the Almighty.   

Moses, while himself an old man, who knew God intimately and had seen his power do incredible and wonderful things, wrote in Psalm 90:1-2 

1 “O Lord, you have been our protector through all generations.

 2 Even before the mountains came into existence,

 or you brought the world into being,

 you were the eternal God. “from  everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

 God the Father, God the Word and God the Spirit. One God in three.

 So intimate are these three -- whom we sometimes distinguish as each unique and distinct -- that John uses the expression, “and the Word was with God,” to describe their intimacy.

In John’s Greek language that is actually  the Word was toward God the Father, pros ton Theon.  He was not alongside God as if the two were walking side by side. He was face to face with God the Father as we are when we look at ourselves in a mirror. The Father whom the Word saw face to face was not any different from himself.

 As if to underscore this truth that is really too deep to express fully in words, John adds, 

In John 1:1 “and the Word was God.”

 Long before the Word became Jesus the Son, long before he was prophet, priest, and king, the Word was and is God.

 And then again John writes of this mystery:

John’s Gospel 1: 2 The Word was with God in the beginning.

When God spoke the universe into being and commanded that in the darkness there would be light, it was the Word who spoke the will of God the Father.

                                                          Continue reading at Jesus: Word...