Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, December 31, 2013 Read John 1:1-5 John begins his gospel with a powerful statement about Jesus. We have noticed how the synoptic gospels, especially Mark, keep the identity of Jesus secret. John lets the identity of Jesus be known to his readers from the very beginning – in fact, throughout the Gospel of John, the identity of Jesus is out in the open. John identifies Jesus with the “Word” of God. We have noted how it is by this “Word” of God that the OT describes creation. God creates by his Word. John wants us to make this connection. As we dig deeper into the OT we discover that there is much more about the “Word of God” as a powerful expression of God. Especially the wisdom literature of Proverbs describes God as working through wisdom – God’s Word – to achieve God’s purposes. Wisdom is described as the first of God’s creative acts in the OT. God creates wisdom – the Word – and then creates everything else through this Word. John wants his readers to think of Jesus as the Word of God – all things came into being through this Word. As John moves forward in his introduction he will tell his readers that the Word has become flesh in the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God – the creative expression of God. It is this Word of God that creates life. The concept of Life will be an important theme of John’s gospel. In fact, when John reveals to us the reason for his writing of the gospel (John 20:31) it is for the purpose that those who believe in Jesus might have life. Another theme that John introduces us to is that the life revealed in Jesus is the light of the world. This light overpowers the darkness. One of the techniques John uses is that of comparison. Here the comparison is between light and darkness. When we hear of light we can know that we are hearing of the life that Jesus comes to bring. When we hear of darkness we can know that we are hearing about the opposition to Jesus. In a bold proclamation John assures his readers that the light of Jesus will overcome all darkness. From the very beginning we can be assured that light will triumph – the darkness will be present in this story but the darkness will not overcome the light. John presents his readers with a very high view of who Jesus is – he is none other than the presence of God. Jesus is God. This is a theological affirmation that the synoptic gospel do not approach. It would likely be going too far for us to think of John as envisioning the Trinity as later theologians would come to use to describe God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One God in three persons. John does not use that language, but it is surely because of his view of Jesus that later theologians would develop the Trinity. As we listen to this language about Jesus as the Word of God, we may begin to wonder where his humanity has gone. That is an issue that we will need to contemplate as we move through John’s gospel. Did John think of Jesus as a human being? The answer to that question will be revealed as we move forward. Here, we can only marvel at the high view of Jesus that John proclaims.