July 1, 2020
Sergio, Ryan
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through 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 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who 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 became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The son is the fullest, truest expression of God.
The theme of John’s gospel is the Logos, a term applies to Christ.
It is through the Son and his work where we can get to the father.
John 1.1 is picking up on Genesis 1.1 in the beginning, cosmic origins.
There’s a sense where John 1.1 goes back further than Genesis 1.1 (the beginning of God’s creative activity).
The verb
η~ν
(e’en) imperfect = to be.
With the Logos, a verb is used which is consonant with continuance being (always there).
λόγος / Logos
in Greek philosophy, Heraclitus has much to say about logos within the Greek philosophical tradition.
two points from Greek tradition:
1. logos is impersonal, not a person. Logos does not come outside nature (the created realm). Logos is a rational fiery substance. It’s a material. It can be collected in a person’s head or soul which provides a basis to think. It is not transcendent to the created order.
Many 19th century German scholars attributed John’s theology to Greek thought, which is precisely what it is not.
The logos comes from the Old Testament.
1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. The holy of holies, the inner most place in the tabernacle, was called ‘the word house’ or ‘oracle’. The holy of holies is called the word house.
The word of God coming to the prophets.
The Son brings out in his person hood who the father is essentially. The son exegetes/declares who God is.
He has brought out the word of God because he is the word of God.
Logos is the personal reality of God the son and the logos transcends the created order. He brings it into being and enters it, without ceasing to be created.
The word was with God. The personal existence of the word and the words personal relation with God. 1john 1.2 (that eternal life was with the father)
The word was God (καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.). Nothing higher can be expressed of the son.
John is not affirming that their is something divine about Jesus. He is affirming that Jesus IS God and doing so emphatically.
We notice that the first word θεὸς doesn’t have an article. but λόγος does.
JWs drones would say that since θεὸς doesn’t have article, it must mean a certain divine quality, rather than the ONE true God.
A definite predicate nominative has an article when it follows the verb, not when it proceeds the verb.
Therefore θεὸς not having the article before the verb does not necessarily imply that the predicate is indefinite or only qualitative.
In Greek, θεὸς is first. We turn it around in our translations (to put the word first) in order to determine the predicate.
Two nouns: θεὸς and λόγος connected by the verb to be. The one with the article is λόγος (the subject). In English, the subject goes before the predicate.
if you had ὁ θεὸς and ὁ λόγος there would be no distinction (not a separation in substance) and therefore Sabellianism.
…the world was made through him (verse 10) implying the father was the source of creation and the son was the agent (see 1cor 8.6 and john 5.17)
In other words, creation wasn’t a solitary act.
John gives a positive proposition and then he states it negatively (hebraic custom). By stating it negatively, he’s being emphatic.
eg: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made
There was a time when there was nothing but God, but then at a certain ‘point’ in eternity (to use that expression), God speaks worlds into existence, the material begins to exist
For something to be material is not inherently evil or degrading.
Life is a characteristic theme in the gospel of John (36 times), no other writer comes close (Revelation has 17).
When John uses life he’s usually referring to eternal life. The material has a beginning. We are, in part, material. But this eternal life from God, which is not material, enters material bodies.
The son enters creation to bring that eternal life from God into our bodies and personalities.