The Prologue of John and the entire Gospel of John demonstrate that John “consciously utilized Isaiah as a source of language and ideology in his own effort to interpret the meaning of Jesus Christ in the Gospel which he produced.” (F.W. Young, “A Study of the Relation of Isaiah to the Fourth Gospel,” ZNW 46 (1955), 222). The Prologue of John echoes the beginning verses of Isaiah, in which YHWH complains that his people whom he loved and cared for did not know him (Isaiah 1.2-3) This thought is not only present in the Prologue of John but is emphasized by the repetition of verbs that have to do with knowing, recognition, seeing, believing, and receiving, e.g. “comprehend” (v 5), “know” (v 10), “receive” (vv 11, 12, 16), “believe” (v 12), “behold” (v 14), “see” (v 18), and “make known” (v 18). These verbs all indicate that between God and people the relationship that was desired was personal, and meaningful, but was in most cases decidedly lacking. The Prologue and the entire Gospel of John also set forth Godʻs plan for solving the problem of this unsatisfactory relationship between God and people, following the book of Isaiah.
Read moreThe Prologue of the Gospel of John, Part 2
p/c: eberhard grossgasteiger
The Logos was with God in the beginning, before anything existed, and all things came into being through him; thus he was present at creation and was an agent of the creation of all that exists (1.1-4). John refers to Christ as the Logos only in the Prologue. After this, John's title for Jesus is “the Son of God” and “the Messiah” or “Christ.” The Logos is God, and the glory of the Logos is the glory of the unique Son of God. After he came into the world, he is given the title monogenēs para patēr. Although many second century writers translated the word monogenēs as “only begotten,” other authors in John's time rendered this word to show that Jesus was a “unique son”, rather than “an only begotten son”. In Jewish accounts of God's instruction to Abraham regarding the boy Isaac, Abraham was told to “sacrifice your son, your only son, whom you love” (Genesis 22.2).
Read moreThe Prologue of the Gospel of John, Part 1
p/c: Akira Hojo
The Gospel of John, in contrast with Matthew, Mark, and Luke, does not begin in human history, but in “the beginning,” before the world was created. It begins with the same three words with which the book of Genesis begins. In Genesis these three words introduce the account of creation, when God made the heavens, the earth, and all things that exist. In John, these words introduce the account of the Logos, who was in the beginning with God and was God. In this and the next entry I’ll explore the theology of this prologue.
Craig Keener
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