But what about John 1?

Understanding John's Prologue

Some Caution:

When we interpret John, we must assume that he is a devout Jew who is familiar with the scriptures that were written before him. If the ideas in his prologue (or our interpretations of them) seem incompatible with other bible texts, we must either regard John as a rogue or rethink our interpretation. For instance, Gen 1, Ex 20:11, Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 11:3, and Isaiah 44:24 all say that there is one creator, YHWH, who was alone during creation, who used his words (speech, commands, breath) to bring the world into existence. If we think John comes along saying “Actually, it was the pre-existent Jesus, who was with God, that did all the creating,” then we have a rogue writer who contradicts God’s word. This interpretation quickly makes the Old Testament testimony of creation meaningless.

Further, Luke 1 and Matthew 1 state clearly that the baby Jesus was "conceived" in Mary by “the Spirit of God… the power of the Most High.” Those details do not allow room for a divine being to leave heaven and take on flesh in Mary somehow. For the “Logos” is not the Spirit, and the act of leaving heaven to incarnate is not the act of conceiving a baby. So, was John trying to correct Matthew and Luke’s account? We must not project such dissonance onto his work, but instead search for a harmonizing view.

Listen to Jesus

Finally, the claims of Jesus himself in the gospel according to John forbid us from the traditional interpretation of the prologue. When cornered, Jesus admits that he, with his father, make two legal witnesses (John 8:18). He also describes himself as "a man who told you what I heard from God" (John 8:40). He tells us that he does not speak of his own accord, or under his own authority, or even his own words, but only what the Father tells him (John 5:19, 7:16). The Jesus of John's gospel prays to God (John 17:1-3), desires to be with God (John 20:17). When he is accused of claiming to be God, he denies it (John 10:36). He even clarifies that the one that he calls "Father" is the one the Jews call "God" (John 8:54). Based on the words of Jesus, we should read the prologue in a way that maintain one creator God, and one Man whom he appointed to be judge and king over all. 

Christ: the Power and Wisdom of God

What if we could read John’s prologue in a way that takes themes from earlier bible text that would make complete sense to a first century Jew who believed in One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Messiah? Consider Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 8:

“YHWH possessed me [Wisdom] at the beginning of his work,

the first of his acts of old.

Ages ago I was set up,

at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth...

...when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

then I was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his delight,

rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world

and delighting in the children of man."

[Proverbs 8:22-30]

Look at the elements in this passage: Lady wisdom was "at the beginning," "beside" YHWH, "like a master workman," who delighted in the created world. Sounds a LOT like "In the beginning... the word was with God... by it all things were made." But is this Wisdom a real being, up there with YHWH, who was his feminine companion during creation? I hope you agree that we are not supposed to think so. But we can conclude that Wisdom was in the beginning with God, and Wisdom was God. Apart from God's Wisdom, nothing was made that was made.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." [John 1:1-5]

 I think it is clear, if we reorganize our assumptions, that John was using personification, much like Proverbs 8 for “Lady Wisdom”, to represent how God’s powerful Self-Expression (logos in Greek) was exerted in creation, revealed to Israel in the Torah and the Covenants, rejected by Israel through disobedience, and was ultimately manifested in the Man, Jesus the Messiah. I will say it again: Jesus is the living, breathing manifestation of God's will - his plan, his mercy, his power, his wisdom, and his grace. All these are also revealed to us in the scriptures, which are the "word of God" made book. But John is telling us that Jesus is the "word of God" made flesh.

The word was not a living, conscious individual before Jesus was conceived, no more than Lady Wisdom was a unique being watching God create and helping him to create. John’s prologue is intended to be figurative and poetic. [In fact, John 1:1-18 is a chiasm, a poetic structure.] Consider 1 Corinthians 1:18 “Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Is Jesus the Lady from Proverbs 8? No, but he figuratively embodies God’s wisdom in human flesh, right? Likewise, God's power is not a separate person, but the man Jesus is proof that God's power is at work on earth toward redemption.

All this is intended by John to say that Jesus is the [only] man to perfectly represent his Father’s will on earth. He is the perfect expression of God’s loving nature, righteousness, justice, mercy, authority, and provision, so much that he is able to say, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." He obeyed the commands, fulfilled the prophecies, and showed us God’s kindness. He is God’s Word made Flesh!