Changes

While John’s prologue is unique among the gospels, the first five verses of the book of Acts is comparable John's prologue. Also, the opening verse of 1 John, or the book of Hebrews have similar prologues. But in these 18 verses, John compresses the Gospel into a condensed form. He gives the setting; he states the theme; he introduces the main character and he relates the elements of conflict. Every good novel must have conflict to make a plot. And here the conflict is between belief and unbelief.

We find that the language of these opening eight verses is more formal than is true in the rest of the book. And there are some scholars that feel these verses are an adaptation of some early Christian hymn. Reading through these 18 verses, we note the pattern that is involved. Verses 1-5 talk about “the Word.” Verses 6-8 speak about John the Baptist. Verse 9-14 again underscore “the Word.” Verse 15 refers back to John. And then the concluding verses 16-18, come back to “the Word.” So, it’s the word, and John and the word, and John, and then the Word. That is the pattern, or the structure of these opening verses.

It is very possible that John may have written he narrative of his gospel first, and then came back to summarize all of it in these opening verses. But he very clearly in these opening verses, shows the mission of the word—who he is, referring to him as word, and light and life. Telling why he came—to make known the Father; to reveal God. How he was received—there were twofold responses of either belief, or unbelief. What he did in terms of giving light and giving life, and coming with grace and truth. What he revealed—all focusing around the mission of the Word.

What is the meaning of this term ‘Logos’ or word? The scripture makes a distinction between the Word of God written—which of course refers to holy Scripture—and the Word of God incarnate, which refers to Jesus Christ. It interesting that John holds back in his use of the name Jesus Christ in this prologue. Instead he gives him a different title. And what an unusual name for Christ—"The Logos”—the Word. Apparently, he did not coin the term. He did not make-up a new word. Instead he gave a new meaning to a word that was already in use. There is wide spread speculation among the theologians as to the roots as to the origin of this term. Where did it come from? There are some who say that it comes as a carryover from Greek philosophy, the philosophy of Philo the Jew. He was an Alexandrian, allegorizing, philosopher in the first century who used this word logos about 1300 times in his writings. And yet it is never clear whether Philo meant an abstract impersonal force, or whether he meant the divine thought behind the universe. It is unclear as to his meaning even though he uses the term so frequently.

Unique to the autoptic gospel is John’s use of repetition (arguably a poetic device) early in his Gospel narrative. From the beginning, his provocative anaphoric use of use of “word” serves to conjoin the notions of the term ‘logos’ (λόγος) (Greek for ‘word’) and the repetition serves to “underline the thought he would communicate.” John’s penchant for Hebrew parallelism is a prominent hallmark of style in the first ten lines of his gospel narrative. This parallelism whether meant to capture the attention of Hellenized Jews, or simply be thought provoking to any audience also serves to set John’s narrative apart from its synoptic cousins which share more provincial openings. Beasley-Murray (1987) posits the “poetic quality of the prologue is observable, even in translation.” And, in fact, C.F. Burney (1922) maintains John’s poetic style is indicative of an “Aramaic original.”

Adding to the provocative nature of John’s opening, Ernst Haenchen (1984) adds John’s parallel structure to Genesis 1 is no coincidence and “tells of something that was in existence already in time primeval” which is in fact the “Logos”—whatever this ‘Logos’ is—as it defies definition in most any modern language. This “elevated” state of “Logos” reaches such “heights that it almost becomes offensive.”

Additionally, Raymond Brown (1966) suggests that that hymn like structure of John’s opening can be divided into three strophes where the first strophe is verses 1-2; the second strophe is verses 3-9; the third strophe is verses 10-12; and the fourth strophe consists of verses 14-18. While the poetic nature (hymn-like quality) maintains its obvious parallel to Genesis 1, it “does not necessarily give us the original meaning intended by the author of Genesis.”

What is clear, as Merril C. Tenney (1976) instructs, is that while both Jesus Christ and John the Baptist and are both mentioned, the “latter is treated only in relation to the former, and is of subordinate importance.” Further, while confirming the poetic nature of John’s literary structure, Tenney also asserts that “the term ‘Logos’ implies the intelligence behind the idea, the idea itself, and the transmissible expression of it.” Finally, he advances the notion that John’s theological agenda “commences a presentation of the person of Jesus Christ which is quite different from that of the other Gospels.”

Beasley-Murray, George R. ''John'' (Word Biblical Commentary). Word Book Publishers, Waco,

Burney, Rev. C. F. Burney. ''The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel''. Oxford University Press,

Brown, Raymond. ''The Gospel of John''. The Anchor Bible. Double Day and Company, New

Haenchen, Ernst. ''John'' (Hermeneia). Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1984.

Tenney, Merril C. ''John, The Gospel of Belief''. William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,

Scroggie, Graham. ''A Guide to the Gospels''. Kregel Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1995.

The he ה is formed with a dalet and a vav returning part way up the left side. It represents 'hearing' as in the sheep hearing his voice <ref>Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.</ref> Though the sheep hear his voice, the do not understand the words. The short vav returning on the left signifies only a partial response.

Some letters have two forms; one when found inside a word and one when placed at the end of a word. Since the meaning of the letter is formed by the strokes which form it, a letter and it's final form have a related meaning, but it is different. The final mem ם is formed by connecting a kof כ and a zayin ז at the top and bottom. The mem מ is formed by connecting them only at the top. Both letters represent the marriage of the Son of God כ to his bride ז. The mem is a metaphor for the Father arranging the marriage. The final mem symbolizes the completion of the marriage in the flesh, being connected at the bottom.

The tov represents the finished work of God, being the last letter, as well as by the meaning of the strokes. The revelation of the rosh ר now has a new life spontaneously returning to God, represented by the vav on the right. This is the finished work of God; his people genuinely love him.

The lamed, like the dalet ד and the rosh ר, is a kind of communication. It represents 'teaching.' The word ''lamed'' even means 'teaching.' It begins above the upper horizontal, having it's origin above that which can be known about God. It begins in the very heart of God, much of which remains a mystery. Most letters have the communication come down the right side, saying that he first speaks to us in love. The lamed ל comes part way down the left side; it starts in holiness. The horizontal line is between the upper and lower horizontals of the square template. It is the shared heart. In teaching, the teacher and student share their love; one expressing the knowledge, and the other eagerly receiving it.

In the beginning