What Did John Mean When He Called Jesus "the Word?"
Thinking about John 1:1-2.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2)
John begins his Gospel account by referring to Jesus as “the Word.” We know this is Jesus because of what John writes a little later in this chapter.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:14, 18)
John uses the Greek word logos to refer to Jesus.
What would people in the first century have thought of when they heard this term used?
Thinking about “the Word”
For the Greeks during the first century, “it would denote the whole realm of thought, the abstract rational principle lying behind the universe…it referred to something supremely great in the universe” - Lipe, Truth for Today Commentary, 44.
For the Jews during the first century, “the Word focused on a person, not some abstract impersonal force…the Word is an effective agent to accomplish God’s will (see Psalm 33:6).” - Lipe, Truth for Today Commentary, 45.
By inspiration, John used a word that both Greeks and Jews would have understood and a word that was commonly used.
John’s Teaching about Jesus
He used it to refer to Jesus, the Son of God, who is the full expression of God’s will, and who is the power behind the universe.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)
As the Master Teacher often did - John started his gospel account by meeting people where they were, taking what they thought, and bringing them to Christ.