John. Jey J. Kanagaraj
for a “procedural” priority of John rather than for a temporal priority; for him John’s Gospel is the nearest to the source because it is believed to have come from the inner circle of the Twelve; cf. Robinson 1976: 307–8 n. 218.
24. Bauckham 2007: 17–36.
25. Dunn 2011: 157–85.
26. Keener 2005: 1.140–42 suggests a date around 90 CE as a working hypothesis.
27. Kanagaraj 2002: 47–60.
28. Eccl. Hist. 6.14.5–7.
29. Santram 1975: 108, 111–12.
30. Cf. Brown 2010: 153–80.
31. Bauckham (1998: 9–48) argues that the Gospels were written for a wider circulation rather than to a particular audience; cf. Evans 2008: 112.
32. Cf. Brown 2010: 180–83.
33. Bauckham 2007: 21; cf. Pryor 1992: 157–80; Brown 1979.
John 1
The Origin of Jesus and of the New Community
Prologue (1:1–18)
The Gospel of John commences with the prologue (1:1–18), which, by virtue of major themes it covers, is called the “window” through which the whole Gospel may be read.1 The structure of the prologue betrays a Jewish poem or hymn rather than “rhythmical prose” with at least six strophes (1:1–3, 3–5, 10–11, 12–13, 14–16, 17–18), with the author’s insertion of verses 6–8 and 15.2 The prologue serves as a “poetic preamble” to John’s Gospel, composed by the author himself, perhaps by using the hymn on Wisdom.
Pre-Existence of Christ as the Word (1:1–5)
John’s opening statement, “In the beginning was the Word,” takes us not only to the existence of the Word (logos in Greek) before creation, but also sets God’s redemptive work in the context of the eternal existence of the Logos. The phrase “in the beginning,” unlike that in Genesis 1:1, speaks of the time before the genesis (cf. Prov 8:23). The word Logos here is a title used in an absolute sense.
By referring to the Logos, John uses a term that was familiar to all sections of the society in the first century CE (see the excursus below). The Logos was in existence as a personal being and the sphere of his existence was God himself, as the assertion “the Logos was with God” (1:1b) shows. The phrase “with God” does not have the sense of “motion towards God” but the sense of “being from God” (6:46) or “living in communion with God.” That is, the Logos was living so close to God that he was sharing in the very life of God. The Logos and God, as two personalities, were living so close with one another that they cannot be separated one from the other. Such union means an active partnership or a reciprocal indwelling between two personalities.3
The Word’s mutual indwelling and life in oneness with God are eternal, as the statement “the Word was God” (1:1c) shows. Like Philo, John also identifies the pre-existent Logos with God without the definite article, for in 1:1c the Logos, as God, is differentiated from “the God.” Otherwise, 1:1c will contradict what is expressed in 1:1b–2 and 14:28. Therefore it is needless to translate “divine (in essence) was the Logos.”4 While “the God” points to “the one true God,” the Father, “God,” in this context, can only indicate the Logos as the manifestation of that God. “The God” refers to God in his transcendence, while “God” implies the revelation and immanence of that one God. This does not mean that the Logos was the “second God.” The Logos is the self-manifestation of God precisely because he exists eternally in oneness with God, the Father. This is reiterated in 1:2.
John describes also the role of the pre-existent Logos in creation: “all things” came into being through him and “not even one that has come into being” came without him (1:3). That is, the totality of creation came into existence through the Logos. This does not mean that the Logos was merely an “instrumental cause” (Philo) in creation. The creative activity of the Logos was the creative activity of God. The Logos and Wisdom are parallels, for Wisdom too pre-existed with God and was engaged in God’s creative activity (Prov 3:19–20; 8:22–31; Sir 1:1–10). All things in heaven and on earth were created through Christ and for Christ (1 Cor 8:6b; Col 1:16–17; Heb 1:2; Rev 3:14).
God’s creation was community oriented (Gen 1–2), for God created “all things” as families according to their kinds (Gen 1:21, 24–25). John, therefore, begins his Gospel by disclosing the community motif embedded in creation. The whole creation constitutes one household of God. All creatures came to life by God’s word, but human beings by God’s breath (Gen 2:7; 1:26–27). Since life flows from God to the total creation, John categorically states, “In him was life” (1:4a). The Genesis story connects light with life. So also John presents divine life and light together by writing, “And the life was the Light of humankind” (1:4b). The life of Logos derived from the Father and the Light projected from it are essentially the same and they were one in existence eternally.
While narrating creation, John’s special attention falls on “humankind” (1:4), God’s main focus in creation. The community he envisaged is a community of human beings, while other creatures were subject to them (Gen 1:28–30; Rom 8:19–22). As Light, the life in the Logos is the guiding principle for human life (cf. Ps 27:1; Ps 36:9; Hos 10:12 LXX; Wis 7:26, 27; Sir 17:11). For John the essence of the Logos is life, which gives light to human beings enabling them to experience end-time salvation both now and in future. This idea anticipates the later reference to Jesus as the Light and life (8:12).
The nature of light is to constantly shine and stand against “darkness” (1:5). Light and darkness in John are symbols of good and bad qualities of life, respectively, and they engage in combat against each other. Where there is light there is no darkness and vice versa. Such dualism is reflected in Qumran writings written in the second and first centuries BCE (e.g., 1QS 3.19–22; 1QM 13.5–6, 14–15). These writings use “day” figuratively with “light,” and “night” with “darkness” (1QS 10.1–2), and so also John. The nature of the Light in 1:5 is in the present tense, “shines,” but that of darkness is in the past tense, “did not overcome.” This means that the Light keeps on shining. It exposes evil, guides human beings, illuminates and transforms human life, and judges human works (3:19–21). The nature of darkness, however, is to strive to overcome the Light, but the Light won over darkness once and for all.
Witness of John the Baptist to the Logos (1:6–8, 15)
Following the pre-existence of the Logos-Light, John traces the beginning of salvation history in John the Baptist, who was sent by God to bear witness to the Light (1:6–8; cf. Mark 1:1–5; Acts 1:22; 10:37; 13:23–25).
The Greek verb egeneto introduces the Baptist in the statement, “There was a man,” and the same word is used to introduce the Word who “became” flesh (1:14a). This sets both Jesus and John the Baptist in the same mission of bringing God’s salvation to humankind.