TEXT: ST. JOHN 1:2-14
John begins
his gospel by calling Jesus “The Word”, the logos. In using this designation for Christ, John
presents Him as the personal Word of God and indicates that in these last days,
God has spoken to us in His Son. “God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by
whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Scripture
declares that Jesus Christ is:
Ø the manifold wisdom of God - “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly
places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to
the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians
3:10-11).
Ø the perfect revelation of the nature
and person of God - “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Just as a person’s words reveal his or
her heart and mind, Christ as “the Word” reveals the heart and mind of
God! This Gospel was penned by the aged
Apostle in 85 A.D. It was the last of
the 4 gospels to be written. The first
three Gospels are called Synoptic Gospels, which means “to see together”. This means that the first three Gospels
contained many of the same stories and teachings that were told from a
different angle. Yet at the same time
each was fully inspired by the Lord.
There was a
difference in John's Gospel. John shows
us a side of Jesus the other writers did not touch on. John gives us twenty one chapters which
unfold and present a new facet of His divine character. He gives us three main characteristics of
Jesus Christ as “the Word”: 1) The Word’s relation to the Father, 2) The Word’s relation to the world,
and 3) The Word’s relation to
humanity.