In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God;
A.
SEEN: all things were made through him, and without him was not anything 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.
B. HEARD: There was a man sent from God, whose name
was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might
believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the
light.
C. EXPERIENCE: The true light that enlightens every
man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made
through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own
people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name,
he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
A’. PERSONAL SEEING: And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
B’. PERSONAL WORD: (John bore witness to him, and
cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks
before me, for he was before me.'")
C’. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: And from his fulness
have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
Note the sensory nature of the community’s experience (compare also 1 John: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life… That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.)
Read also Genesis 1, noting the parallel structure:
Intro (1-2);
A’. light/darkness (14-19)
B’. heaven/earth (20-23)
C’. land/waters (24-31)
Climax – the Sabbath (2:1-3) Conclusion 2.4a
The six-strophe structure of the Prologue, like the six days of creation in Genesis 1, requires one final act to bring it to completion. This act begins in verse 19 as the Gospel narrative of God’s final work, to be accomplished in the life and death of Jesus, now begins. Until the story of this final work has been told, there can be no seventh day. By utilizing the structure of Gensis, but breaking from its pattern, the structure of the Prologue asserts that something more is still to come.
The
Fourth Gospel redefines completeness. The creative work of God had not been
completed in the beginning. Jesus was sent to finish the Father’s work (John
4:34). Real fulfillment comes about only through the life and death of Jesus.
His final word: “it is finished” (John 19:30) announces the completion of
God’s work and echos the use of the same Greek word in the LXX that announces
the completion of the work in Genesis 2:1.
Verse 14a and the word became flesh and tabernacled
among us (tented – as the Lord had tented with Israel in the wilderness)
recalls verse 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
Timeless and placeless (vs 1) becomes finite and present with us (vs14). Some see two circular structures in these verses. We will see
more of these ‘chiastic’ structures later in John.
The glory is not to be seen alongside of the flesh, nor
through the flesh as through a window; it is to be seen in the flesh
(Bultmann).
The first image of the temple is the word translated as ‘dwelt’ in verse 14. The next image for next week is the reference to angels ascending and descending (John 1:51 – making Jesus a new house of God, Beth-El (latyb)) See Genesis 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful [is] this place! this [is] none other but the house of God, and this [is] the gate of heaven.)
(Notes from God Dwells with Us, Temple Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, by Mary Coloe, Liturgical Press, 2001)