Dcn Tom Lindell

My Sisters and Brothers, 

In today’s Office readings the Prologue to John’s Gospel (1:1-18) is offered. This highly celebrated poem is a frequent recitation at Christmas and at the end of the Eucharist during Lent.

The Prologue sets the story of Jesus as drama, setting the stage for two main acts (Book of Signs and the Book of Glory) and an epilogue. The Gospel of John marks the early development of a theology about the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth (Christology).

This Gospel, more than any of the other Synoptic Gospels, provided the theological “fabric” of the fledgling early church as Life, Light and Glory. John the Baptist is introduced as testifying to Jesus as, “The true light…[who] was coming into the world.”  Jesus is God with us, has become one of us, and is true God and true Man. 

The author(s) of John, therefore, intended to firmly place Jesus as divine. Most surprising is John’s portrayal of Jesus as emanating from the very beginning of Creation(Logos), which some refer to as the “Cosmic Christ.”

Note the first words in the Prologue, “In the beginning…”, which is also the opening of the Book of Genesis.

The Gospel of John was ostensibly written by St John the Apostle, the “beloved disciple.” However, the language of the Gospel and its well-developed theology suggest that the authors of John may have lived later than John yet based their writing on John’s teachings and testimonies. It is unlikely that the sophisticated rhetoric in John’s Gospel was written by a simple fisherman. It was written around 100 CE at Ephesus in Asia Minor as a communication to followers in the Johannine community with a Hellenistic/Jewish background.

Earlier drafts may have circulated as early as 85 CE, but not finalized until later. In fact, the Prologue may also have been part of later edits. The epilogue (Chapter 21) was also most likely the product of later edits.

In the Prologue, we are once again confronted with some beautiful poetic language that ought not be read literally. We need to view it metaphorically to appreciate it as part of a larger story that the authors of John present. In addition, there is only one line in John’s Gospel that was attributed to what Jesus said in 4:44: “…a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country.”

—Dcn Tom