John 1: 1-18
Jn. 1:1 - Logos

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.”
 John traces the origin of the Word (Logos) into eternity
past, where God the Son was present with God the
Father before time itself began. 1
 This opening verse of John is a direct allusion to the
opening verse of the Bible. “In the
beginning…”(Genesis 1). 1
The Word was God

 was with God: Distinguishes the Word from the
Father. They are not the same Person, yet they share
the same nature in the family of the eternal
Godhead. (CCC 254-256). 1
 was God: Or, “was divine”. This is the first and
clearest assertion of the deity of Jesus in the fourth
Gospel. (CCC 242).1
In The Beginning…

Λογος

 Logos: “word”, “statement”, or “utterance”.
 In biblical Israel, a spoken utterance was a powerful
and even sacred reality. It said something about the
speaker himself, and the spoken word itself had a
kind of existence beyond the “sound” that it made.
Ancient society, in many ways, revolved around the
power of the spoken word to bring order to the
world (e.g., in oaths, marital vows, judicial
pronouncements, liturgical prayers, etc.). 2
Logos

In theology, the identity of Jesus Christ as the
Word is also one way of comprehending the
inner life of God, whereby the Father
generates the Son. 2
From all eternity, God generates his Word,
who is the coequal and consubstantial Son. 2
Word: In The O.T.

 In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, the word dābār
can denote both a word and a thing, a dual meaning
that largely captures the Israelites’ idea of the power
of the word. 2
 “The word of the Lord” appears throughout the Old
Testament as an extension of the divine power that
must be followed obediently. 2
 The word spoken by God possesses the same power
as its speaker (Isa 55:11); the word is the creative
power of God that brought creation into existence
(cf. Gen 1:3; Ps 33:6; Wis 9:1). 2
Cont’d…

The word was truth; what the Lord spoke
would come to pass (Isa 38:7).
 God’s word is not only his creative power,
but also his means of reaching humanity, of
intervening in history to save his people. 2
 The word is, in part, God’s revelation of
himself. 2
Word: In The N.T.

 God’s word is still his revelation and his power, but
in the New Testament we learn the most astonishing
fact of God’s self-revelation: that “the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).
 God has said all that he intends to say to us through
the incarnate life and death of Christ. 2
 There is no further need for Revelation because all
things have been revealed in and through Christ, the
“Word made flesh”.
St. Thomas Aquinas writes:

“The eternal generation or begetting of
the Son is likened to the process by
which the human intellect generates the
concept or mental word. Hence the
Word of God is the Person begotten by
the Father. It is the personal name for
God the Son.”
(Summa Theologiae I, q.34 a.2).
Jn. 1:2-5 (Life)

 “He was in the beginning with God; 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.”
 Earthly life (vita) is a gift that is given and sustained
by God through his eternal Word. (Heb 1:3). 1
 “I am the Way the Truth and the Life.” (Jn. 14:6)
Light

…and the Life was the Light of
Men.

 … not sensible, but intellectual light, illuminating the
very soul. (Theophyl in loc.) 3
 Life of itself gives illumination to men, but to cattle
not: for they have not rational souls, by which to
discern wisdom: whereas man, being made in the
image of God, has a rational soul, by which he can
discern wisdom. Hence that life, by which all things
are made, is light, not however of all animals
whatsoever, but of men. (Augustine in Jn. tr. 1. c.18). 3
“The light shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not overcome it.”

Light – Darkness: alludes to the battle
between good and evil.
“He who commits sin is of the devil; for the
devil has sinned from the beginning. The
reason the Son of God appeared was to
destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jn. 3:8).
St. John Chrysostom says….

 “Life having come to us, the empire of death is dissolved; a
light having shown upon us, there is darkness no longer: but
there remains ever a life which death, a light which darkness
cannot overcome. Whence he continues, and the light shines in
the darkness: by darkness meaning death and error, for sensible
light does not shine in darkness, but darkness must be removed
first; whereas the preaching of Christ shone forth amidst the
reign of error, and caused it to disappear, and Christ by dying
changed death into life, so overcoming it, that, those who were
already in its grasp, were brought back again. Forasmuch then
as neither death nor error hath overcome his light, which is
every where conspicuous, shining forth by its own strength;
therefore he adds, and the darkness comprehended it not.”(Chrys. Hom.
V. [iv.]c.3). 3
“He came to bear witness to the
light.”

Jn. 1:6-8

 “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.”
 Testimony: “to bear witness”
 John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ “who
fulfilled a divine mission to Israel but was not the
divine Messiah.” 1
Jn. 1:14

 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father.”
 The Word became flesh: Asserts the mystery of the
Incarnation. It means that Christ, was fully divine,
eternal, and equal in being with the Father, came
from heaven to earth and entered history as a man.
The word “flesh” signifies all that is natural, earthly,
and human. 1
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us.” (Jn 1:14).

“…and dwelt among us.”

 The Greek word for “dwelt among us” is shekinah.
 Shekinah: “Tabernacled” Or, “pitched his tent”
among us.
 John is making a link between the Incarnation of
Jesus and the erection of the wilderness Tabernacle
in the Old Testament. 1
The Tabernacle

Shekinah

 The Tabernacle, once the architectural expression of
Yahweh’s presence in Israel, is a prophetic image of
Jesus dwelling in our midst as a man. Likewise, as
the Wisdom of God once tabernacled in Israel in the
Torah of Moses (Sir 24:8), so Jesus is the embodiment
of divine Wisdom in the flesh (1 Cor 1:24). 1
 Glory: The manifestation of power or might… It chiefly
describes the majesty and sovereignty of God. 2
Tabernaculum - “tent”

 The tent-sanctuary where God’s glory “presence”
dwelt.
 God wished to dwell here with his people.
 “There I will meet with you, and from above the
mercy seat, from between the 2 cherubim that are
upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you
of all that I will give you a commandment for the
people of Israel.”(Exodus 25:22).
The Mercy Seat

God’s dwelling

 Ark of the Covenant: “Holy of Holies.”
 “Contained a golden urn holding the manna, and
Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant.” (Heb 9:4).
Contents of the Ark

 Golden urn holding the manna: “Bread from
Heaven” (God feeds and provides for his people).
 Aaron’s rod that budded: “God brings the dead to
life” (God shepherds his people and brings them to
life).
 The tables of the covenant: “God’s law” (He
governs and protects his people).
The New Ark of the Covenant

The Bread From Heaven

 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and
they died. This is the bread which comes down from
heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the
living bread which came down from heaven; if
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and
the bread which I shall give for the life of the world
is my flesh.” (Jn 6: 49-50).
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in
me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives
and believes in me shall never die.” (Jn 11:25-26).

“For the law was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:17).

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law
and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them
but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven
and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass
from the law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17-18).

THE END
Sources

1) Ignatius Catholic Study Bible NT
RSV: Second Catholic Edition
2) Catholic Bible Dictionary
By Scott Hahn
3) Catena Aurea (vol. 4) Gospel of St. John
By St. Thomas Aquinas
4) Catechism of the Catholic Church
Pictures

Tabernacle, Mercy Seat, Contents of the Ark:
The Tabernacle by Rose Publishing
All other pictures:
Wikipedia
Corey Nelson