What do John 1:1,14 mean when they declare that Jesus is the Word of God?

Answer

The solution to this question lies in understanding why John wrote his gospel. His purpose is clearly stated in John 20:30-31: “Many other signs Jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Once we grasp that John’s aim was to introduce his gospel readers to Jesus Christ, establishing His identity (God in human form) and His actions, all to lead them to accept Christ’s redemptive work through faith, we can better comprehend why John refers to Jesus as “The Word” in John 1:1.

By beginning his gospel with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” John introduces Jesus using a term familiar to both his Jewish and Gentile audience. The Greek term translated as “Word” in this verse is Logos, a concept prevalent in both Greek philosophy and Jewish theology of that era. In the Old Testament, the “word” of God is often personified as a means to carry out God’s will (Psalm 33:6;Psalm 107:20;Psalm 119:89;147:15-18). Therefore, by presenting Jesus as the “Word” to his Jewish readers, John is alluding to the Old Testament where the Logos or “Word” of God symbolizes God’s revelation. In Greek philosophy, Logos was the intermediary through which God created and communicated with the material world. In the Greek context, the Logos served as a link between the transcendent God and the physical realm. Hence, for his Greek audience, the use of the term “Word” would have conveyed a profound theological and philosophical significance.If the term Logos would likely have evoked the idea of a mediating principle between God and the world.

Essentially, what John is accomplishing by introducing Jesus as the Logos is drawing upon a well-known word and concept that both Jews and Gentiles of his time would have recognized and using that as the starting point from which he presents them to Jesus Christ. However, John surpasses the familiar notion of Logos that his Jewish and Gentile readers would have held and portrays Jesus Christ not as a mere mediating principle as the Greeks perceived, but as a personal being, fully divine, yet fully human. Furthermore, Christ was not merely a personification of God’s revelation as the Jews believed, but was indeed God’s flawless revelation of Himself in the flesh, to the extent that John would document Jesus’ own words to Philip: “Jesus said unto him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, “Show us the Father”?”‘ «Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? », (John 14:9). By utilizing the term Logos or “Word” in John 1:1, John is expanding and applying a concept with which his audience was acquainted and using that to introduce his readers to the true Logos of God in Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, fully God and yet fully man, who came to reveal God to man and redeem all who believe in Him from their sin.