John. Jey J. Kanagaraj
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glory in terms of his steadfast love and faithfulness (Exod 33:18–19; 34:6–7), which are equivalent to the twin words “grace and truth” (1:14). Jesus was bearing God’s glory even in Jesus’ pre-existent state (17:5, 24). It marks the oneness between them, on one hand, and the oneness between the believers, on the other (17:22). In this context, “glory” can mean the eternal relationship of love that exists between the Father and the Son (17:24b).14 In the light of Lazarus’ resurrection (11:4, 40), God’s glory may also indicate God’s saving power15 or God’s love expressed in his generosity to restore life.16 The glory seen in the Son was God’s splendor, manifested in his love and faithfulness to his covenant to give divine life. The idea of seeing God’s glory in flesh could be a polemic against the then-prevalent interest in mystical visions to see God in heaven in his kingly glory and in human form.17
The sharing of glory by the Father and the Son, a mark of oneness between them, is confirmed by the Greek word monogenēs (“only Son”), used four times in John (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; cf. Wis 7:22 LXX). The word means “only one of its kind,” but when used in relation to the Father it means the “only Son.”18 After introducing the Logos as God and narrating that the glory revealed is that of the only Son from the Father, John would not have hesitated to call the “only Son” as the “only God” (cf. 1:18 in some manuscripts). In sharing with God oneness in life, glory, name, status, and function, there is no one who is equal to the status of Jesus as God’s Son and therefore Jesus is the only Son of God. From 1:14 onwards the pre-existent Logos is spoken in John in terms of the “Son of God.”
God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to his covenant, which constitute his glory, are termed as “his fullness” in 1:16.19 All those who believe through the witness of the Johannine community received “grace upon grace.” Literally, the phrase “grace upon grace” can be translated as “grace in the place of grace.” It does not mean that in place of the Mosaic Law the grace through Jesus was given, for John never opposes the Law in his Gospel. The Law that marks the old covenant was also a gift of God given to his people out of his grace. This means that the OT manifestation of God’s gracious love and favor has become accessible to all who believe in Christ, replacing the impossible observance of the OT Law by a personal and unique manifestation through his Son.20 Thus, “grace upon grace” implies God’s continuous supply of the same grace, expressed through the Law, from one degree to another by the gracious indwelling of Jesus.21 All human efforts to keep the Law in order to experience God are thereby made redundant.
The steadfast love and faithfulness of God, given in the OT Law in a shadowy way, have attained reality in the coming of the Logos-in-flesh, “Jesus Christ” (1:17). The phrase “given through Moses” implies the role of mediator played by Moses in giving the Law (cf. Gal 3:19b). The major aspect of God’s covenant with his people is God’s giving of the Law (Deut 5:1–21), which is the “Book of the Covenant” that was sealed by the offering of the “blood of the covenant” (Exod 24:7–8). The reference to the Law given through Moses (1:17), then, has an implicit reference to the covenant community. However, John looks beyond this old covenant community to a new covenant community that will be established in Jesus Christ, through whom came to humankind God’s “grace and truth.” These dual words allude to God’s mercy and initiative to forgive the sins of his people, who disobeyed his covenant, and to God’s faithfulness to put the Law within their hearts as the mark of making a new covenant (Exod 34:6–7; Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 36:22–32). By being in the “bosom of the Father,” Jesus alone knows God in the most intimate way and therefore he alone can reveal God to the world in his mercy and faithfulness (John 1:18; cf. 10:14–15; 14:10–11).
The whole Gospel, according to the prologue, evolves around one theme: the revelation of the one God in his glory and his encounter with all human beings in the life and mission of Jesus, the pre-existent God-become-flesh, to found and nurture a witnessing new covenant community.
Excursus: The Understanding of the Logos in the First Century CE
The first-century Jews treated the Logos as Wisdom and the Law in their pre-existence with the Creator (Prov 8:22–31; Sir 1:1–10; 24:3; Prov 3:19–20; Wis 9:1–2; Bar 3:9–4:4; 1 En. 42; Sir 15:1; 19:20; 39:1; 24:23; 34:8; 39:1; 4 Macc 1:16–17) and as the creative word used by God in creation (Gen 1; cf. Ps 33:6, 9). For them the Logos accomplishes God’s mission (Isa 9:8–9; 55:11) and brings healing and deliverance (Ps 107:20), a means by which God’s will and message were communicated (Jer 1:4; Ezek 1:3; 6:1; Amos 3:1, 8). They understood the Logos as the Aramaic memra, a periphrasis for God and his powerful acts (e.g., Tg. Exod. 19:17; 31:13; Tg. Onq. Gen. 3:8; Tg. Isa. 48:13).
The Greeks understood the Logos as reason or the rational principle that is behind the world to keep it in order and within every human being. For the Stoics, the Logos controls the stars and seasons and pervades all things. Although one can be united with God through the Logos (Corp. herm. 13.6–7), reason can be built up in a person only after the immortal soul gets rid of bodily senses by escaping from the prison of the body. This is called “rebirth” (Corp. herm. 13.7–8).
The Hellenistic Jewish understanding of the Logos is known from Philo’s writings. For Philo the Logos is a real being distinct from God and an intermediary between God and the world (Her. 2–5). Logos is the divine reason (Cher. 36), the second God (QG 2.62), God himself (without the definite article; Somn. 1.229–30). To perceive the Logos is to perceive the invisible God, for the Logos is that by which God draws the perfect man from earthly things to himself (Sac. 8). The unknowable God is knowable as Light through the Logos (QE 68; cf. Mos. 2.95–100). As the Logos belongs to the intelligible world (Opif. 4, 16; Mos. 2.127), it never descends to the sensible world, but one should move to the intelligible world to encounter the Logos.22 For Philo, mystical union with God in terms of indwelling within the soul’s life is possible through the Logos (Post. 122, by interpreting Num 14:9).
Although people would have understood the Logos in different ways, the underlying common theme is that the Logos is God and in the Logos one can apprehend God. However, John’s insight that the Logos became flesh is missing. No wonder first-century Christians meant by the Logos the “Christian message” (e.g., Mark 2:2; 4:14; Acts 14:25), the content of which is Christ and his glory (2 Cor 4:5–6) or “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23; 2:2; Gal 3:1), in whom one can see God.
Fusing the Horizons
Several years ago, one of my friends confronted me saying that Christianity came into being by the birth of Jesus about two thousand years ago, whereas other major religions had been in existence even before that time. This is an example of how the world thinks of Christ and the time of his existence. The proclamation of Jesus’ story as beginning from his pre-existence with the eternal God as God would make it clear that Christ lived even before the time of creation and that God’s plan to create a new community in Jesus Christ was in him before anything was created. This message will lead hearers, particularly those from other religious faith, to perceive Jesus as the unique revelation of God.
There is a deep aspiration among many religious groups today to see the one true God. People try to see God by spending a huge amount of money or even by subduing and wounding one’s body. The Fourth Gospel proclaims that the one true God revealed his character in Jesus, who is the place in which one can see God now. God’s new community is called to bear witness to this by words and deeds.
Foundation of the Community of Faith (1:19–51)
Witness of John the Baptist (1:19–28)
The narrative