Jesus is the Logos

Imagine John, the Apostle Jesus loved¹, preparing to write what we know as the Book of John. Nearly 100 years² have passed since the birth of Jesus. John, though younger than Jesus, is getting old; he is feeling the need to pass his knowledge of Jesus to the Church before he falls asleep³.

Already, heresies have entered the Church. He needs to tell of his first-hand experiences of the God-ness of Jesus. Christ’s miracles, Christ’s authority, Christ’s unity, and One-ness, being “with and of God.” But there is so much! If they were all written down, John supposed that the whole world could not contain the books that would be written⁴.

John Begins to Write

John had acquired some blank scrolls, rolled pieces of papyrus, some ink made from charcoal, gum, and water, and a pen made from a reed. His mind must have been roiling with memories of his Master and friend. He felt the need to document the things he saw, heard, learned, and experienced with Jesus and with his fellow Apostles.

Like all authors, the blank “paper” challenged him, daring him to put into written words his beloved memories. We can be sure that John knew that the Holy Spirit had called him to write this book, and He would continually inspire him as he wrote⁵. Still, how could things of God be put into human language? How could he express the wonders of Jesus with words crafted by humans to communicate human thoughts?

Then the Holy Spirit guided John to the opening words that Moses used when writing the book of Genesis – “In the beginning…” so John chose those words as his opening when he put reed to papyrus.

Jesus is the Logos

“In the beginning was the what?”, John must have pondered. What word could he use to explain the transcendent nature of Jesus, being the omnipresent Son of God yet coming into the world within the confines of human flesh as the Son of Man? Then it came to him, he would use the Greek word that had a fascinating meaning; he chose Λόγος (Logos). Strong’s Concordance (3056) defines it like this:

Logos: From lego; something said; by implication, a topic, also reasoning or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, the Divine Expression.

Logos, the Divine Expression, was the word he would use to communicate who and what Jesus is. At last, the Apostle John proceeded to write. He used his opening declaration to connect Jesus to the divinity in verse one of chapter one of Genesis: ”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

– John 1:1-5 KJV

Greek Culture and Language

The Book of John, as well as all of the other authors of the New Testament, was written in Greek. It would have been difficult for Christ Jesus’ Good News (Gospel) to be written in any language. No doubt, this is one reason why preachers preach “expository” sermons⁶.

Footnotes

1. John 21:20 – Jesus and the Beloved Apostle. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/john/21-20.htm ↩︎
2. How Did Apostle John Die? (n.d.). Biblestudy.Org. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://www.biblestudy.org/question/how-did-apostle-john-die.html ↩︎
3. Bible Gateway passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:14 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians%204%3A14&version=ESV ↩︎
4. Bible Gateway passage: John 21:25 – New Living Translation. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2021%3A25&version=NLT ↩︎
5. Bible Gateway passage: 2 Timothy 3:16 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy%203%3A16&version=ESV ↩︎
6. To explain. Expository definition in American English. (n.d.). Collinsdictionary.Com. Retrieved August 26, 2023, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/expository ↩︎