Christ is in our midst brothers and sisters in Christ! May the Peace and Grace of the One Triune God, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rest upon each and every one of you, and be inside of all of you who are Baptized into the Church of Christ! Let us always give thanks to God and give gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ, who has done miracles for us and continues to perform miracles for us. Let us never forget his answers to our prayers, the miracles he has performed to open our eyes to the Kingdom of God present in The Church, and the unceasing and unlimited Love he has for us. And let us also never forget that he is always with us (Matthew 28:20), never abandoning us like orphans, but always with us, leading us, nurturing us, teaching us, saving us, and Loving us. There is truly no place in heaven, on earth, or under the earth where we cannot have God present with us. He is always here with us, comforting us with his Love, and giving us the truth so that we will be free from all death (John 8:32).
Today brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord, we must absorb one of the most important Scriptures in all of the Church: The Theological prologue of Saint John's Gospel, John 1:1-18. One of the most powerful and profound writing of the Apostles, John's Theological prologue declares to us how great, wonderful, and powerful the Word of God, Jesus Christ, truly is, and furthermore declares with authority the great plan of Salvation and Purpose the Word has for everyone who comes to Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John is very Christological, Theological, and specific in his prologue, as you have read just above, the purpose of his language being that everyone can take something away and remember something important about Faith in Christ, Salvation, Partaking of the Divine Nature by God's Grace, and the Incarnation, so that all who have faith in Christ will be assured that we will be with God's unending and unlimited Loving Presence, in this life right now, and in the life to come in the New Jerusalem and New Earth.
In John 1:1-5, Saint John, being one of the Twelve Apostles and one of the three who knew Christ intimately, testifies as to what he has seen and heard from the mouth of Christ. He declares that Christ is the Eternal Word of God, from the very beginning before the creation of time itself. The Word was with God and is God, being in the very beginning when all things were created from nothing. Only in The Word of God is there life, and this life is the guiding light for all people in a dark, fallen world. This light has lasted from the beginning of Creation, and has been undefeated against the powers of darkness. The Greek for Word, λόγος (logos), can also mean "wisdom," "reason," "action," and of course "Word,", which are all attributes of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. In these five verses, Saint John introduces Christ as the Eternal Word of God, the Reason as to why all things exist, the true Wisdom that gives understanding and correct knowledge to all who are willing to receive him, and the Action that drives all functions in the entire universe. John also is very specific, in that he says The Word was with God, showing that indeed early Christians believed in the Holy Trinity. What John was referring to with God was The Father, and Word referred to The Son, Christ our Lord. What John here was describing to us was the distinctions between Persons of the Trinity. The important thing to know here is that Saint John wants us to know that there are distinctions between the Divine Persons of the Trinity, not differences or exact duplicates. In a later writing, there will be a deeper dive into the Theology of the Trinity, so don't worry about knowing it all right now!
John also says that The Word is fully God, so this means that Jesus Christ has always been understood as being fully God, being All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Loving. Therefore, being fully God, Christ is therefore the only source of life, as John also writes in verse 4. Christ, being the fullness of life, is the bright Light in our lives, and he is the Light of men, as John writes, and this Light is offered to every single human being on earth, and so everyone can receive this Divine Light. As Christ is the fullness of life and the Light of the human race, we are therefore called to come to Christ, and Participate in the Life of the Son, so that we may become Children of the Light, Heirs of the Eternal Word, and Friends of the Son of God. Each step that we take towards Christ, and each moment we spend participating in the life of Christ, no matter how small, is indeed God saving us bit by bit, and he uses our cooperation with his Grace to make the fallen world more renewed and more for the goodness of every human being, and everything in Creation, for the eventual New Jerusalem and New Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21-22).
In Verse 5, darkness refers to the powers of darkness and spiritual ignorance and neglection. The word 'comprehend' in the Scripture translation used can also mean "understand," and "overcome." This therefore means that if one desires to be with the Light and remain within the Light, they must have proper understanding of The Holy Gospel, and must be given the power to overcome the darkness that wages war against them. This is accomplished through prayer and The Sacraments. Prayer to God in its many forms, such as Lectio Divina (Praying with Scripture), The Jesus Prayer, The Rosary, Hesychasm, they all help us gain a proper understanding of what the Gospel actually teaches, for we are asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding of what the Gospel gives us, which is preserved by The Church. The Holy Sacraments, such as Baptism, The Eucharist, Confirmation/Chrismation, and Holy Confession, are the ways in which God gives us his Grace, but we must receive these in good faith in God. His Grace strengthens us and makes us whole so that we can more properly die to the world of Satan, and more properly come alive to Christ.
In the Icon below, this is a good visual representation as to what Saint John is describing to us in John 1:1-5:
In the next section, John 1:6-11, Saint John goes deeper as to what he has already testified about the Word of God. The John mentioned in here is not Saint John the Theologian who wrote the Gospel, but Saint John the Baptist, the cousin of Christ. John the Baptist came to be a credible witness to the Light of God, Jesus Christ, so that as many people as possible can be saved by God. He was a little light (John 5:35) who pointed to the Greatest Light, The Word of God Jesus Christ. Christ is the true Light that gives light to every man coming into the world. Now this statement ties in with the Parable of the Mustard Seed and The Parable of the Sower, in that indeed Christ offers everyone his Light, but humans have free will, and so can either freely reject or freely receive Christ's gift of the Light that casts out all satanic opposition and evil. Some choose to reject his Light, and so thus do not know him or recognize him as The Word (verses 9-11), and as a result the Light (or Word) that was sown in their hearts has been taken away, just like the seed sown on hardened ground in the Parable of the Sower. Some would accept his Light, but fall away in the process, just like the seed on stony ground and among thorns in the same parable. However, those who accept Christ's Light are filled with joy, peace, forgiveness, faithfulness, and the Love of God, and so the Word (or Light) sown in their hearts grows so they continually partake of the Divine Nature by God's Grace (2 Peter 1:4), and their soul becomes like a great tree in which the birds (angels) can be received by the soul, just as the Parable of the Mustard Seed says. And they produce fruit for God, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, and still others thirty. So don't reject Christ! Accept him and receive him with Love, and continue to do this every single day, for this is how the Word makes you grow, and how you receive the Light of God.
In the last section of his theological prologue, John 1:12-18, it is extremely important to understand what is being said here. John writes, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."
To those who trust and believe with faith that Jesus of Nazareth is the Eternal Word of God, The Messiah, The Son of God, The Savior of the World, they are given the gift from God to become his children. 'Right' as used here indicates a gift from God, and the way we become Children of God is by the Grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7), and so by God's Grace we inherit everything Christ is by Nature. God became man, so that man might become God, as Saint Athanasius puts it. The birth not of earthly means but of heavenly means of God that John writes about in this passage is The New Birth in Holy Baptism, for in Holy Baptism we are regenerated into new people under the Grace of the Holy Spirit, becoming members of Christ's Church. In Baptism, our sins are washed away and we become a new Creation in Christ, being united to him. This is possible because The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, being full of grace and truth. This is the Incarnation, the great miracle that The Eternal Word of God entered into our fallen world and assumed our fallen human nature to redeem and save all of it.
From Legacy Icons
The Grace that Christ is full of is his unlimited and unconditional Love that he is willing to give to those who believe his name. John describes Christ as being full of Truth as well, which points to the faithfulness and genuineness he has shown not only to his people, but to the entire world for all history. John writes that he himself and the other Apostles beheld his glory, which speaks to Christ's miracles and selfless sacrifice on the Cross to destroy the enemies of humanity, and give humanity the ability to have life in himself. Indeed humanity can become like God for John writes furthermore, And of his fullness we have all received, which clearly shows that to all the faithful in Christ, they can genuinely become the fullness of Christ himself, and become partakers of the Divine Nature. John uses the expression Grace for Grace, which means an overflowing amount of God's Grace poured out to the believer's soul, and deifying the soul, bringing it into intimate union with God, and so the believer's will, soul, mind, and heart are all in perfect alignment with God's, showing that the Christian has become truly Christ-Like. This is how God saves us. This is how God is renewing the entire world, starting with you. This is how God is going to create all things new, starting with saving you, deifying you, and bringing you into union with himself. However, you must genuinely believe in him, and participate in the Life of the Church, participating in the sacraments, remaining steadfast in the Faith of Christ. For through the Sacraments and our faithfulness to Christ is how God gives us his Grace for our deification.
The last few verses are a few clarifications written by John. The Law came through Moses so that all people would be ready for Christ. The Mosaic Law (Leviticus, the 10 Commandments, the prophecies of Moses) all pointed to Christ, so the Law's purpose was to prepare us to receive Christ, the ultimate gift. Being prepared by the Law, our tutor, Christ then came full of grace and truth which we so desperately need! John also writes that no one has seen God at any time, speaking to the fact that no one can see the essence, or nature, of God. That is why the Word became flesh, so as to reveal the fullness of God without destroying anyone based on seeing God's essence. Although there are many worldly ideas and philosophies, it is only Christ Jesus who fully and truthfully without blemish reveals the fullness of truth of God, Salvation, and the Truth of reality.
And so that's a little analysis on the Theological prologue on John's Gospel. Please, if anything must be corrected, comment down below. If something is gravely wrong, please inform The Church. It is truly my hope that all of these really deep ideas and subjects can bring all of you closer to Christ, alive to Christ, and in communion with Christ, our God. Remember to stay faithful always to Jesus Christ, remain steadfast even in the toughest of circumstances, and if you didn't quite grasp everything that was written, don't worry about it, just pray to God that he will give you the understanding needed to understand his Love, Salvation, and Divine Nature. Thank you for reading my writing, Glory to the Holy Trinity forever and ever, and I hope that you all have a very blessed day!
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