The Gospel of John starts with the statement, "In the beginning was the Word..." John goes on to say, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John intends to make clear that by "the Word" he means not only the promised Messiah, but also the man, Jesus. But why in particular does he choose to call him the "word"? Why does John not start instead by saying something like, "In the Beginning was the Son. And the Son was with God, and the Son was God"?
This narrative of Jesus' life thus starts off not in a particular place and time, i.e. "Judea, year One, A.D" but instead in a timeless "beginning." This beginning is intentionally disorienting, in the way that stories that begin "Once upon a Time" are intentionaly disorienting, inviting the mind to open to its visionary, poetic language.
For a reader familiar with the Torah, "in the beginning" brings to mind the account in Genesis of the creation of the earth. To the extent that John is writing for those very readers, he undoubtedly intends for them to make that connection to Genesis, and if we go back to John and "the Word," could it not be that John means for us to notice that in Genesis God creates the world through words: "Let there be light." Might then the "light" in Genesis similarly redirect us back to the Light in John, which he describes as "the true light," but who, he says "was in the world" and who "made the world," and yet, "the world knew him not."
When John says that Jesus "made the world" is this necessarily a reference to the "Beginning" of Genesis and the original creation of the universe? I wonder if, looking ahead to Chapter Three where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be "born again," perhaps John means something other than literal creation when he says Jesus "made the world." The phrase that John uses in Chapter 1 is "panta di'autou egeneto," which means "everthing came to be from him." The verb he uses, "egeneto," is a form of "gignomai," which means "comes to be." This verb is closely related to "gennaw," which means "to beget," and it is a form of this word that Jesus uses when he tells Nicodemus that he must be born again. So, just as Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again, is it not possible that when John 1 refers to the Word as having "made the world" he means it in a sense that is closer to "giving birth" to the world rather than "making" it in the sense in which an artisan makes something. The Greek verb that means "to make" in that sense is "poiein," and John does use this verb in this same chapter, but it is in reference to the miracles that Jesus does or "makes." So he creates miracles and he creates the world, but not in the same respect. The world comes forth from him like a child and not like an object that he builds. And he gives birth to the world through the Word. It might be, then that the "creation" in John 1 is a spiritual rebirth of the world like the one Jesus tells Nicodemus he must undergo.
Why, though, in both Genesis and John, does the "word" command so much power? It is true that certain words can have great power, for example, "Will you marry me?" or "He's the culprit" or "Off with your head," and indeed throughout this Gospel words are used to give testimony, betray, deny, and condemn. But those words have no inherent power. They require a second person, a listener, to take some action as the result of having heard them. By contrast, God's words "Let there be light" actually bring the light into the world, by themselves. It is not as if God commands someone to do it for him. But why does Genesis not say simply that "God created light." What is the significance of having God speak light into being? To whom is he speaking?
Labels: In the Beginning
posted by Lisa #
9:37 AM |
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