John 1

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, John is writing to Jews and Gentiles alike.  He masterfully uses a term “word” (Gk. “logos”) that held meaning in both cultures.  The Greek word Logos, for the Greek is wisdom, which in Stoic thought logos, wisdom, and reason are synonymous terms for the impersonal, governing entity over the universe.  In Jewish culture logos or wisdom is the Law of Moses, as revealed by God at Mt. Sinai.  John using this term brings the two cultures together in the conversation, and he then takes them to the next level.  The Logos of God is Jesus, the word of God in the flesh.  In this John establishes, for the Jews, that Jesus is not only the Messiah, but that He is God in the flesh.  For the Greek, John establishes that the logos of God came in the flesh, personally, in the person of Jesus.  He takes the application of these two cultural mindsets and joins them in the lineage of the family of God, as “all who receive Him; He gave the right to become the children of God.” (ESV, John 1:12)  In this there are none left out.  There is no ethnic lineage that qualifies one more than the other for the favor of God through the word become flesh.  He is available for all.  And He withholds nothing from those who will believe in His divinity and receive the gift of God, the word in the flesh sent to make the fullness of the grace and love of the Father known to all. (John 1:17, 18)