In John's gospel, we see a very high Christology in that the introduction already tells us that, spoiler alert, Jesus is God. We have the incredible experience of reading this text, which is one of our oldest declarations that Jesus and God are One.
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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
While poetic and beautiful to read, the beginning of John's gospel also tells us that this man is the one that the scriptures told us about, many generations before. The gospel writer calls Jesus "the Word" and describes how the Word was part of the creation of all things. We see something quite similar in Proverbs, but instead of the Word, they are speaking about Wisdom.
Wisdom’s Part in Creation
The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth—when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.When he established the heavens, I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
Here, we see a longer, but similar description to what the preface of John's gospel shows us: Jesus was always there. The language that is used changed over time, but we see author of John taking this Hebrew tradition and making in their own. These "call-backs" are some of my favourite things about analyzing scripture through a historical-critical lens.
Let's pray on this:
Jesus, you have known me my whole life. From the time of my conception, and until I meet you in heaven, you have been here. Even more, you participated in the creation of the universe, the stars, the sun, the Earth. Allow me to be guided by your Wisdom, enriched by your Word, and spread love to all of creation. Amen.
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