QUESTION: “In the beginning was the Word” is the starting verse of John’s Gospel. What is the Christian significance of the priory of the Word in the life of Christians? – Sebastian K.T.

ANSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS

Human words are powerful. They can build or destroy. They can bring peace and reconciliation but also wars and violence. They are the means of positive transformation when they proceed from the mouth of a God-experienced spiritual Master. If they proceed from the mouths of religious and political fanatics and tyrants they are poisonous weapons to divide and to polarize people creating prejudices about others, fear of others, tensions and conflicts among people leading to the destruction of life and property. In order to avoid conflicts among people by their use of words, St Paul exhorts those Christians of the early Christian community and Christians of all times: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29f). Words are to be used to build up communities and to foster communion among people.
God’s Word has infinite power in comparison with humans’ word. God’s word is creative, effective and transformative. According to Irenaeus, one of the great Fathers of the Church, God, the Father, has two hands; the Word and the Spirit. Using the Word and the Spirit God creates everything. The first chapter of Genesis, the first book of the Bible begins with the expression, “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1). John, the evangelist, also begins his composition of the gospel with the same introductory expression, “In the beginning…” If in the first chapter of the book of Genesis it is said that in the beginning God created heaven and earth and later in the chapter it is clear that God spoke his word and everything came into existence because of God’s word. Therefore, the Psalmist sang, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).
The gospel according to John reveals that God’s Word or Logos was in the beginning and this Word was God (John 1:1). This Word became human and lived among us (cfr John 1:14). If the Greek text of this is translated literally it would mean that the Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us reminding the reader about God’s presence in the tent of meeting when Israelites wandered in desert after their liberation from the slavery in Egypt. The same God has come to live among humans as one among them. It is the Christian experience that the creative Word of God is God himself in his Otherness or Alterity and in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4) revealed itself as Jesus of Nazareth. It is the Christian faith that the Word through whom everything is created and for whom everything is created leads the entire creation to its final destiny and fulfilment.
At least to some extent if one has an insight into the depth dimension of this mystery of the Word becoming human as Jesus of Nazareth, he or she would be liberated from his or her narrow-mindedness, exclusive understanding himself or herself as a chosen and privileged one. He or she, then, begins to see that all are included in this infinitely human dimension of Jesus Christ. It is because the Word has not just become one human being, the Word assumed human nature in which all before him, all after him and all contemporaneous with him are included or he is an inclusive personality. According to the Hebrew theology of corporate personality, in persons like Israel/Jacob all Israelites are believed to be included. St Paul uses this Hebrew theology of corporate personality or inclusive personality in explaining the relationship of everyone and everything to Christ. According to the prologue of John “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of people” (John 1:3-4). The Word that became human includes everyone and everything. St Paul expresses it when he writes, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).For anyone who believes in Jesus Christ everyone is a brother or a sister. Nobody is a stranger. There is no “we” and “they” but only “we”. In this sense, everyone is a Christian whether he/she recognizes and accepts it or not .
Word and Meaning
The Greek term logos can mean word, reason and meaning. According to ancient Greek thinking logos was the source of being, knowledge, ethics and everything connected with universe and life. Because of logos humans have ideas in their minds and the spark of the divine in them. It was logos that connected the Absolute and the relative, spirit and matter, macrocosm and microcosm. Logos was considered to be the connecting link between all polarities. Everything has its beginning and end in the logos. Therefore, logos is the meaning of everything and everyone because it is the beginning and end or the reason for the existence of everything. For the Hebrews God’s Word or dabar Yahweh is God’s presence and action in the world and in human history especially as experienced by the Hebrew people and articulated in their sacred writings. When the evangelist John uses the term Logos to explain the mystery of Jesus Christ he is combining the Greek understanding of logos as the meaning of the universe or the beginning and the end of the universe and the Hebrew understanding of God’s presence and action in history. Therefore, Jesus Christ, the LOGOS or the WORD is the meaning of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega of the universe and God’s presence and action in history. John Macquarrie in his book, Jesus Christ in Modern Thought opines that instead of the Word in the first chapter of John if we use Meaning, it would reveal to us also another dimension of the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Logos or Word.
When we use the term meaning instead of word, in the first chapter of the gospel according to John it can be read as: “In the beginning was the Meaning and the Meaning was with God, and the Meaning was God. The Meaning was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Meaning and without Meaning was not anything made that was made. In Meaning was life, and the life was the light of people (1:1-4)….Meaning was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. Meaning came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God (1:11-12)…. And the Meaning became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (1:14). Word cannot be without meaning and word without meaning is meaningless blabbing.
God revealed in Jesus Christ offers God’s presence and meaning of life to humans and meaning to the entire creation. When we look at everything in creation with a contemplative attitude because it has its origin and end in Christ we approach creation with respect and reverence and overcome our pragmatic approach to it. The reducing of everything in nature for human use and abuse has created ecological crisis. A number of natural calamities and disasters are caused by the unbridled exploitation of natural resources to satisfy human greed. The recognition of God’s Word and Meaning revealed in Jesus Christ needs to challenge and inspire Christians to champion the cause of protecting and caring for nature. It should challenge Christians to develop their capacity for a contemplative attitude towards nature and develop a deeper spirituality that would not reduce God, other humans and nature for their use but to recognize, appreciate and relate to them as they are.
Significance of the Word for Christian Life
The liberative message of God revealed through Jesus Christ the Word is that all humans are related to God through Jesus Christ not only through the hominization of the Word but also from the fact they are created in him, through him and for him. Further it is a challenge to all human beings to live this communion with God and others and especially it is a challenge to Christians who have committed themselves to follow Jesus Christ and give witness to him. A genuine follower of Jesus Christ who believes that the Word became human and revealed to humans who they are and what they can become needs to live in communion with all without any discrimination whatsoever. For a Christian there are no strangers or enemies. Even the worst enemy is his or her brother or sister. This is the paradox of the Christian message that humans find their true identity not in opposition to God or others but in relationship with God through Jesus Christ and in relationship with all humans and in right relationship with nature. When many people seek their identity in groups, clans, class, language, ethnicity, nationality etc. and build “narrow domestic walls” Christians cannot afford to do so if they realize and respond adequately to their vocation as disciples of Christ.
Words can be misused to poison the minds of people leading to divisions among people. Religious fundamentalism and exclusivist attitudes leading to bigotry and violence had always been there in the world but in the recent past they have grown beyond all proportions and are causing divisions, disunity and enmity among people. Religious identities are misused by unscrupulous political leaders to secure political power to dominate and control people and to propagate fascist ideologies. In some countries even democratic elections are vitiated by the false propaganda that a particular religion or religious practices are under threat if those who belong to that particular religion are not elected to form governments. It is unfortunate and unchristian when Christian politicians make use of their Christian faith to discriminate and exclude others, spread lies and manipulate systems to secure power claiming to protect Christian faith and practices.
The Word of God became human to reveal to humans that they are in the Word and they are to live in communion in the world. Their identity as the manifestation of the Word became human needs to be used to build communion and reconciliation among people of
different religions and ideologies. In our times when the forces of divisions and polarization use words that destroy communion it is the Christian duty to discern those wolves in sheep’s clothing and denounce all those who abuse religious words and symbols to divide humans and destroy communion among the people of different religions and ideologies. False word destroys but true word builds up!