John’s Gospel doesn’t begin in Bethlehem. It begins in eternity. Before the manger, before creation, before time itself—the Word was. In these first 18 verses, often called the Prologue, John draws back the veil to reveal the divine mystery behind everything: the Word (Greek: Logos) is both with God and is God. This is an invitation into awe. This is not just a new chapter in salvation history; it’s the hinge of all history. And it culminates in the stunning truth: the Word became flesh. The first thing we see on opening our Gospel. But it was the last part which he wrote. It is the final summary, placed at the very beginning of the Gospel. He starts with the words, “In the beginning was the Word”, therefore tying the start of the Gospel to the very start of our Bible in Genesis which says: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth” (Gen 1:1). So John pushes his account of Jesus, the Word, back to the beginning of time itself…before anything else had been created, Christ already was. ‘In the beginning was the Word’ tells us in simple words that Christ was before all else came to be. Today is the day where we can try to stretch our minds into the mystery of God, before the world was made.
