Why is Jesus described as “the Word” in John 1:1 ?
by Dan Tsouloufis

Why is Jesus described as “the Word” in John 1:1 ?

Some people may ask why Jesus is described as “the Word” in John 1:1, and it does require some explanation.  Below is the passage:

John 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

It’s important to remember that the whole New Testament was written in Greek, since Greek was the common written language at the time.  Therefore, the apostles who wrote the books of the New Testament used common Greek words in order to convey their message to both Jews and Gentiles.

In the John 1:1 passage, “Word” is translated from the Greek Logos which denotes “reason” or “speech”.  In ancient Greek philosophy at the time, this “reason” denotes the controlling principle in the universe.  So you can see why the apostle John (who wrote this passage) would use the Greek word Logos (reason) in order to describe to a Gentile (a non-Jew) who Jesus was, since John was conveying to the Gentiles that Jesus (who is also God) is the controlling principle in the universe.

Secondly, John needed to convey who Jesus was to a Jewish audience as well, since after all, Jesus was a Jew and the gospel message was first preached to the Jews.  Therefore, to a Jew, the concept of the “Word” as Logos can be understood as “speech” or “revelation”.  In other words, there’s a link between language and revelation.  John was conveying the incarnation of Jesus, so he used the word Logos (speech) in order to describe to a Jew that Jesus is the self-revelation of God, the Divine nature taking on human nature.

Lastly, the incarnation of Jesus is the most consequential event in history, because the eternal God entered space-time history as the second person of the Trinity, and He took on flesh to dwell among His creation.  In the incarnation, the eternal God communicates to His creation through His self-revelation, both in human form (Jesus) and in written form (His Word, the Bible).  Then after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, God continues to communicate to His followers through His Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity.

(Thanks to my friend Dan Tsouloufis for writing this and allowing me to post it)