He was first, before me

14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacles among us, and we gaze at His glory, a glory as of an only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John is testifying concerning Him and has cried, saying, “This was He of Whom I said, ‘He Who is coming after me, has come to be in front of me,’ for He was first, before me,” John 1

In the writings of Matthew and Luke, Jesus Christ is the long-promised descendant of the royal house of David. He was a man, although uniquely conceived, who nevertheless had a Father (God) and a mother. The idea of an existence before his birth (pre-existence) is alien to these evangel accounts. John has a completely different approach. He does not begin with the birth of Jesus, as did Matthew and Luke, but starts at the beginning of all things. Then, there was “the word” (Gr. logos), i.e., the expression of God. Through the word all things came into being: God spoke and it was there. “The word” (=God speaking) is the light of men. And then in verse 14, John writes: “The word became flesh,” while referring to the birth of the Son of God. One of His names is, therefore: “the word of God” (Revelation 19:13). Since when is “the word of God”? From “the beginning”! John teaches a pre-existence of “the word”. Not the Son or Christ, but the word that became flesh, is pre-existent. See also blog about personification ——————————— translation: Peter Feddema

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