In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Before Bethlehem
John does not begin with Mary, Joseph, Caesar, or the manger. He begins before creation. The one who becomes flesh is not a creature promoted into divine honor; he is the eternal Word through whom all things were made.
This is why John 1 became central to the Church's confession of Christ. The prologue guards both truths at once: the Word is with God, personally distinct from the Father, and the Word is God, sharing the divine identity.
The Light Enters Darkness
The light shines in darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. John is not naive about evil. He knows rejection, blindness, and the world's refusal of its Maker. But the darkness is not equal to the light. It resists; it does not conquer.
The Word Became Flesh
The climax is not an idea but an incarnation: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The eternal Son does not merely appear human. He takes real human nature, enters Israel's story, and reveals the glory of the Father as the only Son, full of grace and truth.