John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The prologue of John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18), of which this verse is a part, focuses on Jesus as the eternal Son, who existed with God the Father before the creation of the World.

This verse is an obvious reference to the first three words of the book of Genesis. Just as God was “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1), so Jesus existed  “in the beginning” (John 1:1) as the eternal Word. This Word, who assumed human form to make His dwelling among human beings on earth (see John 1:14), is comparable to the words that God used to speak the universe into being (see Genesis 1:3).

Words are the primary units of language that enable humans to communicate with one another. In the same way, Jesus reveals the will and mind of God the Father to earth-bound mortals.

The description of Jesus as the Word is unique to the apostle John’s writings. In his first epistle, John declares, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,  the word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). This leaves little doubt that John thought of Jesus as the Word who was the second person of the Trinity.

John continues this imagery in the book of Revelation. He describes Jesus as victorious over all His enemies in the end time: “He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God” (Revelation 19:13 NIV).