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“The Word” is one of the highest and most profound titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. To determine the exact meaning is not easy. Obviously the Lord Jesus Christ is not the logos of Greek philosophy; rather He is the memra of the Hebrew Scriptures. Notice how important the Word is in the Old Testament. For instance, the name for Jehovah was never pronounced. It was such a holy word that they never used it at all. But this is the One who is the Word and, gathering up everything that was said of Him in the Old Testament, He is now presented as the One “In the beginning.” This beginning antedates the very first words in the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” That beginning can be dated, although I do not believe that anyone can date it accurately—it is nonsense to say that it is 4004 b.c., as Ussher’s dating has it. It probably goes back billions and billions of years. You see, you and I are dealing with the God of eternity. When you go back to creation He is already there, and that is exactly the way this is used—“in the beginning was the Word.” Notice it is not is the Word; it was not in the beginning that the Word started out or was begotten. Was (as Dr. Lenske points out) is known as a durative imperfect, meaning continued action. It means that the Word was in the beginning. What beginning? Just as far back as you want to go. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Does that begin God? No, just keep on going back billions and trillions and “squillions” of years. I can think back to billions of years back of creation—maybe you can go beyond that—but let’s put down a point there, billions of years back of creation. He already was; He comes out of eternity to meet us. He did not begin. “In the beginning was the Word”—He was already there when the beginning was. “Well,” somebody says, “there has to be a beginning somewhere.” All right, wherever you begin, He is there to meet you, He is already past tense. “In the beginning was the Word”—five words in the original language, and there is not a man on topside of this earth who can put a date on it or understand it or fathom it. This first tremendous statement starts us off in space, you see.

The second statement is this, “and the Word was with God.” This makes it abundantly clear that He is separate and distinct from God the Father. You cannot identify Him as God the Father because He is with God. “But,” someone says, “if He is with God, He is not God.” The third statement sets us straight, “and the Word was God.” This is a clear, emphatic declaration that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. In fact, the Greek is more specific than this, because in the Greek language the important word is placed at the beginning of the sentence and it reads, “God was the Word.” That is emphatic; you cannot get it more emphatic than that. Do you want to get rid of the deity of Christ? My friend, you cannot get rid of it. The first three statements in John’s gospel tie the thing down. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

1:1 In the beginning. In contrast to 1 John 1:1 where John used a similar phrase ("from the beginning") to refer to the starting point of Jesus’ ministry and gospel preaching, this phrase parallels Gen. 1:1 where the same phrase is used. John used the phrase in an absolute sense to refer to the beginning of the time-space-material universe. was. The verb highlights the eternal pre-existence of the Word, i.e., Jesus Christ. Before the universe began, the Second Person of the Trinity always existed; i.e., He always was (cf. 8:58). This word is used in contrast with the verb "was made" (or "were made") in v. 3 which indicate a beginning in time. Because of John’s theme that Jesus Christ is the eternal God, the Second Person of the Trinity, he did not include a genealogy as Matthew and Luke did. While in terms of Jesus’ humanity, He had a human genealogy; in terms of His deity, He has no genealogy. the Word. John borrowed the use of the term "Word" not only from the vocabulary of the OT but also from Gr. philosophy, in which the term was essentially impersonal, signifying the rational principle of "divine reason," "mind," or even "wisdom." John, however, imbued the term entirely with OT and Christian meaning (e.g., Gen. 1:3 where God’s Word brought the world into being; Pss. 33:6; 107:20; Prov. 8:27 where God’s Word is His powerful self-expression in creation, wisdom, revelation, and salvation) and made it refer to a person, i.e., Jesus Christ. Greek philosophical usage, therefore, is not the exclusive background of John’s thought. Strategically, the term "Word" serves as a bridge-word to reach not only Jews but also the unsaved Greeks. John chose this concept because both Jews and Greeks were familiar with it. the Word was with God. The Word, as the Second Person of the Trinity, was in intimate fellowship with God the Father throughout all eternity. Yet, although the Word enjoyed the splendors of heaven and eternity with the Father (Is. 6:1–13; cf. 12:41; 17:5), He willingly gave up His heavenly status, taking the form of a man, and became subject to the death of the cross (see notes on Phil. 2:6–8). was God. The Gr. construction emphasizes that the Word had all the essence or attributes of deity, i.e., Jesus the Messiah was fully God (cf. Col. 2:9). Even in His incarnation when He emptied Himself, He did not cease to be God but took on a genuine human nature/body and voluntarily refrained from the independent exercise of the attributes of deity.

Gr. Greek

MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. Jn 1:1

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

Right at the beginning of his Gospel, John tells us that Jesus was far more than just a great teacher or a mighty prophet; in fact, He was God. Jesus is “the express image” of God’s person (Heb. 1:3).

Stanley, Charles F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible : New King James Version. Nashville, TN : Nelson Bibles, 2005, S. Jn 1:1

“The Word” (1:1). The Gk. word is logos, which usually emphasizes the message of a spoken word. John’s point is that a key role of the Second Person of the Trinity has always been communication. The Son is the Spoken Word, the living expression of all that God has ever sought to communicate about Himself.

With God, and was God (1:1). John’s point is that Jesus is both identical with the God of the O.T. and yet is distinct from Him. The concept, so familiar although mysterious to us, was stunning in the world of the 1st century. The Jews emphasized the uniqueness and unity of the O.T.’s one God. The pagans imagined a class of beings they called “gods.” But John affirms that God is one, yet exists in distinct, separate personalities.

The concept is difficult, but the teaching is clear. The Word (Jesus) existed eternally with God as one God.

Richards, Larry: The Bible Reader's Companion. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1991, S. 678