From: John 1:1-18
Prologue
[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God; [3] all things were
made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
[4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for
testimony to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through
him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
[9] The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
[10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the
world knew him not. [11] He came to his own home, and his own people
received him not. [12] But to all who received him, who believed in his
name, he gave power to become children of God; [13] who were born, not
of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.
[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and
truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the
father. [15] (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom
I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before
me.'") [16] And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon
grace. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who
is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
Commentary:
1-18. These verses form the prologue or introduction to the Fourth
Gospel; they are a poem prefacing the account of Jesus Christ's life on
earth, proclaiming and praising his divinity and eternity. Jesus is the
uncreated Word, God the Only-begotten, who takes on our human condition
and offers us the opportunity to become sons and daughters of God, that
is, to share in God's own life in a real and supernatural way.
Right through his Gospel St John the Apostle lays special emphasis on
our Lord's divinity; his existence did not begin when he became man in
Mary's virginal womb: before that he existed in divine eternity as
Word, one in substance with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This
luminous truth helps us understand everything that Jesus says and does
as reported in the Fourth Gospel.
St John's personal experience of Jesus' public ministry and his
appearances after the Resurrection were the material on which he drew
to contemplate God's divinity and express it as "the Word of God". By
placing this poem as a prologue to his Gospel, the Apostle is giving us
a key to understand the whole account which follows, in the same sort
of way as the first chapters of the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke
initiate us into the contemplation of the life of Christ by telling us
about the virgin birth and other episodes to do with his infancy; in
structure and content, however, they are more akin to the opening
passages of other NT books, such as Col 1:15-20, Eph 1:13-14 and 1 Jn
1-4.
The prologue is a magnificent hymn in praise of Christ. We do not know
whether St John composed it when writing his Gospel, or whether he
based it on some existing liturgical hymn; but there is no trace of any
such text in other early Christian documents.
The prologue is very reminiscent of the first chapter of Genesis, on a
number of scores: 1) the opening words are the same: "In the
beginning..."; in the Gospel they refer to absolute beginning, that is,
eternity, whereas in Genesis they mean the beginning of Creation and
time; 2) there is a parallelism in the role of the Word: in Genesis,
God creates things by his word ("And God said ..."); in the Gospel we
are told that they were made through the Word of God; 3) in Genesis,
God's work of creation reaches its peak when he creates man in his own
image and likeness; in the Gospel, the work of the Incarnate Word
culminates when man is raised--by a new creation, as it were--to the
dignity of being a son of God.
The main teachings in the prologue are: 1) the divinity and eternity of
the Word; 2) the Incarnation of the Word and his manifestation as man;
3) the part played by the Word in creation and in the salvation of
mankind; 4) the different ways in which people react to the coming of
the Lord--some accepting him with faith, others rejecting him; 5)
finally, John the Baptist bears witness to the presence of the Word in
the world.
The Church has always given special importance to this prologue; many
Fathers and ancient Christian writers wrote commentaries on it, and
for centuries it was always read at the end of Mass for instruction and
meditation.
The prologue is poetic in style. Its teaching is given in verses, which
combine to make up stanzas (vv. 1-5; 6-8; 9-13; 14-18). Just as a stone
dropped in a pool produces ever widening ripples, so the idea expressed
in each stanza tends to be expanded in later verses while still
developing the original theme. This kind of exposition was much favored
in olden times because it makes it easier to get the meaning across--
and God used it to help us go deeper into the central mysteries of our
faith.
1. The sacred text calls the Son of God "the Word." The following
comparison may help us understand the notion of "Word": just as a
person becoming conscious of himself forms an image of himself in his
mind, in the same way God the Father on knowing himself begets the
eternal Word. This Word of God is singular, unique; no other can exist
because in him is expressed the entire essence of God. Therefore, the
Gospel does not call him simply "Word", but "the Word." Three truths
are affirmed regarding the Word--that he is eternal, that he is
distinct from the Father, and that he is God. ''Affirming that he
existed in the beginning is equivalent to saying that he existed before
all things" (St Augustine, "De Trinitate", 6, 2). Also, the text says
that he was with God, that is, with the Father, which means that the
person of the Word is distinct from that of the Father and yet the
Word is so intimately related to the Father that he even shares his
divine nature: he is one in substance with the Father (cf. "Nicean
Creed").
To mark the Year of Faith (1967-1968) Pope Paul VI summed up this truth
concerning the most Holy Trinity in what is called the "Creed of the
People of God" (n. 11) in these words: "We believe in our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Son of God. He is the eternal Word, born of the
Father before time began, and one in substance with the Father,
"homoousios to Patri", and through him all things were made. He was
incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, and was
made man: equal therefore to the Father according to his divinity, and
inferior to the Father according to his humanity and himself one, not
by some impossible confusion of his natures, but by the unity of his
person."
"In the beginning": "what this means is that he always was, and that he
is eternal. [...] For if he is God, as indeed he is, there is nothing
prior to him; if he is creator of all things, then he is the First; if
he is Lord of all, then everything comes after him--created things and
time" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 2, 4).
3. After showing that the Word is in the bosom of the Father, the
prologue goes on to deal with his relationship to created things.
Already in the Old Testament the Word of God is shown as a creative
power (cf. Is 55:10-11), as Wisdom present at the creation of the world
(cf. Prov 8:22-26). Now Revelation is extended: we are shown that
creation was caused by the Word; this does not mean that the Word is an
instrument subordinate and inferior to the Father: he is an active
principle along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The work of
creation is an activity common to the three divine Persons of the
Blessed Trinity: "the Father generating, the Son being born, the Holy
Spirit proceeding; consubstantial, co-equal, co-omnipotent and
co-eternal; one origin of all things: the creator of all things visible
and invisible, spiritual and corporal." (Fourth Lateran Council, "De
Fide Catholica", Dz-Sch, 800). From this can be deduced, among other
things, the hand of the Trinity in the work of creation and, therefore,
the fact that all created things are basically good.
4. The prologue now goes on to expound two basic truths about the
Word--that he is Life and that he is Light. The Life referred to here
is divine life, the primary source of all life, natural and
supernatural. And that Life is the light of men, for from God we
receive the light of reason, the light of truth and the light of glory,
which are a participation in God's mind. Only a rational creature is
capable of having knowledge of God in this world and of later
contemplating him joyfully in heaven for all eternity. Also the Life
(the Word) is the light of men because he brings them out of the
darkness of sin and error (cf. Is 8:23; 9:1-2; Mt 4:15-16; Lk 1:74).
Later on Jesus will say: "I am the light of the world; he who follows
me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn
8:12; cf. 12:46).
Vv. 3 and 4 can be read with another punctuation, now generally
abandoned but which had its supporters in ancient times: "All things
were made through him, and without him nothing was made; in so far as
anything was made in him, he was the life and the life was the light of
men." This reading would suggest that everything that has been created
is life in the Word, that is, that all things receive their being and
activity, their life, through the Word: without him they cannot
possibly exist.
5. "And the darkness has not overcome it": the original Greek verb,
given in Latin as "comprehenderunt", means to embrace or contain as if
putting one's arms around it--an action which can be done with good
dispositions (a friendly embrace) or with hostility (the action of
smothering or crushing someone). So there are two possible
translations: the former is that given in the Navarre Spanish, the
latter that in the RSV. The RSV option would indicate that Christ and
the Gospel continue to shine among men despite the world's opposition,
indeed overcoming "it", as Jesus later says: "Be of good cheer: I have
overcome the world" (Jn 16:33; cf. 12:31; 1 Jn 5:4). Either way, the
verse expresses the darkness' resistance to, repugnance for, the light.
As his Gospel proceeds, St John explains further about the light and
darkness: soon, in vv. 9-11, he refers to the struggle between them;
later he will describe evil and the powers of the evil one, as a
darkness enveloping man's mind and preventing him from knowing God (cf.
Jn 12:15-46; 1 Jn 5:6).
St Augustine ("In Ioann. Evang.", 1, 19) comments on this passage as
follows: "But, it may be, the dull hearts of some cannot yet receive
this light. Their sins weigh them down, and they cannot discern it. Let
them not think, however, that, because they cannot discern it,
therefore it is not present with them. For they themselves, because of
their sins, are darkness. Just as if you place a blind person in the
sunshine, although the sun is present to him, yet he is absent from the
sun; in the same way, every foolish man, every unrighteous man, every
ungodly man, is blind in heart. [...] What course then ought such a one
to take? Let him cleanse the eyes of his heart, that he may be able to
see God. He will see Wisdom, for God is Wisdom itself, and it is
written: 'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.'"
There is no doubt that sin obscures man's spiritual vision, rendering
him unable to see and enjoy the things of God.
6-8. After considering the divinity of the Lord, the text moves on to
deal with his incarnation, and begins by speaking of John the Baptist,
who makes his appearance at a precise point in history to bear direct
witness before man to Jesus Christ (Jn 1:15, 19-36; 3:22ff). As St
Augustine comments: "For as much as he [the Word Incarnate] was man and
his Godhead was concealed, there was sent before him a great man,
through whose testimony He might be found to be more than man" ("In
Ioann. Evang.", 2, 5).
All of the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Christ.
Thus, the patriarchs and prophets announced, in different ways, the
salvation the Messiah would bring. But John the Baptist, the greatest
of those born of woman (cf. Mt 11:11), was actually able to point out
the Messiah himself; his testimony marked the culmination of all the
previous prophecies.
So important is John the Baptist's mission to bear witness to Jesus
Christ that the Synoptic Gospels stage their account of the public
ministry with John's testimony. The discourses of St Peter and St Paul
recorded in the Acts of the Apostles also refer to this testimony (Acts
1:22; 10:37; 12:24). The Fourth Gospel mentions it as many as seven
times (1:6, 15, 19, 29, 35; 3:27; 5:33). We know, of course, that St
John the Apostle was a disciple of the Baptist before becoming a
disciple of Jesus, and that it was precisely the Baptist who showed him
the way to Christ (cf. 1 :37ff).
The New Testament, then, shows us the importance of the Baptist's
mission, as also his own awareness that he is merely the immediate
Precursor of the Messiah, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie (cf. Mk
1:7): the Baptist stresses his role as witness to Christ and his
mission as preparer of the way for the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:15-17; Mt 3:
3-12). John the Baptist's testimony is undiminished by time: he invites
people in every generation to have faith in Jesus, the true Light.
9. "The true light..." [The Spanish translation of this verse is along
these lines: "It was the true light that enlightens every man who comes
into the world."] The Fathers, early translations and most modern
commentators see "the Word" as being the subject of this sentence,
which could therefore be translated as "the Word was the true light
that enlightens every man who comes into the world...". Another
interpretation favored by many modern scholars makes "the light" the
subject, in which case it would read "the true light existed, which
enlightens...". Either way, the meaning is much the same.
"Coming into the world": it is not clear in the Greek whether these
words refer to "the light", or to "every man". In the first case it is
the Light (the Word) that is coming into this world to enlighten all
men; in the second it is the men who, on coming into this world, on
being born, are enlightened by the Word; the RSV and the new Vulgate
opt for the first interpretation.
The Word is called "the true light" because he is the original light
from which every other light or revelation of God derives. By the
Word's coming, the world is fully lit up by the authentic Light. The
prophets and all the other messengers of God, including John the
Baptist, were not the true light but his reflection, attesting to the
Light of the Word.
A propos the fullness of light which the Word is, St John Chrysostom
asks: "If he enlightens every man who comes into the world, how is it
that so many have remained unenlightened? For not all, to be sure,
have recognized the high dignity of Christ. How, then, does he
enlighten every man? As much as he is permitted to do so. But if some,
deliberately closing the eyes of their minds, do not wish to receive
the beams of this light, darkness is theirs. This is not because of the
nature of the light, but is a result of the wickedness of men who
deliberately deprive themselves of the gift of grace (Hom. on St.
John, 8, 1).
10. The Word is in this world as the maker who controls what he has
made (cf. St Augustine, "In Ioann. Evang.", 2, 10). In St John's Gospel
the term "world" means "all creation, all created things (including all
mankind)": thus, Christ came to save all mankind: "For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world,
not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through
him" (Jn 3:16-17). But insofar as many people have rejected the Light,
that is, rejected Christ, "world" also means everything
opposed to God (cf. Jn 17:14-15). Blinded by their sins, men do not
recognize in the world the hand of the Creator (cf. Rom 1:18-20; Wis
13:1-15): "they become attached to the world and relish only the things
that are of the world" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 7). But
the Word, "the true light", comes to show us the truth about the world
(cf. Jn 1:3; 18:37) and to save us.
11. "his own home, his own people": this means, in the first place, the
Jewish people, who were chosen by God as his own personal "property",
to be the people from whom Christ would be born. It can also mean all
mankind, for mankind is also his: he created it and his work of
redemption extends to everyone. So the reproach that they did not
receive the Word made man should be understood as addressed not only to
the Jews but to all those who rejected God despite his calling them to
be his friends: "Christ came; but by a mysterious and terrible
misfortune, not everyone accepted him. [...] It is the picture of
humanity before us today, after twenty centuries of Christianity. How
did this happen? What shall we say? We do not claim to fathom a reality
immersed in mysteries that transcend us--the mystery of good and evil.
But we can recall that the economy of Christ, for its light to spread,
requires a subordinate but necessary cooperation on the part of
man--the cooperation of evangelization, of the apostolic and missionary
Church. If there is still work to be done, it is all the more necessary
for everyone to help her" (Paul VI, General Audience, 4 December 1974).
12. Receiving the Word means accepting him through faith, for it is
through faith that Christ dwells in our hearts (cf. Eph 3:17).
Believing in his name means believing in his Person, in Jesus as the
Christ, the Son of God. In other words, "those who believe in his name
are those who fully hold the name of Christ, not in any way lessening
his divinity or his humanity" (St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St
John, in loc.").
"He gave power [to them]" is the same as saying "he gave them a free
gift"--sanctifying grace--"because it is not in our power to make
ourselves sons of God" ("ibid."). This gift is extended through Baptism
to everyone, whatever his race, age, education etc. (cf. Acts 10:45;
Gal 3:28). The only condition is that we have faith.
"The Son of God became man", St Athanasius explains, "in order that the
sons of men, the sons of Adam, might become sons of God. [...] He is
the Son of God by nature; we, by grace" ("De Incarnatione Contra
Arrianos"). What is referred to here is birth to supernatural life: in
which "Whether they be slaves or freemen, whether Greeks or barbarians
or Scythians, foolish or wise, female or male, children or old men,
honorable or without honor, rich or poor, rulers or private citizens,
all, he meant, would merit the same honor. [...] Such is the power of
faith in him; such the greatness of his grace" (St John Chrysostom,
"Hom. on St John", 10, 2).
"Christ's union with man is power and the source of power, as St John
stated so incisively in the prologue of his Gospel: '(The Word) gave
power to become children of God.' Man is transformed inwardly by this
power as the source of a new life that does not disappear and pass away
but lasts to eternal life (cf. Jn 4:14)" (John Paul II, "Redemptor
Hominis", 18).
13. The birth spoken about here is a real, spiritual type of generation
which is effected in Baptism (cf. 3:6ff). Instead of the plural adopted
here, referring to the supernatural birth of men, some Fathers and
early translations read it in the singular: "who was born, not of
blood...but of God", in which case the text would refer to the eternal
generation of the Word and to Jesus' generation through the Holy Spirit
in the pure womb of the Virgin Mary. Although the second reading is
very attractive, the documents (Greek manuscripts, early translations,
references in the works of ecclesiastical writers, etc.) show the
plural text to be the more usual, and the one that prevailed from the
fourth century forward. Besides, in St John's writings we frequently
find reference to believers as being born of God (cf. Jn 3:3-6; 1 Jn
2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18).
The contrast between man's natural birth (by blood and the will of man)
and his supernatural birth (which comes from God) shows that those who
believe in Jesus Christ are made children of God not only by their
creation but above all by the free gift of faith and grace.
14. This is a text central to the mystery of Christ. It expresses in a
very condensed form the unfathomable fact of the incarnation of the Son
of God. "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman" (Gal 4:4).
The word "flesh" means man in his totality (cf. Jn 3:6; 17:2; Gen 6:3;
Ps 56:5); so the sentence "the Word became flesh" means the same as
"the Word became man." The theological term "incarnation" arose mainly
out of this text. The noun "flesh" carries a great deal of force
against heresies which deny that Christ is truly man. The word also
accentuates that our Savior, who dwelt among us and shared our nature,
was capable of suffering and dying, and it evokes the "Book of the
Consolation of Israel" (Is 40:1-11), where the fragility of the flesh
is contrasted with the permanence of the Word of God: "The grass
withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand for ever"
(Is 40:8). This does not mean that the Word's taking on human nature is
something precarious and temporary.
"And dwelt among us": the Greek verb which St John uses originally
means "to pitch one's tent", hence, to live in a place. The careful
reader of Scripture will immediately think of the tabernacle, or tent,
in the period of the exodus from Egypt, where God showed his presence
before all the people of Israel through certain sights of his glory
such as the cloud covering the tent (cf., for example, Ex 25:8;
40:34-35). In many passages of the Old Testament it is announced that
God "will dwell in the midst of the people" (cf., for example, Jer 7:3;
Ezek 43:9; Sir 24:8). These signs of God's presence, first in the
pilgrim tent of the Ark in the desert and then in the temple of
Jerusalem, are followed by the most wonderful form of God's presence
among us--Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect Man, in whom the
ancient promise is fulfilled in a way that far exceeded men's greatest
expectations. Also the promise made through Isaiah about the "Immanuel"
or "God-with-us" (Is 7:14; cf. Mt 1:23) is completely fulfilled through
this dwelling of the Incarnate Son of God among us. Therefore, when we
devoutly read these words of the Gospel "and dwelt among us" or pray
them during the Angelus, we have a good opportunity to make an act of
deep faith and gratitude and to adore our Lord's most holy human
nature.
"Remembering that 'the Word became flesh', that is, that the Son of God
became man, we must become conscious of how great each man has become
through this mystery, through the Incarnation of the Son of God! Christ,
in fact, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became man to reveal the
eternal love of the Creator and Father and to make known the dignity of
each one of us" (John Paul II, "Angelus Address" at Jasna Gora Shrine,
5 June 1979).
Although the Word's self-emptying by assuming a human nature concealed
in some way his divine nature, of which he never divested himself, the
Apostles did see the glory of his divinity through his human nature: it
was revealed in the transfiguration (Lk 9:32-35), in his miracles (Jn
2:11; 11:40), and especially in his resurrection (cf. Jn 3:11; 1 Jn
1:1) The glory of God, which shone out in the early tabernacle in the
desert and in the temple at Jerusalem, was nothing but an imperfect
anticipation of the reality of God's glory revealed through the holy
human nature of the Only-begotten of the Father. St John the Apostle
speaks in a very formal way in the first person plural: "we have beheld
his glory", because he counts himself among the witnesses who lived
with Christ and, in particular, were present at his transfiguration and
saw the glory of his resurrection.
The words "only Son" ("Only-begotten") convey very well the eternal and
unique generation of the Word by the Father. The first three Gospels
stressed Christ's birth in time; St John complements this by
emphasizing his eternal generation.
The words "grace and truth" are synonyms of "goodness and fidelity",
two attributes which, in the Old Testament, are constantly applied to
Yahweh (cf., e.g., Ex 34:6; Ps 117; Ps 136; Osee 2:16-22): so, grace is
the _expression of God's love for men, the way he expresses his goodness
and mercy. Truth implies permanence, loyalty, constancy, fidelity.
Jesus, who is the Word of God made man, that is, God himself, is
therefore "the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth"; he is
the "merciful and faithful high priest" (Heb 2:17). These two
qualities, being good and faithful, are a kind of compendium or summary
of Christ's greatness. And they also parallel, though on an infinitely
lower level, the quality essential to every Christian, as stated
expressly by our Lord when he praised the "good and faithful servant"
(Mt 25:21).
As Chrysostom explains: "Having declared that they who received him
were 'born of God' and 'become sons of God,' he then set forth the
cause and reason for this ineffable honor. It is that 'the Word became
flesh' and the Master took on the form of a slave. He became the Son of
Man, though he was the true Son of God, in order that he might make the
sons of men children of God. ("Hom. on St John", 11,1).
The profound mystery of Christ was solemnly defined by the Church's
Magisterium in the famous text of the ecumenical council of Chalcedon
(in the year 451): "Following the holy Fathers, therefore, we all with
one accord teach the profession of faith in the one identical Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ. We declare that he is perfect both in his divinity
and in his humanity, truly God and truly man, composed of body and
rational soul; that he is consubstantial with the Father in his
divinity, consubstantial with us in his humanity, like us in every
respect except for sin (cf. Heb 4:15). we declare that in his divinity
he was begotten in this last age of Mary the Virgin, the Mother of God,
for us and for our salvation" (Dz-Sch, n. 301).
15. Further on (On Jn 1:19-36) the Gospel tells us more about John the
Baptist's mission as a witness to the messiahship and divinity of
Jesus. Just as God planned that the Apostles should bear witness to
Jesus after the resurrection, so he planned that the Baptist would be
the witness chosen to proclaim Jesus at the very outset of his public
ministry (cf. note on Jn 1:6-8).
16 "Grace upon grace": this can be understood, as it was by Chrysostom
and other Fathers, as "grace for grace", the Old Testament economy of
salvation giving way to the new economy of grace brought by Christ. It
can also mean (as the-RSV suggests) that Jesus brings a superabundance
of gifts, adding on, to existing graces, others--all of which pour out
of the one inexhaustible source, Christ, who is for ever full of grace.
"Not by sharing with us, says the Evangelist, does Christ possess the
gift, but he himself is both fountain and root of all virtues. He
himself is life, and light, and truth, not keeping within himself the
wealth of these blessings, but pouring it forth upon all others, and
even after the outpouring still remaining full. He suffers loss in no
way by giving his wealth to others, but, while always pouring out and
sharing these virtues with all men, he remains in the same state of
perfection" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 14, 1).
17. Here, for the first time in St John's Gospel, the name of Jesus
Christ appears, identified with the Word of whom John has been
speaking.
Whereas the Law given by Moses went no further than indicate the way
man ought follow (cf. Rom 8:7-10), the grace brought by Jesus has the
power to save those who receive it (cf. Rom 7:25). Through grace "we
have become dear to God, no longer merely as servants, but as sons and
friends" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on St John", 14, 2).
On "grace and truth" see note on Jn 1:14.
18. "No one has ever seen God": in this world men have never seen God
other than indirectly: all that they could contemplate was God's
"glory", that is the aura of his greatness: for example, Moses saw the
burning bush (Ex 3:6); Elijah felt the breeze on Mount Horeb--the
"still small voice" (RSV)--(1 Kings 19:11-13). But in the fullness of
time God comes much closer to man and reveals himself almost directly,
for Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (cf. Col
1:15), the maximum revelation of God in this world, to such an extent
that he assures us that "he who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn
14:9). "The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about
God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself
both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation" (Vatican II, "Dei
Verbum", 2).
There is no greater revelation God could make of himself than the
incarnation of his eternal Word. As St John of the Cross puts it so
well: "In giving to us, as he has done, his Son, who is his only Word,
he has spoken to us once and for all by his own and only Word, and has
nothing further to reveal" ("Ascent of Mount Carmel", Book II, chap.
22).
"The only Son": the RSV note says that "other ancient authorities read
"God" (for Son); the Navarre Spanish has "the Only-begotten God" and
comments as follows: some Greek manuscripts and some translations give
"the Only-begotten Son" or "the Only-begotten". "The Only-begotten God"
is preferable because it finds best support in the codexes. Besides,
although the meaning does not change substantially, this translation
has a richer content because it again explicitly reveals Christ's
divinity.
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
