Reference: Logos
Hastings
In classical Greek logos signifies both 'word' and 'reason,' but in the Septuagint and the NT it is used, with few exceptions, in the former sense only. When it is God's word that is spoken of, it denotes the declaration or revelation of the Divine will, and specifically the Christian gospel as the utterance of the Divine plan of salvation (e.g. Mt 13:19-23; Php 1:14). But in the Prologue to the Fourth Gospel (Joh 1:1 [3 times] 14, with which cf. 1Jo 1:1 [1Jo 5:7 of AV is spurious; see RVand Re 19:13) 'Logos' (English Version Word) is applied to Jesus Christ, and is used to set forth His peculiar glory as the only-begotten Son of God, who is also the Life and Light of men. It is with this Johannine Logos that we have now to deal, and in doing so it seems necessary to consider (1) the content of John's Logos doctrine; (2) its sources; (3) its place in the Fourth Gospel; (4) its theological significance.
1. Content.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; read more. he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."
THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.
THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.
THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine.
THE Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine. He was with God in the very beginning: read more. through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him.
through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him.
through him all existence came into being, no existence came into being apart from him. In him life lay, and this life was the Light for men:
In him life lay, and this life was the Light for men: amid the darkness the Light shone, but the darkness did not master it.
amid the darkness the Light shone, but the darkness did not master it. A man appeared, sent by God, whose name was John: read more. he came for the purpose of witnessing, to bear testimony to the Light, so that all men might believe by means of him. He was not the Light; it was to bear testimony to the Light that he appeared. The real Light, which enlightens every man, was coming then into the world:
The real Light, which enlightens every man, was coming then into the world: he entered the world ??the world which existed through him ??yet the world did not recognize him;
he entered the world ??the world which existed through him ??yet the world did not recognize him;
he entered the world ??the world which existed through him ??yet the world did not recognize him; he came to what was his own, yet his own folk did not welcome him. read more. On those who have accepted him, however, he has conferred the right of being children of God, that is, on those who believe in his Name, who owe this birth of theirs to God, not to human blood, nor to any impulse of the flesh or of man. So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory ??glory such as an only son enjoys from his father ??seen it to be full of grace and reality. (John testified to him with the cry, 'This was he of whom I said, my successor has taken precedence of me, for he preceded me.') For we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness; while the Law was given through Moses, grace and reality are ours through Jesus Christ. Nobody has ever seen God, but God has been unfolded by the divine One, the only Son, who lies upon the Father's breast.
Nobody has ever seen God, but God has been unfolded by the divine One, the only Son, who lies upon the Father's breast.
And yet the Son of man, descended from heaven, is the only one who has ever ascended into heaven. Indeed the Son of man must be lifted on high, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, read more. that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so dearly that he gave up his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life, instead of perishing. God did not send his Son into the world to pass sentence on it, but to save the world by him. He who believes in him is not sentenced; he who will not believe is sentenced already, for having refused to believe in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the sentence of condemnation, that the Light has entered the world and yet men have preferred darkness to light. It is because their actions have been evil; for anyone whose practices are corrupt loathes the light and will not come out into it, in case his actions are exposed, whereas anyone whose life is true comes out into the light, to make it plain that his actions have been divinely prompted.
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you. He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood possesses eternal life (and I will raise him up on the last day), read more. for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains within me, as I remain within him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live by the Father, so he who feeds on me will also live by me. Such is the bread which has come down from heaven: your ancestors ate their bread and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever."
So Jesus cried aloud, as he was teaching in the temple, "You know me? you know where I come from? But I have not come on my own initiative; I am sent, and sent by Him who is real. You do not know Him, but I know Him, because I have come from Him and He sent me."
Then Jesus again addressed them, saying, "I am the light of the world: he who follows me will not walk in darkness, he will enjoy the light of life."
Jesus replied to them, "Though I do testify to myself, my evidence is valid, because I know where I have come from and where I am going to ??whereas you do not know where I have come from or where I am going to.
and though I do judge, my judgment is true, because I am not by myself ??there is myself and the Father who sent me.
My Father who gave me them is stronger than all, and no one can snatch anything out of the Father's hand.
And Jesus cried aloud, "He who believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me, and he who beholds me beholds him who sent me. read more. I have come as light into the world, that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, it is not I who judge him; for I have not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and will not receive my words has indeed a judge: the word I have spoken will judge him on the last day, for I have not spoken of my own accord ??the Father who sent me, he it was who ordered me what to say and what to speak. And I know his orders mean eternal life. Therefore when I speak, I speak as the Father has told me."
Jesus said to him, "I am the real and living way: no one comes to the Father except by means of me. If you knew me, you would know my Father too. You know him now and you have seen him." read more. "Lord," said Philip, "let us see the Father; that is all we want." Jesus said to him, "Philip, have I been with you all this time, and yet you do not understand me? He who has seen me has seen the Father. What do you mean by saying, 'Let us see the Father'? Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you all I do not speak of my own accord; it is the Father who remains ever in me, who is performing his own deeds. Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me: ??or else, believe because of the deeds themselves.
now, Father, glorify me in thy presence with the glory which I enjoyed in thy presence before the world began.
for I have given them the words thou gavest me, and they have received them; they are now sure that I came from thee and believe that thou didst send me.
Father, it is my will that these, thy gift to me, may be beside me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me, because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
but these Signs are recorded so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing may have life through his Name.
and my imprisonment has given the majority of the brotherhood greater confidence in the Lord to venture on speaking the word of God without being afraid.
Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus. Though he was divine by nature, he did not set store upon equality with God read more. but emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant; born in human guise and appearing in human form, he humbly stooped in his obedience even to die, and to die upon the cross. Therefore God raised him high and conferred on him a Name above all names, so that before the Name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven, on earth, and underneath the earth, and every tongue confess that 'Jesus Christ is Lord,' to the glory of God the Father.
rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son! In him we enjoy our redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins. read more. He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation ??16 for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;
he is prior to all, and all coheres in him. Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead ??that gives him pre-eminence over all. read more. For it was in him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit, and by him it willed to reconcile in his own person all on earth and in heaven alike, in a peace made by the blood of his cross.
Many were the forms and fashions in which God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these days at the end he has spoken to us by a Son ??a Son whom he appointed heir of the universe, as it was by him that he created the world. read more. He, reflecting God's bright glory and stamped with God's own character, sustains the universe with his word of power; when he had secured our purification from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; and thus he is superior to the angels, as he has inherited a Name superior to theirs.
It is of what existed from the very beginning, of what we heard, of what we saw, of what we witnessed and touched with our own hands, it is of the Logos of Life
The Spirit is the witness to this, for the Spirit is truth.
He is clad in a robe dipped in blood (his name is called THE LOGOS OF GOD),