It contains and introduces ideas such as the idea of Jesus as the light and life of the world. This idea is later verified in 8:12 where the two are directly linked, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Meaning that Jesus will guide and draw men out of the darkness and into his light, which will result in eternal life. Jesus as the light is a judge and will show men up for their true selves, but those who are prepared to step into the light will pass from death to life. There are ideas for each word individually also, it contains old testament links of God, as the giver of life, for example Genesis 1 or Ezekiel 37, where God breathes life into dry bones. Then ideas for light are that salvation comes through the light, for example Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, thus he is in darkness but Jesus attempts to show him the light.
The witness of John the Baptist is also introduced in the Prologue, which prepares the way for the importance and need for witness in the gospel. The prologue writes that ‘he came for testimony, to witness to the light.’ John the Baptist is the lamp for the light, he isn’t the light itself but points the way towards it. Although the author ascribes John the Baptist as being sent from God and so linked to Jesus, he makes it clear that John the Baptist is not the light, but is the primary witness to it. As believed by Stanton who describes John the Baptist as ‘John the witness.’ Later Jesus describes John the Baptist as ‘A burning and shining lamp’ in 5:35, one who reflects the light but isn’t the source of the light. The author tries to maintain the importance of Jesus over John the Baptist this can be seen by the fact that Jesus isn’t baptised by John and so demonstrates his superiority. Bultmann believes the purpose of the fourth gospel is to demonstrate to the followers of John the Baptist that he isn’t the messiah and they should transfer their allegiance to Jesus.
The Prologue shows Jesus as the logos or word, there is Jewish symbolism with the genesis creation story, ‘The word was with and the word was God.’ John uses the term to emphasise Jesus’ divine relationship. The idea can also be seen to show the idea of supercession or replacement theology, in that Jesus is the new creation. N.T Wright notes that Jesus says ‘it is finished’ on the cross, and he believes this shows the new beginning and that Jesus was sent to make a new creation through his life and the creation is complete at his death.
The word also ascribes characteristics of God onto Jesus, such as life giving, deut 32:46-37, the power to heal, Psalms 107:20. the light of men, Isaiah 55:11, and a means of communication, Ezekiel 1:3.
The prologue also mentions the idea of the Incarnation, ‘the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.’ Here John takes the incarnation paradox on face to face, and suggests the pre existent divine word takes form as mortal flesh, meaning it is no longer unknowable. The prologue states Jesus as God himself but in the form of flesh and life, thus having a dualistic framework, the idea of body and soul. So John is countering the idea of Docetism.
The final idea that appears in the prologue is that of Grace and truth, 1:14 ‘full of grace and truth.’ The idea of grace and truth is a characteristic of the old testament covenant. Grace is God’s love for his creation or humanity. So here Jesus embodies grace in the new covenant. Signifying salvation is through Jesus not the Jewish ritual. Hooker desribes the Gospel as ‘a gigantic takeover bid.’ This idea can be seen later in some of the ‘I am’ sayings such as the bread, the vine, and other claims like being the new temple. This shows the idea of replacement theology. It supercedes Moses who only brought the law whereas Jesus brings truth also, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ Only Jesus can fully reveal God to mankind. Only through Jesus can one come to know God and enter into his life, and the prologue prepares this idea.
From this it would appear that the Gospel is in fact the key which unlocks the meaning of the fourth Gospel, but there are other theories that could deny this point. For example Robinson claims that the prologue is a later addition to the gospel and was put in to bring things to a conclusion, similar to chapter 21. this idea could deny the gospel as the key to understanding the Gospel, because it merely prepares the reader for the ideas to come doesn’t present the ideas in detail. Rather than being a summary of the Gospel and its teachings is more of a contents list. As the prologue alone cannot give any detail or ideas to the reader about the nature of Jesus, God and his ministry. Thus this idea would deny the claim that “The prologue is the key which unlocks the meaning of the fourth gospel”, and could potentially mean it somewhat pointless as it adds no new ideas to the gospel. But it could be possible to argue it does add a new idea, which is also very important, the idea of pre existence. This is a very important idea that shows Jesus’ divinity and presence with God from creation. Likewise it shows Jesus as the word, which isn’t discussed anywhere else in the Gospel, and is also a key idea as it provokes many ideas about the nature of Jesus and his importance, and relationship with God and mankind.
Another idea is that the prologue is in fact a poem, with occasional prose interruptions about John the Baptist. Burney suggested it was an Aramaic hymn, written in poetic style with simple construction and frequent use of the word ‘and’, which was a common device in Hebrew poetry. Moreover he argued it was translated clumsily into Greek, showing it could have originally been written in Aramaic. Barrett disagrees and argues that the Prologue is a thematic approach and run down of ideas to come.
I think it is irrelevant whether it is a poem or a later addition as it still suggests and prepares the reader for ideas to come. Although I don’t think it is the key to understanding the meaning of the Gospel, I do think it is a vital part of the writing as it can help readers think and prepare for topics to come. It coincides with chapter 21, and so I believe the two could have been later additions perhaps by the Johannine community, but what is important is what they contain. Hooker believed it is the ‘key’ to understanding the gospel, but I don’t think it is necessarily the key but is a good collection of key ideas within the gospel.
