In the Russian Orthodox Church there is a tradition of reading the first 17 verses of the Gospel of John at the festive Easter service. different languages: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
According to church calendar, all four Gospels are read throughout the year. The reading of the Gospel of John begins at the Easter Liturgy. This Gospel, with the most complex theological content in ancient times, was heard in church for the first time for the newly baptized in Easter night, those who have previously completed a catechesis course.
The tradition of reading the Gospel of John dates back to the 10th century. It is believed that it was initiated by the Patriarch of Constantinople. At first the text was read in two languages - Latin and Greek. Later, Hebrew was added as the third language in which the inscription on the cross “Jesus of Nazareth - King of the Jews” was made. When did they begin to use it in liturgy? local languages, this text began to be read on them.
It is now customary to read the Easter Gospel on these three ancient and some modern languages. The reading symbolizes the universality of the Gospel, which is addressed to all peoples: the good news of Christ, whose victory over death is celebrated on Easter night, must be heard in all languages of the world.
There is also a tradition of singing Easter troparions in various modern languages. The main hymn of the holiday is the troparion “Christ is risen from the dead...”. A troparion in church tradition is a short chant that expresses the essence of the event being celebrated. The joyful hymn announcing the resurrection of Christ is heard for the first time on Easter night, when procession, walking around the temple, stops at it closed doors. The joyful song “Christ is Risen...” is repeated many times in church services throughout the forty days of Easter celebration. The news of the resurrection of the Savior is proclaimed to all peoples in all corners of the earth, and in Orthodox churches you can hear the singing of the Easter troparion in different languages.
The troparion tells how at dawn of the first day after Saturday (now we call this day of the week Sunday in memory of the resurrection of Christ), when the myrrh-bearing women approached the tomb to anoint the body of their Teacher and Lord with incense, it turned out that a heavy stone, covering the entrance to the burial cave has been rolled away. The tomb is empty: it contains only the burial shrouds in which the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped. Christ himself has risen!
Here's what it sounds like in different languages:
in Greek: Χριστος Aνεστη!
in Latin: Christus resurrexit!
in English: Christ is Risen!
in German: Christus ist auferstanden!
in French: Le Christ est ressuscité!
in Spanish: ¡Cristo ha resucitado!
in Italian: Cristo è risorto!
in Swedish: Kristus är uppstånden!
in Japanese: ハリストス復活！
in Turkish: Mesih dirildi!
in Russian: Christ is Risen!
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Easter reading: “In the beginning was the Word” is perhaps the most difficult of all the gospel texts. Why is this particular passage, which doesn’t even say anything about the Resurrection, read at Easter? On the understanding of the Logos in the ancient, Old Testament and New Testament traditions - in the commentary of Archpriest. Alexander PROKOPCHUK, teacher at PSTGU.
The Easter Gospel is read facing the people. In the photo: During Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the day of the Resurrection of Christ, May 5, 2013, the Gospel was read His Holiness Patriarch Cyril, bishops and priests - read, according to tradition, in different languages
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. It was in the beginning with God.
3. All things came into being through Him, and without Him nothing began to be that has come into being.
4. In Him was life, and life was the light of men.
5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
6. There was a man sent from God; his name is John.
7. He came as a witness, to testify of the Light, so that through him all might believe.
8. He was not light, but was sent to testify to the Light.
9. There was the true Light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11. He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him.
12. And to those who received Him, to those who believe in His name, gave the power to become children of God,
13. who were born neither 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; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
15. John testifies of Him and, exclaiming, says: This was He of whom I said that He who came after me stood before me, because He was before me.
16. And from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace,
17. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(John 1; 1-17).
The introduction to the Gospel of John begins the same way as the book of Genesis: “In the beginning...”. The next phrase - “there was the Word” (Greek “Logos”) - recalls how God translated various elements of chaos into the orderliness of creation with His word (for example, “And God said: let there be light and there was light”). However, if the book of Genesis speaks of the beginning of the world in time, then the first verse of the prologue of the Gospel of John indicates the existence of the Word even before the creation of the world. For the evangelist, the Word is a personal Being who was with God from eternity, consubstantial with Him and acting as the Mediator of creation (1.1-3).
But since outside the prologue of the name Logos not in the Gospel text, in biblical scholarship the reasons for using this term in relation to Jesus Christ were discussed. The word “logos” is of Greek origin, so first of all, researchers tried to find the origins of the idea of the Logos of the Evangelist John among Hellenistic thinkers.
For the Stoics it is Vital energy, which permeates the universe and creates perfect order in it. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC - 42 AD) adhered to the Greek concept of God as an entity removed from the world and used the concept of logos to explain how communication occurs between the transcendental God and His creation. Logos is perceived as the inner plan of all things in the consciousness of God and the power that realizes it. She strives to maintain the distance between God and the world and at the same time surpass it.
Thus, divinity cannot be attributed to her. Philo's Logos is not a person, but an element of the world of ideas, which is neither an object of faith nor an object of love.
Therefore, other researchers reasonably believe that the description of the Word in the prologue is much closer to the biblical tradition. This is confirmed by the following.
1) In the psalms, the Word of God is an effective force that creates the world and brings salvation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were created” (Ps 32.6), “He sent His word and healed them” (Ps 106.20). Among the prophets, it acquires an almost independent existence, itself accomplishing that for which it was sent: “So My word, which proceeds from My mouth, does not return to Me void, but accomplishes what I please, and does what I want.” why have I sent him” (Isaiah 55:11).
2) By the 1st century. BC Aramaic became colloquial throughout Palestine. Therefore, the reading of Scripture in synagogues in Hebrew began to be accompanied by a parallel translation into Aramaic. In such translations (in Aramaic “targums”) the anthropomorphisms of the Bible were replaced by the expression “the word of God.” For example, the sentence “My hand laid the foundation of the earth and My right hand stretched out the heavens” (Is. 48.13) was translated as: “With My word I founded the earth and with My strength I stretched out the heavens.”
3) In the post-exilic era in Israel, the idea of personified Wisdom developed. In the 8th chapter. In the book of Proverbs, she appears as a person who was created before everything else and helped God in creation. “She is the breath of the power of God and the pure outpouring of the glory of the Almighty: therefore nothing defiled shall enter into her. She is a reflection of eternal light and a pure mirror of God’s action... She is alone, but she can do everything and... renews everything” (Wis. 7.25-27).
But no matter what coincidences the meaning of the initial verses of the prologue may be found with previous biblical and philosophical views, the idea of the Logos can only be understood, first of all, in the context of the Gospel of John itself, where the acts of the Word are presented as a continuation of the creative activity of God in the world He created (5.17 ). And the teaching of Jesus Christ is the “fullness of truth” revealed in God’s appeal to people (15.15, 12.49)
Let's look at the content of each verse of this hymn.
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The introduction to the Gospel of John begins with a declaration of the originality of the Word. It was always with God, therefore, it existed even before it was “uttered.” But the Word not only precedes everything else in being, It is completely identical with God.
2. It was in the beginning with God.
Here we are immediately faced with the fact that one term can have several meanings for an evangelist. If the originality of Art. 1 rather presupposes the existence of the Word outside of time, in eternity, then in Art. 2 “beginning” is the starting point of creation. The repetition of a word suggests its polysemy.
3. Everything came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being.
According to the book of Genesis, the world was created by the Word, which carried out God's plan. This means that the Word has colossal creative power. It is capable of creating, but it has never done it in isolation. Throughout the Gospel it is repeated many times that God always acts through the Son and does nothing without Him.
4. In Him was life, and life was the light of men.
Consequently, the salvation of the world could not be accomplished without His participation. Therefore, after the topic of the origin of all things, the prologue moves on to the topic of the relationship of the Word to people. Although the entire world was created out of nothingness by God, humanity did not have the life that the Word possessed, because it was in darkness. That the Word was the light of all men immediately introduces the theme of salvation through the Word. The life of God can only be received in unity with the Son (John 5.40), but for this you need to have Him in yourself (6.56-58). The life of the Word can lead people out of the captivity of darkness: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8.12).
5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it..
The Evangelist does not tell where the darkness came from; it opposes the light and therefore, like the light, must be a personal spiritual principle. Light and darkness are incompatible with each other. And no matter how great the darkness is, it is not capable of hiding or destroying the light, since Light is life, the origin, existence itself: “I am” (8.24, 58).
6. A man appeared, sent from God, his name was John.
If John was called directly by God to his ministry, then everything he preached and did came from the one who sent him.
7. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that everyone would believe through him.
According to the prologue, John's mission was not baptism, but witness. Therefore, it is no coincidence that at the end of it the evangelist does not give a description of the baptism of Jesus, but immediately moves on to the numerous testimonies of the Forerunner.
In verse 7, Light becomes the object of faith. This, firstly, once again emphasizes that we are not talking about ordinary physical light here, but about a reality of a different order. A Secondly, indicates that this Light was a Personality, since one can only believe in a personality. It is important that everyone was destined for this faith, without any exceptions.
8. He was not Light, but came to testify about Light.
Although John could not be the light, Jesus will call him a “lamp,” burning and shining, so that all who interacted with him could “rejoice in his light” (5.35).
9. There was the true Light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world.
The definition of light as “true” is no longer found in the Gospel and is significant because truth is here for the first time associated with the Second Hypostasis: in verse 14 the Word will be declared to be the source of truth for people.
Another characteristic of Light is that, unlike ordinary light, it does not shine, but enlightens every person. This can be understood as an indication of the omniscience of Jesus Christ, which is mentioned more than once in the Gospel: “Jesus Himself did not entrust Himself to them because He knew everyone, and because He did not need anyone to testify about man; for He Himself knew what was in man" (2.24-25), "come, see a man, who told me everything that I have done" (4.29), "but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves" ( 5.42), etc.
Only Jesus revealed the true knowledge of man, while everything that His opponents said about Him came from the devil and was a lie (8.44-45). And since the appearance of Light serves to reveal the truth, it means the onset of judgment: “And this is judgment, that light has come into the world... For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light... But he who creates the truth comes to the light, so that they may be revealed his works, that they were done in God” (3.19, 20-21). This judgment is “true” (8.16) because it occurs in accordance with the Father who sent Him (5.30).
10. He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him.
In Art. 10 the word “world” is both the entire universe (“the world came into being through Him”) and the human community (“the world did not know Him”), since only rational beings are capable of knowing anything. The theme of knowledge runs throughout the Gospel, with knowledge and acceptance generally going hand in hand (8.19, 15.21, 17.8; cf. 5.37-38, 42). Therefore, the continuation of the phrase “the world did not know Him” inevitably becomes “they did not accept Him.”
11. He came to his own, and his own did not receive Him.
That is, he “came” to the people whose reception He could count on first of all. “Ours” are the Jews, who thereby represent a world that has rejected the Son of God. Thus, the word “world” (verse 10) takes on a negative connotation; it becomes the personification of humanity’s disobedience to God. Contemporaries of Jesus Christ did not accept Him in divine dignity as their Creator, through whom the world was created (5.17-18).
12. To all who received Him, He gave them power to become children of God, who believe in His name,
This is indeed the power to become a son of God, since it abolishes all human conditioning. If life is given to a person not by people, but by God, then it is no longer subject to death. The word “authority” in the Gospel is used in the context of life and death: “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to have life in Himself, and gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man” ( 5.26-27); “No one takes My soul from Me, but I myself lay it down. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (10.18); “For You have given Him power over all flesh, so that He might give eternal life to as many as You have given Him” (17.2). The highest power in the world is the ability to control someone else's life. The sovereignty of Jesus Christ means that He has “life in Himself” (5.26). No one has the right to control His life (2.4), no one has “any power” over Him (19.10-11).
13. who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Such a birth in a conversation with Nicodemus is called birth “from above... from water and the Spirit,” without which a person “cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (3.3, 5). The reference to “blood” means clan affiliation, participation in a particular people. Since being born “of blood” does not imply being born “of God,” the superiority of Jewish origin thereby disappears; Judaism does not convey any advantages before God; this is discussed in detail in the Conversation after the Feast of Tabernacles (8.). And below in the prologue it will be said that Moses and the law are also deprived of their former meaning (v. 17).
14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The fact that the Word who “was with God,” “became flesh,” and “dwelt among us” presupposes two, at first glance, mutually exclusive points:
1) The Word (Logos) is the revelation of God outside (see verse 18), and as a word it had to sound (15.22). But the evangelist speaks not about the fact that God turned to people in the preaching of Jesus Christ, and not about the miracles that accompanied His ministry, but about the sight of glory. And we are not talking about the Transfiguration here, as commentators often believe, since it is not mentioned in the fourth Gospel.
The glory of Christ did not involve light, voice, noise (Heb. 12.18-19) or any other effects. It was not clear to most of the people who surrounded Jesus Christ. To know it, you needed faith. Glory is the entire earthly ministry of the Son of God, which was the fulfillment of the will of His heavenly Father (John 17.4). Glory is the prerogative of God (5.44; 8.54), so to “see the glory” is to understand that Jesus is God. Glory confirms His divine dignity.
2) On the other hand, the incarnation means that the deity of the Word was hidden under the veil of “flesh.” The Son of God could be unidentified “because He” is a man (5.27). Therefore, communication with Jesus did not yet mean understanding who He is: “But I told you that you have seen Me and do not believe” (5.36).
15. John testifies of Him and declares: This was He of whom I said: He who came after me stood before me, because he was before me.
John gives primacy to Jesus Christ, pointing to His divine origin. Previous evangelists had already made similar statements, but they did not contain dogmatic elements. The ministry of John the Baptist, both in the prologue and in the subsequent gospel text, is always compared with Jesus Christ. On the pages of the fourth Gospel, John does not exist on his own; all his activities are correlated with Jesus: he is a witness who leads others to faith. In chapter 3 we learn that the disciples of John the Baptist were jealous of the increasing popularity of Jesus Christ. Even though John baptized Jesus (which would seem to place the latter in a subordinate position to the former), Christ's ministry is infinitely superior to John's. According to the synoptic gospels, the failure of John's disciples to fully comprehend Jesus' mission forced the Baptist to send them to Him from prison (Luke 7.19).
16. For out of His fullness we have received everything: and grace upon grace;
This verse contains one of the most important provisions of the Gospel of John: what previously belonged only to the Son of God can now pass to people. And the most important gift is life, which the Son brought in abundance: “I came that they might have life and have it in abundance” (10.10). Therefore, the prologue speaks of grace that overwhelms those who receive it (“grace upon grace”).
17. Because the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were revealed through Jesus Christ.
Here we encounter another antithesis that runs through the entire gospel narrative: Moses, who received the law (7.19), is contrasted with Jesus Christ and the truth that He brought.
If the mention of grace is contained only in the prologue, then truth is one of the key themes of the fourth Gospel. Jesus is the truth itself, He completely identifies Himself with it: “... I am the way and the truth and the life” (14.6), it is known only to Him alone (8.45).
We have the right to talk about a conflict: the law comes into conflict with the truth and becomes the basis for its rejection. Jesus explains to Pilate that His coming into the world is connected with the revelation and dissemination of the truth: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (18.37), and the high priests, seeking Pilate’s consent to the crucifixion of Jesus, will announce, that their demand was dictated by the law: “The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to the law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God” (19.7). For them, everything that He said about Himself is an obvious lie. Thus, the struggle between the law and the truth ultimately caused the condemnation of Jesus Christ to death.
The prologue of the Gospel of John took its place in the celebration of Easter only in Byzantium no earlier than the 7th century. In most sources of the ancient Church, the reading of the Easter liturgy is the 2nd Sunday reading (Mark 16.2-8). Perhaps the first connection between the prologue of the Gospel of John and the Easter holiday was established by Bl. Augustine (354-430).
In his two sermons delivered to the newly baptized on Easter, he quotes the relevant verses John 1.1-3, 14 and discusses the phenomenon of the incarnation of the Word. Since the end of the 2nd century, mass baptism of catechumens has become an indispensable and important part of the Easter service, while the prologue, containing the most complete expression of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament, can serve as one of the New Testament creeds. Pope Leo I (440-461) used the prologue as an Easter reading, and later the Antiochian patriarch Sevier (512-518) dedicated two Easter sermons to John 1.14, “The Word became flesh,” as the basis of the baptismal rite.
The position of the Prologue of the Gospel of John in the annual circle of readings is determined solely by the significance of its content in both theological and liturgical aspects.
Thanks to the fact that we hear it on Easter night, the entire economy of salvation appears before us, the focus of which is the Resurrection of Christ.
The law given through Moses is rendered meaningless by all that is received through Christ.
We will meet this position in the further exposition of the Evangelist John. The Lord begins his conversation about the Bread of Life with the words: “Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6.32). And at the Feast of Tabernacles, addressing the Jews, He says: “Didn’t Moses give you the Law? And none of you keeps the Law” (John 7.19). “Moses gave you circumcision - not that it was from Moses, it was from the fathers” (7.22). In the above words of the Savior, what is given through Moses is immediately devalued by what follows... And although the divine origin of the revelation to Moses is not questioned - “God spoke to Moses” (9.29) - and for faith in Christ it is necessary to first believe Moses (5.46-47), however, what the Father communicates and accomplishes through the Son (12.49; 14.10) cancels out everything that precedes.
But the theme of “Christ and Moses” is not reduced by the Evangelist only to downplaying the importance of Moses. After the healing at the sheep's font on Saturday, when the Jews accuse Jesus of violating the Mosaic Law (5.16; 7.23), He answers them that all judgment has been given to Him by the Father (5.22) and Moses, whose defenders they present themselves as, will become their accuser at the final trial (5.45).
It has a deep symbolic meaning that, as a rule, the Easter Gospel is read in ten languages: Church Slavonic, Russian, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. This “multilingualism” symbolizes that the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ has meaning for each of us and is addressed to all humanity, regardless of where people live and what languages they speak.
An integral part is reading the Gospel of John - one of the most beautiful and majestic sacred texts. During the festive service, the beginning of this holy scripture is heard, which does not talk about the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ, but tells about who God is and about the Light that he brings to us.
The Gospel of John is read for exactly 50 days, starting from Easter until the Feast of the Holy Trinity. That is, the entire period when in the hearts of the contemporaries of Jesus Christ, who saw with their own eyes his Resurrection and Ascension, there lived great joy from meeting the Savior and from the fact that they witnessed the greatest of miracles, which later formed the basis of the Orthodox faith.
The four Gospels are part of the books of the New Testament. These are texts in which contemporaries of Jesus Christ describe the period of his earthly life:
- the miracle of the birth of the Savior;
- his teaching:
- death;
- resurrection
Over time, the events of the life of Christ described in the Gospels formed the basis of almost all church celebrations. Composition of books Holy Scripture was defined by the church back in the 4th century. Despite the fact that there are many more Gospel texts, only four scriptures have been recognized as canonical. Books whose authors are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are considered true.
| Authors | What is the book about? |
| Matthew. | Former tax collector, one of the 12 apostles. In his description, he talks about the period of the Savior’s life until his Ascension. In this work, the main importance is attached to the logic and content of the speeches and sermons of Jesus Christ. |
| Mark. | He was not one of the 12 apostles, but was one of those who preached with the disciples of Christ. His book is one of the shortest and most impulsive. It is written in living language and tells mainly about the miracles the Savior performed. |
| Luke. | A former doctor, who was also not one of the apostles and began to preach the teachings of Christ after his death and subsequent resurrection. With his characteristic scientific approach and with amazing meticulousness, he describes all the events that took place during the life of the Savior. At the same time, the reader can see between the lines with what warmth, love and faith the author writes about the Son of God. |
| John. | One of the apostles and close friend of Jesus Christ. It was to him that the Savior entrusted after his death to take care of Holy Virgin Maria. In his work, John tells how Jesus lived, what he did and said. At the same time, he pays great attention to the relationship between the Father and the Son. The bulk of the information presented in this work is not found in any other description of the period of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. |
There are, of course, overlaps in these works, but these are four different books. The authors of these Gospels did not simply retell each other’s texts, but described the events of Christ’s earthly life as they saw them, placing their own emphasis. Jesus Christ was sent to us in order to tell people how they should live on earth in order to then ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven. And his words, which are a revelation of God’s will, were preserved for posterity on the pages of the Gospels.
Anyone who wants to know the will of the Lord and his word must turn to holy books. That is why reading the Gospel is an integral part of church services, both everyday and holiday.
Gospel at Easter service
During the festive service in honor of the Light Christ's Resurrection in churches the Gospel of John is read, starting with the prologue, from its very first words, which says that God came to our world in order to give people Light and Salvation. Any Christian may wonder why on this great holiday this particular beginning of Holy Scripture is read, and not, for example, the text telling about the Resurrection of Christ.
In the first centuries of Christianity, one of the Gospel readings, telling about the Resurrection of Christ, was actually heard at Easter services. But then, around the 10th century, a kind of theological rethinking of everything that happened took place, and it was the beginning of the Gospel of John that was assigned for reading as one of the “highest”. The Holy Church decided that on Easter, when the entire Orthodox world glorifies the Resurrection of Christ, it is more important not to retell the story of the miracle that happened, but to remind people of why the Son of God came into our world and for which he died and then rose again.
For many years now during Easter services in all churches the prologue of John’s writing is heard, where he says that God came into our lives to bring light and salvation into it.
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