John 1:1–3 with St. Augustine
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
St. Augustine cites John 1:1 more than any other gospel passage. This passage is fundamental for his understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity and the identity of Jesus Christ. The passage means that Jesus is God the Word–not identical with the Father (since the Word is with God) and yet at the same time fully God (since the Word is God). As God, the Word is also said to be the creator of all things.
Augustine reiterates these points not just in his theological writings, but frequently in his homilies, encouraging his audience to plumb the depths of this mystery even though they cannot fully understand it: “It says and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1). We are talking about God; so why be surprised if you cannot grasp it? I mean, if you can grasp it, it isn’t God.” Nevertheless, our eternal happiness is to be with God and to know him, since “we human beings are made blessed by our hearts just brushing against that which abides always blessed; and that is itself eternal blessedness.” Therefore, contemplating God and the Trinity is essential for every Christian. Augustine explains why: “God does not increase thanks to those who know him, but those who know him do, thanks to their knowledge of God.” To know God better is to grow in the spiritual life and finally to know God is blessedness, it is our destination in heaven.
Augustine gives an analogy to help us understand how important and beautiful it is to strive to know God. He says that John 1:1 tells us that the Word is above all created things, and thus the Word is what we should want to acquire above all created things. Normally, when we want to acquire something we have to give something else away. We have to give money to buy bread. We have to give time to earn money. But what could we give to gain the Word, which is above all? What could we possibly trade in hopes of gaining something of such great value? Augustine says that we can only give everything, that is, ourselves. However, unlike in the case of giving away money to buy goods, when we give away our whole selves to Christ we, in the end, find we have in fact lost nothing: “now if you want to buy this Word, if you want to have it, don’t look for something outside yourself you can give; give yourself. When you have done that, you don’t lose yourself as you lose the price when you buy something. So the Word of God is set before us all. Let those buy it who can; all those who devoutly wish to can do so.”
