In John 1:1, the Word is the eternal Son who was with God and was God. John's opening shows that Jesus is not introduced as a late messenger, but as the one through whom life and light come into the world.
John begins before Bethlehem and before Jesus' public signs. The prologue presents the Word as eternal, divine, active in creation, and entering the world. That opening prepares readers to understand the signs, testimony, and sayings that follow.
John 1 gives readers the lens for the whole Gospel. The one who heals, teaches, suffers, and rises is the Word made flesh, not merely a teacher with helpful religious insight.
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.