1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
John 1:1
John states the purpose of his having written the gospel clearly and succinctly in 20:31: 'These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name' - that is, the creation of faith and the maintaining and strengthening of it in the life of the believer. It is therefore in the truest sense an evangelical writing. We may thus note in passing that the written word is the true agent and medium of the gospel. This can be said just as truly of all the Scriptures. It is a Book which inspires, creates and imparts faith and salvation, God's living Word, the Bible.
To believe that 'Jesus is the Christ', the Messiah - this is John's concern. But 'Messiah' is an Old Testament concept and takes us right back as Mark also does at the beginning of his gospel (cf Mark 1:1, 2). John follows the same pattern in his Prologue, but does so more comprehensively than any of the others. Alexander Maclaren says, 'The other gospels begin with Bethlehem; John begins with the bosom of the Father. Luke dates his narrative by Roman emperors and Jewish high-priests; John dates his 'in the beginning'. Matthew and Luke take us to the cradle and the manger, Mark to the prophecies of old; but John takes us back into the mists of eternity.'