The preface to the entire Four Gospels can be considered verses 1-4 of the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, in which Ap. Luke speaks of a thorough examination of all that he communicates, and indicates the purpose of writing the Gospel: To know the firm foundation of Christian doctrine. To this end, Ap. John the Theologian in verse 31 of the 20th chapter of his Gospel adds: "That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in His name" (John 20:31).

As can be seen from this preface by St. Luke, he undertook to compile his Gospel because by that time there had already appeared quite a few works of this kind, but not sufficiently authoritative and unsatisfactory in content; and he considered it his duty (out of a desire to confirm in the faith a certain "sovereign Theophilus", and at the same time all Christians in general) to write an account of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, carefully checking all the data from the words of "eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word". Since he himself was apparently only one of the 70 disciples of Christ and therefore could not have been an eyewitness to all the events, such as, for example, the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, the Meeting of the Lord, he undoubtedly wrote a significant part of his Gospel from the words of eyewitnesses, that is, on the basis of tradition (this is where the importance of the tradition rejected by Protestants and sectarians is visible). At the same time, it seems quite indubitable that the first and main eyewitness to the earliest events of the Gospel history was the Most Holy Virgin Mary, of whom St. Luke remarks twice, that She kept the memory of all these events, composing them in Her heart (Luke 2:19 and 2:51). There can be no doubt that the advantage of the Gospel of Luke over other records that existed before him is that he wrote only after a thorough examination of the facts and in a strict sequence of events. The same advantage belongs to our other three Evangelists, since two of them, Matthew and John, were disciples of the Lord from among the 12, that is, they themselves were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, and the third, Mark, also wrote from the words of the Lord's closest disciple, an undoubted eyewitness and close participant in the events of the Gospel, the Apostle Peter.

Цель, указанная св. Иоанном, особенно ясно видна в его Евангелии, которое полно торжественных свидетельств о Божестве Господа Иисуса Христа, но, конечно, и остальные три Евангелия имеют ту же цель.

Предвечное рождение и воплощение Сына Божия

(Иоанн. 1:1-14).

В то время как евангелисты Матфей и Лука повествуют о земном рождении Господа Иисуса Христа, св. Иоанн начинает свое Евангелие изложением учения о Его предвечном рождении и воплощении как Единородного Сына Божия. Первые три евангелиста начинают свои повествования с событий, благодаря которым Царство Божие получило свое начало во времени и пространстве, а св. Иоанн, подобно орлу, возносится к предвечной основе этого Царства, созерцает вечное бытие Того, Кто лишь в «последние дни» (Евр. 1:1) стал человеком.

Второе лицо Пресвятой Троицы — Сына Божия — Иоанн именует «Словом». Тут важно знать и помнить, что греческое «логос» означает не только слово уже произнесенное, как в русском языке, но и мысль, разум, мудрость, выражаемую словом. Поэтому наименование Сына Божия «Словом» значит то же, что и наименование его титулом «Премудрость» (см. Луки 11:49 и ср. Матф. 23:34). Св. Ап. Павел в (1 Кор. 1:24) так и называет Христа — «Божия Премудрость».

The doctrine of the "Wisdom of God" is undoubtedly set forth in the same sense in the book of Proverbs (see a particularly remarkable passage in Proverbs 8:22-30). After this, it is strange to assert, as some do, that St. John borrowed his teaching about the Logos from the philosophy of Plato and his followers, in particular Philo. St. John wrote about what he knew from the sacred books of the Old Testament and what he the beloved disciple, learned from his Divine Teacher Himself and what was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.

"In the beginning was the Word" means that the Word is co-eternal with God, and St. John goes on to explain that the Word is not separated from God in relation to His being, and that, consequently, He is of one essence with God, and, finally, he directly calls the Word God: "And the Word was God." Here the word "God" is used in Greek without a co-articulation, and this gave rise to the Arians and Origen to assert that the Word is not the same God as God the Father. However, this is just a misunderstanding. In fact, here is hidden the deepest thought about the non-merging of the persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The absence of a joint indicates that it is about the same subject that was discussed before; therefore, if the Evangelist had used the co-term "O Theos" (in Greek) in the phrase "The Word was God", then the wrong idea would have been obtained that the "Word" is the same God the Father of Whom we have spoken above. Therefore, speaking of the Word, the Evangelist calls Him simply "Theos", thereby indicating His Divine dignity, but also emphasizing at the same time that the Word has an independent hypostatic existence, and is not identical with the hypostasis of God the Father.

As Bl. St. Theophylact, St. John, revealing to us the teaching about the Son of God, calls Him the Word, and not the Son, "so that when we hear about the Son, we do not think about a passionate and carnal birth. For this reason I called Him the Word, so that you might know that just as the Word is born of the mind without passion, so He is born of the Father without passion."

The words "all things were made through Him" do not mean that the Word was only an instrument in the creation of the world, but that the world came from the First Cause and First Source of all existence (including the Word Himself) – God the Father through the Son, Who in Himself is already the source for everything that was made (was), but not for Himself and not for the other persons of the Godhead.

"In Him was life" does not mean life in the ordinary sense of the word, but spiritual life, which impels rational beings to strive to the Author of their existence, to God. This spiritual life is given only through communion and union with the hypostatic Word of God. The Word, therefore, is the source of genuine spiritual life for every rational creature.

"And life was a light unto men" means that this spiritual life, which proceeds from the Word of God, enlightens man with full, perfect knowledge.

"And the light shines in the darkness..." The Word, which gives people the light of true knowledge, does not cease to guide them even in the midst of sinful darkness, but this light is not received by darkness; People who persist in sin chose to remain in the darkness of spiritual blindness. But "darkness did not envelop him [the light]" — did not limit his action and spread.