Problem:
How should one respond to the following? The Gospel of John is by far my favorite to read and study. It's arguable that John was the closest disciple to Jesus. He was sitting next to Jesus during the last passover, he was present at the transfiguration, John was one of the disciples that went with Jesus to the garden of agony, and Jesus even gives his mother to John. In the first chapter of John it's stated "In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) "Word" is a Greek word that means "a word, being the expression of a thought;" (Strong's). Matthew in his gospel opens up with the Jesus' lineage that goes back to Abraham and Luke's lineage goes back to Adam. But distinctly John is very clear on who Jesus is from the very first verse of his book.