St. John in the prologue to his gospel uses a common literary technique. The poem is constructed as a series narrative motifs situated as brackets. It begins: “and the word was with God.” It ends: “only-begotten Son, God, is at the Father’s side.” Next ring: “What came to be through him was life” opposed to “of his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” The next pair talks about John the Baptist. Then “He was in the world, he came to what was his own,” which is paired with “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The point of this technique is to highlight the central theme: “to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.”
