Who is in the bosom (6 v eis Tov KdATrov). The expression 6 dv, who és, or the one being, is explained in two ways: 1. Asa timeless present, expressing the inherent and eternal relation of the Son to the Father. 2. As interpreted by the preposition eis, in, lit., into, and expressing the fact of Christ’s return to the Father’s glory after His incarnation: ‘The Son who has entered ino the Father’s bosom and ¢s there.” In the former case it is an absolute description of the nature of the Son: in the latter, the emphasis is on the historic fact of the ascension, though with a reference to his eternal abeding with the Father from thenceforth.
While the fact of Christ’s return to the Father’s glory may have been present to the writer’s mind, and have helped to de- termine the form of the statement, to emphasize that fact in this connection would seem less consistent with the course of thought in the Prologue than the other interpretation : since John is declaring in this sentence the competency of the incar- nate Son to manifest God to mankind. The ascension of Christ is indeed bound up with that truth, but is not, in the light of the previous course of thought, its primary factor. That is rather the eternal oneness of the Word with God ; which, though passing through the phase of incarnation, nevertheless remains unbroken (iii. 18). Thus Godet, aptly : “The quality attributed to Jesus, of being the perfect revealer of the divine Being, is founded on His intimate and perfect relation to God Himself.”
The phrase, in the bosom of the Father, depicts this eternal relation as essentially a relation of love; the figure being used of the relation of husband and wife (Deut. xiii. 6); of a father to an infant child (Num. xi. 12), and of the affectionate protec- tion and rest afforded to Lazarus in Paradise (Luke xvi. 23). The force of the preposition eis, into, according to the first in- terpretation of who zs, is akin to that of “with God” (see on ver. 1); denoting an ever active relation, an eternal going forth and returning to the Father’s bosom by the Son in His eternal work of love. He ever goes forth from that element of grace and love and returns to it. That element is His life. He is there “because He plunges into it by His unceasing action ” (Godet).