In the book of John, he begins by describing Jesus as the “Word” (Jn 1:1, 14). This is John’s translation of “the Logos”; it utilizes Philo’s Jewish Philosophy and the masculine form of “Sophia”. This masculine term better suits John’s pursuit in portraying Jesus as this concept of Sophia; the concept of divine wisdom. His understanding of Jesus differs from the other gospels as he sees this man as more than the son of God, but rather as the glorious son that was God’s equal in the creation of everything.
When looking at John’s introduction of Jesus, the “Logos Hymn” (Jn 1:1-18), from the reader’s of his time’s perspective, you could see that they might get some ideas about Jesus and John himself. First, they would probably see that John’s belief in who Jesus was, was knowledge in John’s opinion. With that being said, John introduces himself as “a man sent from God” (Jn 1:6), who was sent to be “a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him” (Jn 1:7), and so the readers of the time have a high respect for this man and thus are willing to believe what he is telling them.
The ancient readers of that time are likely to believe that Jesus was more than this mere man that his body disguised him as. With the man sent from God telling them that Jesus was the physical form of divine wisdom, they were likely to expect complete knowledge and understanding from Jesus along with a power that they could no sooner begin to understand before they could describe it.
In regards to the other Gospels, these ancient readers would expect as much as an extravagant purpose as John gave himself. Readers would be looking to these other Gospels to not only elaborate, but also to support John’s statement that Jesus was even more than the person that they were expecting and was even the Logos himself.
When reading this passage myself, the image of Jesus is exalted beyond this savior image that I was raised knowing of. He becomes this greater force, one that not only understands all, but is part of everything and knows more about all of creation than anything does even of itself. This knowledge and wisdom seems to strike a strong chord with me.
I do not believe that the other gospels felt the same way about Jesus as this human form of divine wisdom, but rather as a Savior, and Messiah to lead them to the just path. This does play along the similar lines as John’s view of Jesus. For John, Jesus is the Logos that will guide people to God, but not as much for the other Gospels. I feel that the other Gospels may focus on Jesus’ connection to God as his son and as their leader to God through him rather than as a part of God that will complete them and make them “children of God” (Jn 1:12)