This well-known verse is probably the most commonly used in support of the trinity. The argument is that in verse 14, the Word becomes flesh, so therefore Jesus must be the Word and thus must be God. The problem with this thought process is that going back and inserting into verse 1 what you read in verse 14 isn’t necessarily accurate.
“God’s word” is most often used to refer to His law. In fact, the “ten commandments” is actually translated as the “ten words.” Therefore, when John wrote about “the word”, he was talking about God’s law. God’s law perfectly displays His nature, because God is His law. His law is his set of values, He will not step out of it, and you cannot separate Him from it; it’s been with Him since the beginning. We can see that this is true when the Bible tells us that God cannot even look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). We can deduce that since we know that God’s law is righteous (Romans 7:12, Psalm 19:7) and that God is righteous (Psalm 145:17), that in a sense, God is His law. No one is worthy to approach God because the Bible tells us that none is righteous but God. This is why we needed a mediator.
This is where Jesus comes in. In verse 14, when it says that “the word became flesh,” it means that God’s law (and thereby, in a sense, God) became flesh. Jesus was the walking epitome of God’s law. He was the manifestation, or expression, of God, although he was not God. He lived by God’s law perfectly and fulfilled (brought understanding to) it through his parables and teachings.
With that being said, a better translation of these verses of John might be (keeping in mind that “he”, “she”, and “it” are the same word in Greek and are therefore interchangeable, and that the Bible was written in all capitals and has no punctuation – so much is left up to the translator!):
In the beginning was the word (God’s law), and the word (God’s law) was with God, and what God was the word (law) was. It (God’s law) was in the beginning with God. All things were made through it, and without it nothing was made that was made (everything was made in accordance with God’s law). In it (God’s law) was life (Psalm 19:7 tells us this), and that life was the light of men (God’s law guides us). And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…
…And the word (God’s law) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
*Parenthesis are my notes, not part of the translation
