Don Carson, in his commentary The Gospel According to John, believes that though the author of the gospel of John is very much aware of his Greek audience, the author is intending to unpack the works, life, and importance of Jesus to the Jewish community at large. From the very first verse, John intends that his gospel be read with the emphasis that the words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the deeds and works of God. Nothing is more obvious than the opening phrase, "In the beginning," which immediately draws ones thoughts to the Genesis 1 passage describing how God created the world.

Working from the context of John's gospel being written primarily for a 1st-century Jewish audience, then we can best understand this gospel (or the New Testament, in general) in the light of the Old Testament; Jesus is present and active in the Old Testament. Before John even identifies Jesus by name, he identifies him as "the Word." If John's gospel is to be better understood in the light of the Old Testament, then where would 1st-century Jewish minds be drawn, especially if John's goal is to strongly identify Jesus and God as one? There are three strong candidates for where Jewish thought would go upon hearing someone so closely identified with God and named "the Word": God's activity in creation, revelation and deliverance. Take a look at the following verses and how "the Word" was used in the Old Testament:

Note: Any information of any note was gleaned from the commentary mentioned above.