What is the "Word" in John 1?

Someone asked me this past week if the "word" in John 1 is the same as Jesus. What they really meant was that someone told them that the "word" of John 1 was the same as the BIBLE.

The easiest way to give insight to the real meaning of the logos or "word" is to quote from a movie that was really popular when I was a kid. In that movie, there was a blonde warrior in a floppy white shirt who  carried a light saber. He was often sent away with the following words, "the Force be with you." 

We all have an understanding of what the "force" is. It is that quasi god like power that is working in the unseen and spiritual world. It has power that can be used to accomplish your desires, be they good or bad.

The best understanding of the logos used in John 1 and translated as "the word" is much like the Force of Star Wars. The original readers of the text understood what John meant when he said, "In the beginning was the logos." They had a mental concept of such a force at work. What really blew them up was when John said, "And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14). 

You see, that passage isn't about the Bible being the Word, but about Jesus being the full understanding of what God is. Think about it... it makes sense!