#2 The Word

The Word

Joh 1:1a “In the beginning was the Word,”

The Word. Have you ever wondered why John uses such a term  to describe Jesus? I mean, why didn’t he start out by saying, “In the beginning was Jesus? “We all know who he is talking about, why the mysterious word, “Word?”  

All the other gospel writers pick up the story of Jesus, just before He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. They all start with the humanity of Christ. But John starts at the beginning….before there was man…..he starts with God, and the name “Jesus” falls short in expressing that fact.

When the angel told Joseph what to name Mary’s child, he said, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt 1:21) “Jesus” literally means “Savior,” and that’s vital to know, but there is more to Him than that!  

John fills in the missing details concerning Jesus with this one powerful word. The word is “logos” in the Greek  or “Word” in English and it means, “something spoken, including the thought behind it.” Think about it. We use words to express our thoughts, and God expresses His thoughts toward us in Jesus! Jesus is the “Divine expression.” He is the Word! He is God’s thoughts with skin on!

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this fact in Heb 1:1,2 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”

Later on in this gospel of John, Phillip will approach Jesus  and say, “Lord, show us the Father, and Jesus replies, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (Jn 14:8,9)

Let there be no doubt, Jesus is God the Father expressing Himself to His children. He is “The Word!” John starts us off with that thought and continues the theme through the entire book. And when we consider that “God is love,” (1 Jn 4:8) we begin to see that Jesus is the expression of that love. This theme will be repeated often in this book, and as God’s children it should be repeated in our lives as well. For “he who does not love, does not know God.” (1 Jn 4:8)