Jesus as the Word
The most common way that people express themselves is through the spoken word. Without words to communicate precisely, we get frustrated. Adults can often be observed trying to guess what children want, especially those between about 18 and 24 months of age. At this stage of development, the little ones know exactly what they want. Nothing else will do. But while they know what they want, they don’t typically have the language skills to express it. We might ascertain from their behaviour that they want a drink, but from then on we have to keep guessing. Is it water? No. Orange juice? No. Milk? No. Apple juice? Yes.
The same thing happens when illness or trauma robs us of our ability to use words to communicate. A visit to some health care facilities will soon remind you of the joy that being able to communicate easily and precisely gives. Those with communication challenges often withdraw into themselves emotionally. It is simply easier to pull back than to endure the repeated frustrations associated with confused responses, fruitless guessing, and blank stares.
As someone who has done some travelling, I have been in situations where verbal communication ground to a halt. We were reduced to gestures and smiles. Even though one of us might have had something truly important to say to the other, we were unable to express it. Our inability to speak the other’s language left us without significant meaningful communication. Of course, when a bilingual person comes along to translate, the problem immediately clears up. With someone to interpret, the communication channel is open.
One of the ways Jesus is revealed in the Bible is as “the Word.” The apostle John began his gospel with the concept: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 NIV) Then, a few verses later he tells us that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 NIV)
In Christian circles, the Bible is often referred to as “the word of God” in the sense that it is the written account of God’s interaction with humanity. However, calling a person “the Word of God” is significantly different. This expression had been around for six- to seven hundred years before John used it in writing his Gospel. In Hebrew literature, the “Word” was the means by which God created the universe. Over and over in the early chapters of Genesis we read “And God said... and it was so.” The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, used the word “logos” (translated “word” in English) to characterize the divine essence behind the universe.
So this wasn’t an entirely new concept which John was introducing, but what was new was that this “Word” was a person. It was not merely an essence, an impersonal power, an expression of a divine personality. The Word was a person. He became flesh and lived as a human among other humans. Yet at the same time, He came to reveal the essence of divinity. He came to show us what God was like.
Marshall McLuhan, communications guru of the 1960s and 70s declared that “the medium is the message.” He was talking about contemporary media technology, but no where is his comment more true than as applied to Jesus. He was both the medium and the message, just as he was both priest and sacrifice, judge and condemned, lord and servant. In Jesus we have the essence of God expressed in a way that we humans can begin to understand because He was fully human as well as fully God.
This is really starting to get rather lofty, isn’t it. This is the exact opposite of Jesus’ intention. He came to simplify the unknown and explain the inexplicable. He came to show us what God would look like if He were a man. He came to give us an everyday sort of reference point for our lives to keep us grounded in the present, while we travel towards a transcendent future.
When I think about Jesus as “the Word,” I am reminded of God’s intense desire to communicate with humanity. Jesus, the man, was His most perfect expression of Himself. As the writer to the Hebrews put it, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV)
Ron Hughes
© July 2006
