God has spoken clearly and decisively in His Son, the same Word by which God created life and the ages.
The Gospel of John begins by identifying Jesus as the ‘Logos’ (λογος), the “Word” through which God made all things. This theme is prominent in John’s Gospel. It builds on traditional ideas from the Hebrew Bible about God creating the world through His spoken Word.
Jesus Christ is the Living Expression of that same divine word through which God created the Universe - (“By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made…” - Psalm 33:6-9. Compare John 1:1-4).
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| [River - Photo by Luke Vodell (Sydney, Australia) on Unsplash] |
In his words and deeds, Jesus reflects the truth, grace, and the nature of God. Though abandoned by his friends and put to death by his enemies, the Father vindicated him by raising him from the dead and installing him as the Lord who gives the Spirit to his people and brings salvation to the nations:
- “And she will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” – (Matthew 1:21).
- “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will declare justice to the Gentiles” – (Matthew 12:28, Isaiah 42:1).
- “And she brought forth a Son, he who is going to shepherd the nations…” – (Revelation 12:5).
Jesus is the Living and the Life-Giving Word of
God. What is revolutionary in the Gospel of John is the
claim that this Word, the ‘Logos’, is manifested – given
concrete and living form - in a man from the insignificant village of
Nazareth – (“And the Word [‘Logos’] became
flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw his glory…” -
John 1:14).
In his ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ Jesus declared that he came “to
fulfill the Law and the Prophets,” and he demonstrated this in the first
place by explaining the purpose and heart of the Law to his disciples. “You
have heard it said, <…> But I say to you!” Avoiding adultery is well
and good. Is that not what the Law prohibits? Nevertheless, the man who even
lusts after any woman that is not his wife has “committed adultery already
in his heart” and therefore violated the commandment. “Fulfillment”
means something higher than what was stated in the Law – (Matthew 5:17-28).
In the second place, and even more importantly, Jesus illustrated his
teachings in his ministry and crucifixion. His life and death provide us with
a living commentary on the Law and the nature of God.
To become like our Creator, we must do good and show mercy even to our “enemy,”
and this Christ did when he gave his life for us when “we were yet enemies”
of God - (Matthew 5:43-48).
In Jesus of Nazareth, we see the creative word of God in action, and we
ignore His “word made flesh” at our peril. We see the same ideas
expressed in the Letter to the Hebrews:
- “For the word [‘Logos’] of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do” – (Hebrews 4:12-13).
- “In many parts and ways of old, God spoke to the fathers in the prophets. He has upon the last of these days spoken to us in a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the ages” - (Hebrews 1:1-2).
- “By faith, we understand that the ages have been framed by the utterance of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that appear” – (Hebrews 11:3).
God created all things through His spoken word, and we meet this word face-to-face in the flesh and blood man of Nazareth, the one in whom this word “became flesh.”
John uses “flesh” in his Gospel the same way as the Hebrew Bible
to refer to men in their weakened and mortal state. Jesus participated in the
same mortality as the rest of humanity, only without sin. He is the ‘Logos’,
the Word of God, and we find this idea expressed elsewhere in the
New Testament, especially in the Letter to the Hebrews.
In the Nazarene, not only was the creative word manifested in a human
being, but that man participated in the full human experience, including death.
By doing so, Jesus became our sympathetic and faithful High Priest who is
well-equipped to intercede for us:
- “Since the children are partners in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death, he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage <…>. Wherefore, it was necessary for him in all things to be made like his brethren that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things of God” – (Hebrews 2:14-18).
- “For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” - (Hebrews 4:15. Compare Philippians 2:7-8).
HIS WORDS OF LIFE
The S0n of God is the Living Expression of his Father. Just as God “makes
alive,” so likewise by his words, Jesus imparts life where there was none.
His words give life, and this theme is developed in John’s Gospel and letters.
For example:
- “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he will” – (John 5:21. Also, John 8:12).
- “And the witness is this, that God gave unto us everlasting life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who has not the Son of God has not life” – (1 John 5:11).
- “Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of everlasting life” – (John 6:68).
Those who heed Christ’s words inherit everlasting life. As Jesus
declared, every man who “keeps my word will not see death,” and those
who are his true disciples will “abide in his word” - (John 5:24, 5:38,
8:31, 51).
The words of Jesus are living and life-giving. They determine whether a man receives everlasting life. Christ was not just another philosopher or religious leader. In his teachings and actions, men heard and saw the Word of God ‘enfleshed’ in a real human being. Rejecting either him or his words results in death.
The Letter to the Hebrews opens with a sentence that
is conceptually parallel to the ‘Logos’ of John’s Gospel. Though God did
speak to the “fathers” in the prophets, He did so only partially. He has
now spoken decisively and completely; however, in one who is “a Son.”
Just as God created all things through the ‘Logos’, so He “made the
ages” through the “Son” - (John 1:1-4, Hebrews 1:1-2).
As in John’s Gospel, so in Hebrews, how we respond to the word
“spoken in His Son” determines our fate, whether life or death:
- “Therefore, we ought to give the more diligent heed to the things that were heard, lest we drift away from them. For if the word [‘logos’] spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how will we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which, having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?” – (Hebrews 2:1-4).
All that God did in the past was in preparation for His complete
revelation in His Son, the Living and Life-Giving Word. Since God
has spoken clearly and fully in Jesus of Nazareth, to disobey or simply neglect
the “word of the Son” will bring catastrophe upon anyone who treats this
ultimate Word of God with such contempt.
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SEE ALSO:
- The Greater Moses - (Jesus is the Greater Moses who interprets the Law and the Prophets and brings God’s promises to fulfillment)
- Salvation for All - (Jesus dispatched his disciples to announce his Lordship and salvation to the uttermost parts of the Earth)
- La Palabra Viviente - (Jesús es la Palabra hecha carne en quien se revela la gloria de Dios, la Palabra misma por la cual Dios creó todas las cosas)