jesus the word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1.1, 14

Jesus is the Word. Right. I’ve heard this all of my life. We have God’s written Word, which is the Bible, and then we have His living Word, who is Jesus. Until recently, this beautiful analogy has been trapped in Christian-cliche land for me. Then, one night as I was reading Scripture God’s truth broke through and shattered my routine, Sunday School mindset concerning Jesus as the Word.

What does it mean for Jesus to be God’s Word? What is this analogy getting at?

Practically, Jesus is the message of God to humanity. Let’s say that God opened up His hypothetical mouth because He wanted to tell us something, and Jesus came out.

Let’s say that God had to pick one word–just one word–to express how He feels about humanity. How He feels about you, me, and the rest of His crowning work in creation that has rebelled against Him.

He said Jesus.

He said Jesus!

What good news this is for us, that when God wanted to explain how He felt about us, the best way He could think of was Jesus! The fiery-eyed God-man who came to seek and save the lost, to bind up the broken-hearted and proclaim freedom to the captives. To raise the dead, preach the good news to the poor and restore all that is broken. To reconcile lost sons and daughters to their Father through His atoning work at the cross. To defeat death, carrying His creation out of it’s rancid graveclothes and into marvelous new life.

This comforts me beyond words, that our God would feel this way about me and about you, that He would care enough to communicate it with the life, death, and triumph of His Son.

I hope that in the midst of the junk in our lives, we can find great comfort and peace in the fact that Jesus is God’s Word to us. God has spoken once and for all, and rumor has it that His Word is music to a wayward sinner’s ears.