That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4 ESV)
There’s this song that has captured my attention. It’s a choir-band-orchestra arrangement that sets the first words of John 1 to music. Some of the lyrics are:
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God
The word was God…
He came into the world
The world that he hath made
And the world that he hath made knew him not
He came unto his own (his own)
His own received him not (him not)
His own (his own) his own (his own)
His own received him not*
For me, the power of the musical arrangement sets these already powerful words on fire!
You probably recognize these words – these units of written or spoken speech – as the first chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel. I’ve been doing some research on this passage and the more I research, the more I realize that “word” is a very inadequate English translation of the Greek word logos.
In Michael Card’s John: The Gospel of Wisdom, he says that “volumes exist on the meaning and backgrounds of logos. More words have been spent defining Word than any other word. This gives a hint at how complicated these first two verses can be….When John says “word” it is not the Greek logos but the Old Testament Hebrew dabar he has in mind. Dabar means both “word” and “deed.” When God says something it happens.” (p. 31)
When God says something, it happens.
“In the beginning….Light BE…” God spoke and the universe came into being.
“Get up, take your bed, and WALK…” Jesus spoke and a lame man was healed.
“COME OUT!” and Lazarus was resurrected and walked out of the tomb.
When God speaks, an action occurs.
If we are made in God’s image, if we are believers in Jesus as the Messiah, if we are children of the Most High God, and if we are temples for the Holy Spirit which dwells within us, then when we speak, does an action occur?
Do our words create?
Do our words cause healing?
Do our words raise the dead?
We may say that, yes, metaphorically this happens. But, should it (could it?) also happen literally?
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14 ESV).
Do we believe it? Do we live as if we literally have the God-given power to see action when we speak?
Are we living as people who ask in Jesus’s name to do greater things than he did?
What do our words do?
God,
Help us to understand your Word, your Spirit, and your dabar. Help us to know what words to speak to fulfill what you want for us, for our lives, and for the lives of those around us. We pray this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. (John 5:5-9 ESV)
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. (John 11:43-44 ESV)
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3 ESV)
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7DQ9LpN5ak