Why Does Johns Gospel Call Jesus the Word? Cody Cook http://codysblackbox.blogspot.

com

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:1-5).

This New Testament passage is very well-known in Christian circles, but it is not widely understood. In order to properly understand this passage, we must first understand the Jewish tradition that preceded it.

Psalm 33:6 says, "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made." This Psalm emphasizes what is already stated in Genesis chapter 1-- God spoke the universe into existence through His Word. In time, as Jewish thinkers reflected on this teaching, they began to conceive of God's Word having a personality distinct from God, but tied directly to Him. In the Rabbinic mind, the transcendent God of the universe could not interact with us personally. But how could He do so? There needed to be an intermediary-- His Word.

The Targums were Aramaic translations of the Tanakh (Old Testament). However, they also included commentary that the translators thought better explained the text. It is here that we see the idea of the Word having personality and an identity distinct from God, but still identified with Him, begin to take shape in the Jewish mind. (Quotes taken from Michael L. Brown's Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus Volume 2)--

"And they heard the sound of THE WORD OF THE LORD God walking in the midst of the garden" (Genesis 3:8).

Above we see that the Word of the LORD was considered by Jews to have both personality and identity.

"The Word of the Lord created man" (Genesis 1:27).

"The Word of the LORD sits upon his throne high and lifted up and hears our prayer whenever we pray before him and make our petitions" (Deuteronomy 4:7).

Similarly, Deuteronomy 31:3 was translated from "The Lord your God will pass before you" to "The Lord your God, his Word will pass before you."

Thus we see that in the Jewish tradition preceding John's Gospel, God's Word is Him, but yet is somehow different from Him.

Philo, a Jewish Greek-speaking philosopher, developed this concept further. He referred to the Word (Gr. Logos) as "the second G-d," "mediator," "firstborn," "Name of God," and "Archangel." He also seemed to connect the Word with the Messiah when he said, For that man is the eldest son, whom the Father of all raised up, and elsewhere calls him his first-born, and indeed the Son thus begotten followed the ways of his Father... (Philo, De confusione linguarum 4:45).

Furthermore, the Zohar (a Jewish book of mysticism that is the center of Kabalic teaching) teaches specifically that the Messiah is part of a Triune Godhead in its commentary of Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema-- "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our G-d, the LORD is one."): "Why is there need of mentioning the Name of God three times in this verse? ...The first (name of God) is the Father above. The second is the stem of Jesse, the Messiah who is to come from the family of Jesse through David. And the third one is the Way which is below and these three are one." Thus, we also find some strong Jewish support for the Messiah (who is the Word of God) being identified WITH God.

It is this tradition which John is most probably reflecting upon when he wrote his Gospel, though certainly the Greek concept of the Word (logos) being an organizing principle of the universe is probably also in view.