Sermon Notes by David E. Owen
“THE WORD”
(John 1)
In a book entitled Difficult Conversations, a collaborative trio of authors wrote, “We’ve all learned that for others to understand us, we need to make what we say clear and simple.” Perhaps Solomon had that truth in mind when he wrote, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). In both our passing conversations and our published compositions it is so satisfying and clarifying to find and use just the right word. “Defining Jesus,” said Max Lucado, “would be a challenge to the best of writers, but John handles the task with casual analogy. The Messiah, in a word, was ‘the Word.’ Be He a fiery verb or a tender adjective, He was, quite simply, a word.” And I might add that He was “just the right Word!”
1. The History Of The Word
The study of the origin and historical development of words and language is called “etymology.” Preachers and Bible teachers are no strangers to this branch of linguistics, for we have often dug beneath the surface of the Bible text to unearth the hidden treasures of some ancient Greek or Hebrew term. Even in the English language we see the changes that occur in the meanings and usages of words over the course of time. But there is one Word that is unaffected by time; one Word whose meaning has not changed. We hear the Word back in Genesis as time after time in the creation account, “God said.” John affirmed the Word’s antiquity when he wrote, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). Christ, the Word, transcends all boundaries of chronology.
2. The Humanity Of The Word
When God communicated with man, He did not struggle with a limited vocabulary. He could have used any word; but not just any word would do. “Theism” and “apologetics” and “Christology” are all good words, however a mere theological term would not suffice. A technical term from the Divine realm would have baffled the populace of earth. A theoretical explanation of God would have been incomprehensible to our finite minds. Therefore, God did not talk over our heads, but He expressed Himself on our level, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Christ, the embodied Word, translates into every human language and dialect and surpasses the boundaries of communication.
3. The Harmony Of The Word
Out of all the books in my library, one of the most helpful is a thesaurus, which is essentially a book of synonyms. Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning as other words and are often interchangeable. “Jesus” is a different word than “God,” but when the Bible says that “the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), we learn that the two are synonymous. As the Word, Jesus did not come to redefine God. Jesus was not an antonym of God, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). Christ, the Word eliminates any boundaries of contradiction.
When I was in elementary school, we learned a song from a popular children’s movie about a word that seemed to be the “magnum opus” of words. The word is “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” The problem with this word is that it is an unintelligible and meaningless word. There is a word, though, that has infinite meaning. It is “the Word,” Jesus. “Sweetest note in seraph song, sweetest carol ever sung, sweetest name on mortal tongue; Jesus, blessed Jesus!”