The Word

The divinity of Jesus is expressed in the New Testament primarily by ascribing to his all the activities and properties that, in Scripture, belong to God alone…

The Way to Nicaea, John Behr

How does the New Testament text speaks of Jesus Christ? Creating, bestowing life, forgiving sins, raising the dead, and being the recipient of prayers. We have life in His name. These properties are elsewhere said to belong to God alone

This affirmation that there is one God, the Father, the monotheistic heart of Christianity, and one Lord Jesus Christ, who does all the things that God himself does, so demonstrating that he is as divine as the Father, is the basic pattern for all subsequent creedal affirmations…

Behr identifies a few texts where it is probable that Christ is referred to directly as God, for example, Romans 9:5, Hebrews 1:8, Titus 2:13, and 2 Peter 1:1. “Probable” because there are issues of punctuation (or a lack thereof), the use of articles (or lack thereof).

The first instance of praying to Christ and calling Him Lord is found in the Gentile Stephen:

Acts 7: 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

This is taken from the ESV. Most versions have a similar translation, not stating to whom Stephen called out, but then followed by this same quote. A few translations say he called out to the Lord, followed by the quote. The King James and NKJV says that he called out to God, followed by the quote.

Behr notes that the use of the word “Lord” must imply the full scope of God. I do not read or understand the Greek, so I offer no comment on this. There are other texts suggesting that Christ is worshipped.

Nor is there any question that in using the term Lord, Paul intended the full significance of the Divine Name, YHWH. … The most important instance of appealing to the Divine Name is of course in Philippians.

Here we see:

Philippians 2: 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name…

The name above every name – the Divine Name – is bestowed upon the one who was crucified and risen. Behr does not see this as a direct identification of YHWH with Jesus Christ; Jesus is all that YHWH is, yet without being YHWH himself.

In the Synoptics, “Lord” is applied to Christ only a few times; there are times where the title Lord is applied to God the Father. Jesus offered some words that suggest that the disciples referred to Him as Lord – “not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord” as one example.

Then there is this, with Jesus citing from Psalms:

Mark 12: 35 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ 37 Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”

The apostle John uses “I AM” statements several times, linking back to what God said to Moses. “Before Abraham was, I am.” John Chrysostom notes that the more proper construction of this sentence, even for a being that was simply eternal, would have been “Before Abraham was, I was,” but Jesus didn’t say it this way.

Peter uses the term Lord in his sermon of Acts chapter 2, citing the same passage from Psalms as that noted immediately above. He then adds: God has made him both Lord and Christ. Again, not an identification of Jesus with YHWH, but something far more than simple, or even royal, respect. Peter teaches that Jesus is the object of an action of God.

Finally, it is in John that Jesus Christ is called for the first time by the title “Word” …

In abstract theological reflection, “Word” often replaces “Jesus Christ.” He is the Word of God Incarnate. And “Word” presents two interconnected ideas: that of the revelation and that of the revealer, and these should not be separated too hastily, according to Behr.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. “Word”: is this referring to the Son or to the Scripture? Or both? Growing up Protestant, whenever I heard this verse, I pictured a minister holding his Bible above his head. But I have come to learn it is so much more than this.

Christ is the Word of God, who, as such, exists before the world, with God, and is, to use later imagery, spoken out into the world; he is God’s own expression in the world.

The revealer and the revelation: Jesus is the embodiment of the revelation; the Word made flesh.

Not only are his words revelatory, but he is revelatory in himself.

John continues this thread in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 19: 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Of course, in his Gospel, John is clear that Jesus is God. He is the “only-begotten,” meaning one who is one-of-a-kind. Apparently, there was some issue with the Latin translation that has given us a phrase or understanding that Jesus was somehow birthed by God or some such. Again, and apologies, not really clear to me, but worth noting.

Conclusion

The idea that the term “Word” was somehow just an apologetic outreach to the Greeks is undermined by the reality that the Word became flesh – two diametrically opposite ideas, two very distinct realms, in Greek philosophy. The Word is equally divine, but is no less equally flesh.

Given the seeming contradiction in joining “Word” with flesh, it isn’t surprising that there were continuous efforts to break these two apart in Christ or deny the fleshly element.

It is this which makes the Johannine legacy at once the most stimulating for future reflection and also the most dangerous.

It is because John presents material useful for presenting each of the divine and human Jesus. Without the Gospel of John, Athanasius could not have confronted Arius; at the same time, if Arius had not had this Gospel, he would not have needed to be confronted.

Epilogue

Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, lived at the same time as Jesus.

The pivotal and the most developed doctrine in Philo’s writings on which hinges his entire philosophical system, is his doctrine of the Logos. … The term Logos was widely used in the Greco-Roman culture and in Judaism.

In the Septuagint, the word “logos” is used frequently to describe God’s utterances, actions, and messages to prophets.

Through most schools of Greek philosophy, this term was used to designate a rational, intelligent and thus vivifying principle of the universe.

It is difficult to image “God” without this logos, the Word, His Son.