The Word of God in John and the Rest of the NT
(avg. read time: 8–16 mins.)
John’s Prologue is well known for its references to Jesus as the Logos/Word (1:1, 14). Much scholarly work has been done on the background of this language and the ideas that inform it, some of which I have reviewed here. Recently, I did more work examining possibilities of what could be meant in this prologue. But of course, since this text is a prologue, it is more important to look at how it functions in relation to the text it introduces. While Jesus is never referred to again as the Word, since it is a way of referring to him pre-incarnation, one way to explore the meaning of referring to Jesus as the Word is to relate it to how the word often translated as “word” is used elsewhere. Naturally, the most obvious context for relating this appellation to is the Gospel according to John itself. I will look at that, but I will also consider how the rest of the NT uses references to the “word” of various description and how those uses compare or even relate to the Johannine Prologue.
John’s Prologue
To present Jesus in all his magnificence and significance, John must go all the way back to the beginning. After all, a general theme of the Gospel according to John is that most people do not know whence Jesus came and that those who would follow him must have faith in who sent him and where he comes from (1:9, 11–15; 3:17, 30–31, 34; 4:34; 5:23–24, 30, 36–40; 6:29–60; 7:16–18, 25–43, 52; 8:14–18, 22–29, 42–47; 9:4, 28–33; 10:36; 11:42; 12:44–50; 13:1–3; 14:24–26; 15:21–26; 16:5, 27–30; 17:3, 8, 18–25; 20:21). And while John does not reference Jesus’s birth, I would suggest that his account of the incarnation gives us a Christmas story in his own fashion.
In presenting Jesus as the Word, he shows that God created the world through him, as anyone who read the opening of Genesis and its story of creation by word would see. In Jesus, God the Creator has entered creation to save it and to provide it with life anew. That is, the incarnation serves as the means by which the one through whom God created is now the one through whom God effects the work of new creation. For Jesus to come into the world, it would mean that the Word of God who was with God and who was God (though not the Father regularly identified as “God”) had come in flesh as human to bring to fruition the work he had been doing with God since before the creation of the world. It would mean not only the fulfillment of expectations of God’s coming and the climax of salvation history (Pss 50:3–4; 96:12–13; 98:8–9; Isa 4:2–5; 24:21–23; 25:6–10; 31:4–5; 35:3–6, 10; 40:3–5, 9–11; 52:7–10; 59:15–21; 60:1–3, 19–20; 62:10–11; 63:1, 3, 5, 9; 64:1; 66:12, 14–16, 18–20; Ezek 43:1–7; 48:35; Joel 3:16–21; Zeph 3:14–20; Hag 2:7, 9; Zech 1:16–17; 2:4–5, 10–12; 8; 14:1–5, 9, 16, 20–21; Mal 3:1–4; cf. Rev 16:18; 21:10–11, 22–23; 22:1–5); it would mean the fullest revelation of God because one who was God and who was with God had come to dwell among us and show the God whom the people had known for a long time in a way that he had never been known before. And though God had been with us in the past, by Jesus he would be with us in a way he never had been before.
More indirectly, it would mean that Jesus is the one to whom disciples must listen in order to know the will of God and the one from whom they must learn what it means to live truly in alignment with the purposes of God. As one with God, he also defines the meaning and content of the image of God, which means that he defines what it means to be human and what it means to be God. The two key points of 1:1 and 1:14 illustrate this dual emphasis. In turn, this will be matched when Pilate presents Jesus in saying, “Behold the man” in 19:5, and when Thomas will say to Jesus, “My Lord and my God” in 20:28. Obviously, much more could be said here, but these points help to provide a starting point for this analysis as we move into looking at “the word” in John.
The Word in John
John also features several references to “the word” that Jesus speaks. The first is in John 2:22, where the term applies to what Jesus said about his own resurrection in terms of having the temple destroyed and raising it in three days. This is a “word” that Jesus’s disciples would not understand until much later when the event was brought to mind after his resurrection. This word inspired them to believe Scripture and the words he spoke.
The second appears in John 4:37 in reference to the saying, “One sows and another reaps.” In context, the reapers are Jesus’s disciples and he says he is going to send them out to reap that which they have not toiled for. Jesus brings this saying to fruition and allows his disciples to participate in it as well, since indeed the Scriptures prepared the way for him, and he is sowing the substance of their proclamation even now.
The third is a case of Jesus telling the royal official from Capernaum that his son will live, which the official believes. It is of course a statement, but it is also a life-giving declaration. This is reflective of the fact that Jesus is himself the Word who gave life and still gives life because he has life in himself (we will return to this point later).
The fourth is a reference Jesus makes to how his word which he spoke will judge people on the last day (12:48). Note that he uses λόγος here, while earlier in the verse he uses ῥῆμα. This highlights that there is often not a major distinction between these words, but for my purposes here, I am simply focusing on the use of the former because it matches how Jesus was referred to in the Prologue. But this particular text is significant for showing how Jesus’s message and how people responded to it are involved in the final judgment. This is so because the Word himself is involved in the final judgment.
The fifth appears in Jesus saying that his disciples are clean because of the word which he spoke to them in 15:3. His proclamation and the positive reception of the same have a sanctifying effect, as is so even to this day. His word has sanctifying power because he is the Word with sanctifying power.
In 15:20 there are two different referents for “the word,” one specific and one general. The specific one is an introduction to his statement that he had made earlier in 13:16 that no servant is greater than his master, which is preparing them for what is to come. The general one is part of a statement that if people keep his word, they will keep the word of the apostles as well. Both the specific and the general word thus present the disciples and Jesus as being in continuity in what they say and how they live in the light of the word. The fact that they can expect persecution is a reminder that the word they carry forth involves the message of the cross and that it is followed by God raising them from the dead. Hence, in Jesus’s great high priestly prayer of ch. 17, he not only refers to his own proclamation of the word (as we will see below), but also to “their” (the apostles’) word that they will proclaim afterwards as the extension of his word (17:20).
That last reference was a kind of two-for-one deal, so that leads us to the eighth case in 15:25. Here, “the word” refers to Scripture, as he says it comes from their (the Jews’) “law,” though that is a general reference to Scripture and specifically to Ps 35:19. That is, he is referring to the fulfillment of Scripture, embodying the words of being hated without due cause. That is, he is the Word who fulfills the word.
In the ninth case of 18:9, we see that John also refers to Jesus’s word as something fulfilled. Specifically, this is a paraphrase of 17:12. Again, “the word” most basically refers to his statement, but in light of John 2:22 and this context, his word is also being put on the level of the Scripture that was written beforehand. The same applies to the tenth and final case in 18:32, as Jesus’s word concerning how he would die is fulfilled. This is a reference to the multiple times Jesus said he would be lifted up.
The last reference that specifically refers to a “word of Jesus,” also points to another category of “word.” This category is one using phrases of “his word” (4:41) or “my word” (5:24 8:31, 37, 43, 51–52; 14:23–24). These texts are about Jesus’s proclamation or his teaching in terms of commands (the latter particularly in cases of when he describes people as “keeping” his word). The fact that it is his word gives it life-giving power, as we see from John 5:24–29:
Truly truly I say to you that the one who hears my word and has faith in the one who sent me has everlasting life, and does not come into judgment but has crossed over from death into life. 25 Truly truly I say to you that an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and the ones who have heard will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus also he gave to the Son [to be able] to have life in himself; 27 and he gave authority to him to make judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not wonder about this, because an hour is coming in which all the ones who are in their tombs will hear his voice 29 and when they come out, the ones who did good will rise to life, but the ones who practiced evil will rise to condemnation.
As in the Prologue, the Word gives life because he has life in himself. Thus, here, in the word he speaks while in flesh, Jesus, since he has life in himself, can give life to others. He gives this life in the present time, but in the future he will give it in full at the resurrection where those who have “done good” by listening to his word and having faith in the One who sent him will rise to everlasting life.
We see similar links between the Son and the Father by reference to the word in cases where Jesus refers to the word of God (5:38) as what he proclaims and teaches. It is also what he keeps (8:55), as he expects others to keep it (17:6, 14), as it involves proclamation and command. Of course, “word of God” also refers to Scripture as both speech and writing (10:35). God’s word is also said to be “truth” (17:17), which fits with how the Word-become-flesh is characterized in 1:14 and 17 as full of grace and truth. Indeed, Jesus has elsewhere said that he not only speaks the truth (8:40, 45–46; 16:7; 18:37) but is the truth (14:6; cf. 15:26; 16:13). This is so because he is the Word of God Incarnate.
We see how, even from simply looking at other uses of ὁ λόγος and similar phrases, there are many ways in which the Prologue anticipates the rest of the Gospel, and the rest of the Gospel builds on the Prologue. To begin with, we see that Jesus is both the medium and the message, being the one through whom God creates, reveals, and saves, and the one who gives life, is the revelation of God, and is the Savior. Even as he is the Word with God who was God with whom God created in the beginning, he is the word of the gospel, and so his word is the gospel. That is why his word is said to be involved in the final judgment, since he himself is involved in the final judgment. As such, his word is life-giving because he is the life-giving Word. And because the apostles will proclaim him, they too are proclaiming his word about the Word Incarnate and what he came to do. And of course, the word is not simply an indicative one, but it is also an imperative one, just as the Word set up a moral universe which will be subject to final judgment. The word is not simply content to be received but a story to live with directives on how to live. And this is because the Word and his word is of one piece with the Scripture that was written before the incarnation. The Incarnate Word and his word brought to fruition and fulfillment the Scripture that prepared the way, since this Word was at work in creation and in salvation history in Scripture before this. As with the rest of Scripture, the word is truth because it comes from the Word who is truth.
The Rest of the NT
What, then, can we say about the rest of the NT in comparison to what we have seen from John? Many times, “the word,” so simply put, refers to Jesus’s proclamation, teaching (including ethical instruction), or the gospel (Mark 2:2; 4:14–20, 33; 8:32; 16:20; Luke 1:2; Acts 6:4; 8:4; 10:36, 44; 11:19; 14:25; 16:6; 17:11; 18:5; 1 Cor 15:2; Gal 6:6; Col 4:3; 1 Thess 1:6; 2 Tim 4:2; Jas 1:21–23; 1 Pet 2:8; 1 John 2:7). That is, it is Jesus’s own proclamation, the proclamation about Jesus, the teaching from Jesus, or teaching on how to live with Jesus as Lord. One can see through the many texts in Acts that this simple reference to “the word” was another way of talking about the gospel. Likewise, when Jesus first predicted what was going to happen to him in the major gospel events, the whole prediction is referred to as ὁ λόγος in Mark 8:32. And when Paul writes of how he delivered the gospel to the Corinthians, he refers to it as ὁ λόγος (1 Cor 15:2). There are a few cases that do not quite fit this mold but are still consistent with what we have seen from John. In 1 Cor 15:54, Heb 2:2, and 2 Pet 1:19, the term refers to Scripture or the message of God. In the cases of 1 Tim 1:15 and 4:9, it refers to a trustworthy word of some kind, like Jesus’s use in John 4:37. The former of these two is similar to 2 Tim 2:11, where the trustworthy word is related directly to the gospel.
Significantly more common are uses of the phrase “word of God” or references that contextually indicate that it is God’s word that is in focus. Interestingly, there is one case here where Jesus himself is referred to as “the Word of God” in Rev 19:13. In this context, even as he is God’s creative and revelatory Word, he is God’s consummative and salvific Word, being the executor of God’s will from creation to eschaton. Thus, again appropriately, the phrase and similar ones typically refer to Jesus’s proclamation, the gospel, or subsequent teaching on making the gospel story one’s own story (Luke 5:1; 8:11–15, 21; 11:28; Acts 4:29, 31; 6:2, 7; 8:14, 25; 11:1; 12:24; 13:5, 7, 44, 46, 48–49; 15:35–36; 16:32; 17:13; 18:11; 19:10, 20; 2 Cor 2:17; 4:2; Phil 1:14; Col 1:25; 1 Thess 1:8; 2:13 [2x]; 2 Thess 3:1; 2 Tim 2:9; Titus 1:3; 2:5; Heb 13:7; 1 Pet 1:23; Rev 1:2, 9; 3:8, 10; 6:9; 20:4). (Similarly, see the references to the “word of Christ” in Col 3:16 and the “word about the Christ” in Heb 6:1.) But as with “the word,” there are other reference points for the phrase. In one teaching of Jesus, it refers to Scripture, or more specifically to God’s command in Scripture (Matt 15:6 // Mark 7:13). It also refers to God’s commands in both 1 Corinthians and 1 John (1 Cor 14:36; 1 John 1:10; 2:5, 14). There are also a few cases in which it is the promise or plan of God (Rom 9:6; 1 Thess 4:15; Rev 17:17; 19:9). There are also some cases where it refers to God’s creative word or his directive to creation for judgment in the eschaton (1 Tim 4:5; 2 Pet 3:5, 7). One other case in Heb 4:12 may be multivalent on par with what we see in John, though it may be most similar to John 12:48 in its reference to the capacity of the word for judgment.
The last major category of expressions that we see are similar to John are statements about “these words of mine,” “his word,” “my words,” or other similar expressions. These references indicate the authority of Jesus and his words (Matt 7:24, 26, 28 // Luke 6:47; 24:35 // Mark 13:31 // Luke 21:33; Mark 8:38; Luke 4:32; 9:26, 28, 44; 10:39; 24:44; Rev 21:5; 22:6; cf. Matt 19:1; 26:1). This is consistent with the authority invested in the words of the Word Incarnate in John. It also fits with how he can thus invest “your” words with such authority for his disciples (Matt 10:14; John 17:20; 1 Cor 2:4; 2 Cor 1:18; 2 Tim 4:15).
Beyond these categories, there are many other expressions that have no equivalent in John, but still resonate with it (apart from the words of wisdom and knowledge in 1 Cor 12:8 that refer specifically to spiritual gifts). In Matthew, we hear of the “word of the kingdom,” which is another way of referring to the gospel Jesus proclaimed (Matt 13:19–23). Of course, there is also the “word of the gospel” in Acts 15:7, which is rather obviously connected with what we have seen elsewhere. There are many other modifiers in “word of” constructions that we will simply list here: salvation (Acts 13:26; cf. 14:3; 20:32), promise (Rom 9:9), the cross (1 Cor 1:18), reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19), truth (2 Cor 6:7; Eph 1:13; Col 1:5; 2 Tim 2:15; Jas 1:18), life (Phil 2:16; 1 John 1:1), the faith (1 Tim 4:6; cf. Titus 1:9), righteousness (Heb 5:13), the oath God made (Heb 7:28), and “their” testimony (Rev 12:11). While these constructions never appear in John, one can still see how they fit. The word of salvation/reconciliation is about the Word Incarnate who brought salvation/reconciliation. The word of promise and of God’s oath both refer in some way to what he has accomplished or will accomplish in Jesus, the Word who is the executor of his will. We know that the word of the cross is the word of the gospel, and we have already seen a case in John where “the word” applied to the way in which he would die. We have also seen how life, righteousness, and truth are qualities of the Word that also emerges in the word about the Word who makes others like him.