In these devotions, I want to combine a historical/theological understanding of the book’s contents with a personal/devotional application that I believe will offer you both a better understand of the Word as well as a deeper relationship with the one who is called “The Word.”
As a quick note, we will be more or less alternating between readings from chapters of the Old Testament and of the New Testament in these devotionals so you can expect more readings from the Psalms as well.
Now, I would like to introduce you to the central concept of The Word of God in John. Previously, scholars have noted that the Word, (logos in Greek) sounded a lot like the concept of the logos among some Greek philosophers. They therefore linked this concept of the logos of the early Greek philosophers and the Stoics with the Logos of the New Testament. The bridge between these two ideas can be seen in the writings of the Jewish scholar from Alexandria, Egypt, who was named Philo.
Not discounting these influences, we now know that there was a concept within Judaism taught throughout the synagogues of Israel that was widespread throughout the first century which was most likely in the mind of most Jews of that time. The concept was called the “Memra” in Aramaic. The term Memra describes the active and manifested Word of God as an actual presence in this world and it was used throughout the Aramaic loose translations of the Hebrew books of the Bible called the Targums. The Targums were written as an ancient type of Bible paraphrase, much like the Living Bible today. Most often, when the Bible described God actually interacting physically with the World, such as with Creation or when He appeared to people in the Old Testament, the Targum would say that “the Memra of God” (read “the Word of God) was doing these things. The Memra/Word created Adam and Eve in His likeness and walked in the Garden with them, the Memra/Word visited Abraham, the Memra/Word even gave the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20! See some key chapters from the Targum translations of the first 5 books of the Bible for yourself here:
Targum translations
I am firmly convinced that the concept of the Memra is tied intimately with the Apostle John’s understanding and presentation of the Word of God in the Gospel of John. This is important for many reasons, but one of the things that make it important is it historically justifies the concepts within John’s Gospel and proves they have a 1st century Jewish historical basis. Some Jews of Jesus’ time definitely believed that there was an Entity called the Memra, or the Word of God and that He acted for God on the earth! This is linguistic and ideological proof of the time period that the Gospel of John was written. It is also especially crucial to understand for believers who are of Jewish ancestry and those who are speaking to Jewish people and seeking a mutual understanding.
There is much more to say, but in the interest of time I will let that be your introduction for now! Let’s get started with the first two verses of the book of John.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This verse can be seen as a hint toward the initial verses of Genesis chapter 1. Instead of saying, “In the beginning, God created…” John says, “in the beginning was the Word.” We might read this as, “In the beginning, the Word existed/was present.” That means in any language, especially the original, that the Word already existed or was “pre-existent” at the beginning of everything. This truth of the New Testament is stated even more clearly in Colossians 1:15-17 where Paul states regarding Jesus:
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Not only was the Word there before time present with God the Father (and the Holy Spirit), but He is to be considered God Himself! This is made clear in verses from the Targums when the Word of God is used interchangeably with “God” or “Yahweh” throughout many passages of the Old Testament.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Again, this is claiming unequivocally that the Word, who will be identified as the Son of God, was already present at the beginning of all created things. Jesus got in a lot of trouble and was almost stoned in John 8:58 when He claimed that He existed before Abraham and used God's holy Name "I AM" to describe Himself - “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Yet, in Targum Onkelos on Genesis 15:6, it actually says that Abraham believed in the Memra/Word of the Lord and was thus considered righteous! This is the very source verse for Paul’s claim of justification by faith (Galatians 3:6)! It was because Abraham believed in the Living Word of God that he was declared righteous and this was plain in the sight of all those who heard the Aramaic Targum of Genesis before any word of the New Testament was penned! The Word of God as a Person was present in every interaction between humans and God throughout all of history as recorded by the Bible and understood by many Jews of the Second-Temple period!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for revealing your Son to us in all the ways that you have, especially through your Word. I thank you for making it clearer and clearer in each generation that the books within the Bible are true and I thank you that I have been given eyes to see the truth of your written Word as well as the reality of the Living Word, Jesus the Messiah. Please allow me to see Jesus more and more clearly in every page and even every word of the Bible, from beginning to end. Help me to see the importance of your Word in every aspect of my life, both for its practical wisdom and also for its enlightening spiritual insight.
Amen
“For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” – Proverbs 8:11
All Bible Verses are from the KJV Unless Otherwise Noted
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