1-4 "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 was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
John 1:1-4 (ESV)
Jesus is known by many titles – Good Shepherd, Bread of Life, Savior and Friend – but the apostle John launches his Gospel with reference to Jesus, the Living Word.
As familiar as these few verses might be, don’t rush by them. Don’t miss the jaw-dropping realities attributed to our Lord. Just the name alone, “the Word,” conveys God’s heart to personally communicate and connect.
He could have just spoken everything into existence (see Genesis 1 and 2), then left us to ourselves. He could have let creation alone do the talking, or delivered His communiqués through nothing more than the mouths of prophets, priests and kings.
But He didn’t.
The Word that made everything out of nothing, made you and me to know Him. And for Him, it’s personal; so personal that He left the glory of heaven and unencumbered intimacy with the Father and Spirit, just so you could know Him in flesh and blood.
Again in John’s Gospel, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14; cf. Colossians 1:15-23).
If you’re in what seems like a season of silence, read through the Gospels slowly, attentively; and place yourself in the story among the first disciples. Follow Him through each scene and listen as though you’re one of the twelve.
Make no mistake, Jesus had you in mind every step of the way. We’re not meant to be mere observers of Christ, but rather recipients, participants, friends of the Living Word.
