The Word became Flesh

1. The Word became flesh – 8th
June 2016
“The lightshinesin the darkness,and the darkness has notovercome it” (John1:5).
The term ‘word’isusedindifferentwaysinthe Bible.Inthe New Testament,there are twoGreekwords
translated"word":rhema andlogos.Theyhave slightlydifferentmeanings.Rhemameans“aspoken
word.”For example, we canreadin Luke 1:38, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.“May your
word to me be fulfilled.” Thentheangel lefther. [Rhema – according to yourspoken word].”Logos,
however,hasabroader,more philosophical meaning.Thisisthe termusedin John1. It usuallyimpliesa
total message,andisusedmostlyinreference toGod'smessage tomankind.Forexample, we canlearn
fromLuke 4:32, “They were amazedat histeaching,because hiswords hadauthority.." The people
whowere present were amazednotmerelybythe particularwordsJesus chose butbyHistotal
message,contentand it’sauthority…
"The Word" (Logos) asstatedinJohn 1 isreferringtoJesus andis the total Message—everythingthat
God wantsto communicate toman. The firstchapterof Johngivesusa glimpse insidethe Father/Son
relationshipbeforeJesuscame toearthinhumanform.He preexistedwiththe Father aswe can read
fromJohn 1:1, “In the beginningwasthe Word,andthe Wordwas withGod,and the Wordwas God”.
We learnthatHe was involvedinthe creationof everything aswe learnfrom John1:3,” Through himall
thingswere made; withouthimnothingwas made that hasbeen made”. We alsolearnthat He was
referredtoas the "lightof all mankind" aswe can readfrom John1:4, “ Inhim was life,andthat life
was the lightof all mankind”.The Wordwhichis statedforJesus,isthe full embodimentof all thatis
God as we learnfrom Colossians 2:9, “Forin Christall the fullnessofthe Deity livesin bodilyform” We
can learnwhenJesusexplainsin John14:9, “Jesusanswered: “Don’tyou knowme, Philip,even after I
have been among you sucha longtime? Anyonewho hasseen me has seen the Father. How can you
say, ‘Showus the Father’?.
We mustknowthat God the Fatheris Spirit.He isinvisible tothe humaneye.The message of love and
redemptionthatGodspoke throughthe prophets hadgone unheededforcenturies aswe readin
Matthew 23:37, “Jerusalem,Jerusalem,youwho kill the prophetsand stone thosesent to you,how
often I have longedto gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,and
you were notwilling”.Peoplefounditeasytodisregardthe message of aninvisible Godandcontinued
intheirsinand rebellion.So Godbecame flesh,tookonhumanform, andcame to dwell amongusas we
learnfromMatthew 1:23, ““Thevirginwill conceive andgive birth to a son,and they will call him
Immanuel”(whichmeans“Godwithus” We can learnthisagainfrom Romans 8:3, “ Forwhat the law
was powerlessto do because it was weakened by the flesh,[a]
Goddid by sendinghisown Son inthe
likenessof sinful fleshto be a sin offering.[b]
Andso he condemnedsin in the flesh” andalsolearnfrom
Philippians2:5–11.
The Greeksusedthe word logos to refertoone’s“mind,”“reason,”or“wisdom.”JohnusedthisGreek
conceptto communicate the factthat Jesus,the SecondPersonof the Trinity,isthe self-expressionof
God to the world.Inthe OldTestament,the wordof God broughtthe universe intoexistence aswe
learnfromGenesis1 :1-3, “In the beginningGodcreated the heavens and the earth. 2
Now the earth
was formlessandempty, darkness wasover the surface of the deep, andthe Spiritof Godwas

2. hoveringover the waters.3
AndGodsaid,“Let there be light,” andthere was light”.We can learnas we
readin John1 of hisgospel where he is appealingtobothJew andGentile toreceive the eternal Christ.
Jesustolda parable as we readfrom Luke 20: to explainwhythe Wordhadto become flesh. “ Hewent
on to tell the people thisparable: “Aman planteda vineyard,rented it to some farmersand went
away for a long time. 10
At harvesttime he sent a servant to the tenants so they wouldgive himsome
of the fruit ofthe vineyard.But the tenantsbeat him andsent himaway empty-handed.11
Hesent
another servant,but that one also they beat andtreated shamefullyand sent awayempty-handed.
12
He sent still a third,and they woundedhimand threw him out. 13
“Thenthe owner of the vineyard
said,‘Whatshall I do? I will send my son,whom I love; perhapsthey will respect him.’ 14
“Butwhen the
tenants sawhim, they talked the matter over. ‘Thisis the heir,’ they said.‘Let’s kill him,andthe
inheritancewill be ours.’ 15
Sothey threw him outof the vineyardandkilledhim.“Whatthenwill the
owner of the vineyarddo to them? 16
He will come andkill thosetenants and givethe vineyardto
others.”Whenthe peopleheard this,they said,“Godforbid!” (Luke20:9–16).
In thisparable,Jesuswasremindingthe Jewishleadersthattheyhadrejected the prophets –aswe read
fromMatthew 23:37 and were nowrejectingthe Son. We can learnthat the Logos,the Word of God,
was nowgoingto be offeredtoeveryone,notjustthe Jews aswe learnfrom John10:16, “Ihave other
sheep that are not of this sheep pen.I mustbring them also.They too will listen to my voice,and there
shall be one flockand one shepherd” We geta furtherunderstandingfrom Colossians3:11, “Here
there isno Gentileor Jew, circumcisedor uncircumcised,barbarian,Scythian,slaveorfree, but Christis
all,and isin all”.