Is Jesus "THE word of God" or "A WORD of God"?

Question

There is a concept in Islam (I digress) that Jesus was decreed into existence by God (by God issuing the command "Be!!" - and he became/was formed). In their sense, Jesus is "a word of God" (same to: "Let there be light"). Their book says if all the oceans were ink used for writing the words of God, they would run out dry even if more oceans were added. They would run out (of ink) before the words of God are exhausted.

So, my question is: IN WHAT SENSE IS JESUS "THE WORD OF GOD" as opposed to him being "A Word of God"....given all the Bible verses that talk about "the word of God" or where God speaks words to His prophets or to Satan (in the book of Job).

Some verses are given below:

Matthew 17:5 a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!

Matthew 4:4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God"

Proverbs 30:5. “Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

Isaiah 40:8 — “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. . ”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”

John 1:1 “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Answer 1

According to ancient biblical theology developed after the return from the Babylonian exile, the Word of God (called Memra in Aramaic) is a manifestation of God himself. The concept was based on the various texts of the Old Testament. The scriptures teach that no man can see God, and yet some did see Him. That paradox led to the creation of Memra theology of God having two forms. The unperceivable and unseen form we call today God the Father. And, the perceivable by our senses, called the Word of God (Memra/Logos). It would be every manifestation of God, which a human can see, hear or feel. What started as an observation during the careful reading of the text of the bible fully materialized in the person of Jesus Christ. What followed was over a century of debates between the believing Jews seeing Jesus as a full manifestation of the Word of God (Memra/Logos) and unbelieving ones rejecting it. Eventually the whole concept was branded as heretical by the mainstream rabbinical Judaism in the second century A.D. Since it was too Christian like they got read of it completely. The memory of it was largely forgotten until recently. The Islamic theology developed over a half millennium later, and influenced by the Neoplatonism, had no frame of reference or understanding of those ideas.

The authors of the New Testament knew and fully embraced the philosophy of the Memra. Since the language of the NT is Greek, we know it as Logos. The opening of John's gospel (John 1:1-4) is the best proof of that:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

The New Testament scriptures talking about God the Father:

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)

He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen. (1 Timothy 6:16)

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)

The scriptures calling Jesus Christ the image of invisible God:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18 )

A handful of quotes from the targums (rabbinic interpretations of the OT in Aramaic) talking about the Word of God (Memra/Logos):

And the Word of the Lord created man in His likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord He created him, the male and his yoke-fellow He created them. (Targum Jerusalem, Genesis 1:27)

Walking in the garden in the strength of the day...And the Word of the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, Behold, the world which I have created is manifest before Me; and how thinkest thou that the place in the midst whereof thou art, is not revealed before Me? Where is the commandment that I taught thee? (Targum Jerusalem, Genesis 3:9)

And the Word of the Lord God said, Behold, Adam whom I have created is sole in my world, as I am sole in the heavens above. It is to be that a great people are to arise from him; from him will arise a people who will know how to discern between good and evil. And now it is good that we keep him from the garden of Eden before he stretch forth his hand and take also of the fruit of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. (Targum Jerusalem, Genesis 3:22)

And the Word of the Lord had caused showers of favour to descend upon Sedom and Amorah, to the intent that they might work repentance, but they did it not: so that they said, Wickedness is not manifest before the Lord. Behold, then, there are now sent down upon them sulphur and fire from before the Word of the Lord from Heaven. (Targum Jonathan, Genesis 19:24)

And the Word of the Lord said to Mosheh, He who spake to the world, Be, and it was; and who will speak to it, Be, and it will be. And he said, Thus shalt thou speak to the sons of Israel, EHEYEH hath sent me unto you. (Targum Jerusalem, Exodus 3:14)

And the Lord was revealed in His Word unto Abraham, to Izhak, and to Jakob, as the God of Heaven; but the Name of the Word of the Lord was not known to them. (Targum Jerusalem, Exodus 6:3)

It is a night to be observed and celebrated for the liberation from before the Lord in bringing forth the sons of Israel, made free from the land of Mizraim. Four nights are there written in the Book of Memorial. Night first; when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon the world as it was created; when the world was without form and void, and darkness was spread upon the face of the deep, and the Word of the Lord illuminated and made it light; and he called it the first night. Night second; when the Word of the Lord was revealed unto Abraham between the divided parts; when Abraham was a son of a hundred years, and Sarah was a daughter of ninety years, and that which the Scripture saith was confirmed,--Abraham a hundred years, can he beget? and Sarah, ninety year old, can she bear? Was not our father Izhak a son of thirty and seven years, at the time he was offered upon the altar? The heavens were (then) bowed down and brought low, and Izhak saw their realities, and his eyes were blinded at the sight, and he called it the second night. The third night; when the Word of the Lord was revealed upon the Mizraee, at the dividing of the night; His right hand slew the firstborn of the Mizraee, His right hand spared the firstborn of Israel; to fulfil what the Scripture hath said, Israel is My firstborn son. And he called it the third night. Night the fourth; when the end of the age will be accomplished, that it might be dissolved, the bands of wickedness destroyed and the iron yoke broken. Mosheh came forth from the midst of the desert; but the King Meshiha (comes) from the midst of Roma. The Cloud preceded that, and the Cloud will go before this one; and the Word of the Lord will lead between both, and they shall proceed together. This is the night of the Pascha before the Lord, to be observed and celebrated by the sons of Israel in all their generations. (Targum Jerusalem, Exodus 12:42)

And the Word of the Lord conducted the people by the way of the desert of the sea of Suph; armed in good works went up the sons of Israel, free from the land of Mizraim. (Targum Jerusalem, Exodus 13:18)

Answer 2

As this question is based on an Islamic line of reasoning regarding Jesus Christ, it is different to other similar questions. And it can be answered by pursuing the logic of the Islamic distinction between "the word" and "a word". This is what I propose to do.

Due to the Islamic faith categorically denying that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, had an eternal pre-human existence, being called the Word of God (John 1:1-3), it is not surprising that they would speak of Jesus being "a word of God", as opposed to "the word of God." However, if that line of reasoning was applied to how they view their prophet as "the prophet", and not just "a prophet", a flaw in the argument would be seen.

The Qur'an (6:83-90) identifies 28 prophets by name, starting with Adam. Number 27 is Jesus, and number 28 is Muhammed. They recognise no other prophets after him, as he is said to be "the seal of the prophets". They say that his "life and death marked the end of prophecy since his prophetic mission satisfied for all time any need or demand for another prophet. Pious reformers there may be, but no more prophets." Islam: the way of submission, Solomon Nigosian, pp.149-150, Crucible, 1987.

This means that, to them, Muhammed is THE prophet. For anyone to speak of him as "a prophet" would be insulting to them, as the 27 prior to him were all prophets, but Muhammed was THE seal of the prophets; the greatest of them all. In line with them calling Jesus "a prophet", they also call him "a word of God". Now, when the New Testament declares Jesus Christ to be THE Word of God, that threatens their view of Muhammed being THE prophet, supreme to all others. To deal with that, they say that Jesus was created by a word from God, making Jesus "a word of God" (in line with them calling him "a prophet of God".)

This shows how crucially important it is to establish whether "a" or "the" applies. 'A' certainly cannot be based on the Greek language of the New Testament where the Word of God became flesh, as the virgin's child, named Jesus. Other questions and answers on this site delve into the Greek language. But for this question, the answer is that The Word of God became flesh, in time, died and rose according to the scriptures, and is now seated in glory in heaven as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Answer 3

Well, your not the only one calling "the Word" of John 1 "God's word or words. The verse does not say anything about "God's word" or "words belonging to God."

It says, "In the beginning The Word was already existing." The Word has self existence here. Then it says, "And The Word was with God" (article shown for clarity). So The Word is shown to exist in relation to The God contrary to those trying to make this "God's word."

Simply stated this is not calling "The Word" something that belongs to "The God," but rather quite clearly and without ambiguity something that exists in relation to the God. And finally, "and The Word was God." So the nature of The Word is God.

So whatever The God is, The Word is also. So we have learned from John that the Word is self existent, that the Word is eternal, that the Word exists in relation to God, and that the Word is in very nature God.

In summary: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with the Supreme Divinity and the Word was Supreme Divinity.

Answer 4

"The Word", ὁ Λόγος as a title of Jesus is found in numerous places in the NT. Note that it has the article "The" = ὁ in Greek.

• John 1:1 (twice) - Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος.
• John 1:14 - Καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ Πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας.
• 1 John 1:1 - Ὃ ἦν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, ὃ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὃ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν, ὃ ἐθεασάμεθα καὶ αἱ χεῖρες ἡμῶν ἐψηλάφησαν, περὶ τοῦ Λόγου τῆς ζωῆς [In this instance, "The Word" is in the genitive case.]
• Rev 19:13 - καὶ περιβεβλημένος ἱμάτιον βεβαμμένον αἵματι, καὶ κέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Some debate whether Heb 4:12 and 13:7 should also be included in this list. Most versions say it is the spoken word of God and not a title of Jesus. Some say it is both. Some other verses also contain this phrase that a few suggest might also be on this list such as 2 Peter 3:5, Rom 9:6, etc, but I would not press this point at all.

Often the phrase "the word of God" is a translation that does not have the article "the", or uses a different word ῥῆμα "rhema", eg, Eph 6:17. Matt 4:4 also uses ῥῆμα.

The reason for Jesus' title, "The Word of God" in John 1:1 has a HUGE literature which I will not attempt to reproduce here. Suffice to say here that John appears to use this title for the following reasons:

• it is an allusion to the Hebrew "debar" = Word
• it strengthens the allusion to Gen 1:1-3 to make Jesus the Creator of all things - See appendix below
• it also appeals to Greek thinkers to show that "The Word of God" is not an abstract idea but a Person!

For an brief introduction to this large subject see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/1-1.htm

APPENDIX - Parallels between John 1:1-4 and Gen 1:1-3

Note the large number of verbal parallels with Gen 1:1-4; beginning, word/spoken, God, creation, light, darkness, etc. This prologue lays out all the theological subjects that John’s Gospel explores. One of the most significant is the early statement that builds up to the final climax:

• John 1:1 - … the Word was God [a qualitative category statement. See Daniel B Wallace, “Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics”, p269.]
• John 20:28 – Thomas answered Him, “The Lord of me and the God of me.” This latter statement (uncorrected by Jesus) declares Jesus to be “ho theos” – God in the fullest sense.

Answer 5

The angel Gabriel was the LOGOS.

John 1:1-14 is a prophecy written by John the Baptist. Note: it was a prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus. John the Baptists bears witness to that in verse 15. Whether or not the LOGOS was originally the angel Gabriel is a discussion from the gospel of Luke 1. Jesus and John the Baptist were relatives and the angel of Gabriel was involved with both their births. Since you’re asking specifically about LOGOS language that’s found only in the gospel of John, the answer should be found in the gospel of John about who exactly was the LOGOS. However, the gospel of Luke chapter 1 makes it reasonable that the angel Gabriel was the LOGOS.

You can see within the Codex Vaticanus that it is written as O which means “the.” So the answer is “THE LOGOS.” O is Also you can see that the scribe made a mistake between verse 4 and 5 and did not originally write “of men” tov anthropov. Verse 4 ends at “life was the light.”

And you can see how confused I got when writing my text because I noticed something was wrong but I had the page zoomed in so far I didn’t notice the little scribbles written off to the right of the third column of text.

https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1209

ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T. https://biblehub.com/greek/3588.htm

Note: whoever you see a word that’s all CAPITAL letters in the King James Version that specifically means it is a word that cannot be back translated into the original language. That’s why Elohim is translated as God, YHWH as LORD, which is consistent until Genesis 15:8 where you first read Lord GOD. It was not translated from the words YHWH Elohim. John 1 translates logos as the Word. Because it has only one capital letter it should be translatable from the text itself as being a general word known to other languages.