It has been estimated that there are more than one million words in the English language. The Greek New Testament, by contrast, has only about 5,440 words.
Of all the Greek words used to describe the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the more interesting is logos. (To see examples, compare John 1:1 with John 1:14.)
Logos is usually translated simply as “word.” However, John’s Greek-speaking audience would have understood it to have a much richer meaning. In Greek philosophy, logos was used to denote “divine wisdom” and the “ultimate reason” that orders all things.
By applying logos to the second person of the Trinity, John was saying that Jesus is the foundation of thought, the original idea, and the only source of ultimate wisdom in the universe.
In a less philosophical and more basic sense, by calling Christ “the Word,” John was also declaring that Jesus is “God’s communication” or “heaven’s declaration.”
Just as well-chosen words accurately express the intent of their speaker, so Jesus clearly reveals and explains the identity of God to a watching world (John 1:18).
According to John, the logos is divine, eternal, and creative (John 1:1–4). Sure enough, back in Genesis 1 we see God speaking—using words—to bring everything into being and into order.
What does this mean to us personally? It means that if we are going to know God in a personal way, it will require words. First, we will need to immerse ourselves in the written Word of God.
It’s through reading, hearing, studying, memorizing, and meditating upon the trustworthy and true pages of Scripture that we discover what God is like.
Second, we will need to draw near to Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. By reading in the Gospels how Jesus interacted with all kinds of people in all sorts of need, we get an up-close and personal glimpse of God in the flesh. No wonder the One identified as the logos said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
As English speakers, we have over one million words at our disposal. As believers, there are only two words we truly need: God’s written Word and Jesus, the living Word.
How does the idea of logos affect your understanding of who Jesus is?
