A human being like us – 29 June 2022
By Ben Fourie
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
NgokukaJohane 1
There are about 800 000 words in the Bible. Because language employed, and translations by implication, differs significantly, there is no exact figure that will suit all, so this figure is rounded up. If we take all of these hundreds of thousands of words out of the context of the Bible and use them in a different context, they are nothing more than just so many ordinary words. The story of the Bible, like all books, is not the sum total of a lot of words but a sum total of people, acts and events.
Even this definition is not satisfactory, for the Bible is not only about people, acts and events but about a Person that is God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As this is the month of contemplating the word or Word, it is the figure of Jesus as the Word of God that is central today. The meaning of the Word or Logos has been discussed in another series of Verse-a-day, so I am not going to repeat it here.
What is important is the fact that the Word really became a human being. He looked like us: had arms, hands, legs, eyes and a face like us. He suffered hunger like us, needed water like us. He was tired like us and he became sad like us. If this was not true, he would not have been suitable as a sacrifice in our place. If we remove the idea of Jesus as the Word of God from the 800 000 words in the Bible, the Bible would be nothing more than a collection of words, beautiful to read but without any significance for our salvation.
Without Jesus as the Word, we would be back in the time of the law. Paul wrote that the law was not sufficient to save us (Romans 8:3). Without the Word of God becoming a human being, everything comes to nothing. There would be no victory like John saw in the vision in Revelation. In Revelation 19:13, we read the following about the rider on the white horse: “The robe he wore was covered in blood. His name is ‘The Word of God.’” The Word is victorious for ever and ever.
Prayer: Lord, along with all believers throughout the centuries, we give thanks to you that the Word that once became a human being is now victorious. Amen
