As we come to the time of Passover, it's appropriate to reflect on what this time of year means to us. To me, it's quite a sobering time, but there's such a wide range of emotions attached to it. The awe of an Almighty God, El Shaddai, that has such power to decide life and death based on following His Word. The sorrow of the death of our Savior, pure and sinless, at the hands of pure evil. The joy in knowing that sacrifice was the last and final ultimate sacrifice that cleanses us of our sin and makes us righteous forever. All with an underlying feeling of comfort to know that we mean so much to Yehovah, His love for us is so boundless, that He watches over us and is intimately involved with us. Providing avenues of escape, enacting justice against our enemies, and even providing His only Son as our sacrifice, He shows us He is there for us always.
In the book I'm currently reading, it quotes Romans 10:17: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Now this book goes on to talk about how hearing God's Word increases our faith, and I wholeheartedly believe that. However, as I kept reading, other verses that were quoted got me thinking. I've talked about layers of meaning in scripture before, and I believe there is a secondary meaning in this verse. One that is very appropriate to the time of Passover.
I read on, and one of the next verses quoted was Psalm 107:20: "He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Then I recalled John 1 and the description of Jesus as the Word. As these puzzle pieces got put together, I saw the picture of Jesus and God's Word being meshed together. Yes, God's Word in the form of scripture is healing, however He also sent His Word in the form of Jesus Christ who healed people and delivered us from our sin.
When John says "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," he most certainly meant God's Word in the form of scripture. There are many prophesies of Jesus in the Old Testament. Most appropriate to this time of Passover are
Psalm 41:9, Zechariah 11:12-13 - Betrayal
Zechariah 11:12-13 - Judas payment buying potter's field
Psalm 35:11 - Falsely accused
Isaiah 53:7 - Jesus silent during accusation
Isaiah 50:6 - Jesus hit and spat upon
Psalm 35:19, Psalm 69:4 - Jesus hated for no reason
Psalm 22:16-18, Isaiah 53:12, Psalm 69:21, Zechariah 12:10, Psalm 22:7-8, Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20, Psalm 22:1, Psalm 109:4, Isaiah 53:9 - Crucifixion
John also meant Jesus as God's Word became flesh and lived among us. John tells us He was there in the beginning of creation, as God's Word. Nothing was made without Him. And this connection makes us look deeper and think harder about some verses we normally might gloss over.
Take a look at Genesis 15:1. Have you ever wondered how "the word of the Lord" can come in a vision? Was it written word? No. The Hebrew word used for "saying" is 'amar, which has to do with speech, not writing. Therefore, this is the "in the beginning.." God's Word that John spoke about in John 1:1. We can then find many other verses with the "word of the Lord," and "His word," to see where He spoke to people in the Old Testament.
Once we see all the places He interacted, we see the intimacy of Jesus. I found 255 verses with "word of the Lord." Some of those, based on context, are referring to written word, but a lot of them are God's Word speaking to people. That's how close He is to us. That's how much we mean to Him.
So as you go through this week, remember Him and His sacrifice because of His love for us. Because of His compassion for us. We had no hope to be free from sin and become righteous until He became flesh and became our spotless Lamb. Praise Yehovah for giving us His Son, praise Jesus for becoming our sacrifice, and thank both of them for the gift of eternal life by simply believing in that!
Shabbat Shalom and God bless you!
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