THE WORD BECAME FLESH: A GRAMMAR LESSON
IN PRINCIPIO ERAT VERBUM
In the beginning was the Word
ET VERBUM ERAT APUD DEUM
and the Word was with God
ET DEUS ERAT VERBUM
and the Word was God
I will now reveal how much of a dweeb I am
by saying that one of my favorite passages of Scripture is the first few verses of the gospel of John especially IN LATIN. I've always been drawn to words and literature, so maybe that is why this passage is among my favorites. In English, verses 1-5 say:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him,
and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life,
and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (ESV).
When I first started homeschooling, my ambitious self and my oldest students memorized this passage in Latin. How fun it is to say In Principio erat Verbum. It becomes a chant almost, strong and brave and true. Although I still love Latin, I have tempered my ambitions somewhat and my middle students memorized the passage in lowly English only. (I am reminded that my last few students now need to memorize it as well.)
At Christmastime, I celebrate this Word, the Living Word, the Voice of God, all that is True and Good and Beautiful in this world (and any other.) One day about two thousand years ago, he humbled himself, left a palace of comfort and divine privilege, became a slave to space, time, and flesh, and entered a world he had made. The Word of God, who had been at the Creation, came and dwelt among us, in our darkness, in our dirt and filth, yet he was full of Grace and Truth, according to verse 14. Verse 4 says that he was also Life and Light.
Notice the word for Word in Latin, Verbum.
Not just any word...we get the English word “Verb” from it.
An action word.
An experience.
A word that changes your status or state of being.
A Word that changes us; we are not the same upon encountering it. Pardon me while I nerd out for a moment, but even more, the Word is a Transitive Verb, transferring the action of the Verb to a Direct Object. But this transferral by the Verb works both ways. Our sin, the Direct Object of God's wrath, was transferred to the Word; the Word's righteousness was transferred to us, the Direct Object of God's Love.
Anticipating world travel someday in my spare time,
I practice a little Spanish and French on occasion. Interestingly, I've found that the word for Book, which is a collection of words, in Spanish is el libro. Based on the same word as liberty, words bring liberation from bondage to ignorance. The Word brings the ultimate liberation from bondage to sin and darkness.
The word for book in French is le livre. Based on the same word as life or living, God's Word came to Life as the God-Man Jesus, and we are born again to new Life when we accept the Word of God to us. How interesting to think of the world's languages, stemming from a single ancient Hebraic language in which God was known. So that all the world's languages, as they developed, chose to describe Words and Books as somehow being a reflection of the character of God. (So for that elusive definition of “living books?” They point us to God through his Word, the Son.)
The act of God sending his Word, wrapping him in flesh and time, and letting him mingle with humanity is called in Hebrew Immanuel, God with us.
As Jesus, the Word of God in flesh, was full of Grace and Truth, so we can embody Grace and Truth to our students every day. As a faulty but forgiven pottery vessel for the Spirit of God, we have a Light to shine. We have Living Water to pour out upon our tender shoots.
Unlike the now famous but incorrectly quoted proverb, “there's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in”, the cracks in our lives actually allow the Light to get out. And who is standing by, waiting, ready to receive it? That's right. Our children. The ones we spend 23.89 hours of every day with. The ones we lock the bathroom door occasionally to get away from. The tiny watching eyes that don't miss a movement or a murmur. The ones that depend on us for their daily sustenance.
They are eager to hear the Word.
They have an expectation of the Light.
They are Enthused (like having “God within”) for all of Life.
Let the excitement they radiate remind you that you are their first glimpse of God's Word,
the Verb “to Love.”
You are their first glimpse of the Beauty and Truth and Goodness of the Word of God
that lives within you.
That same Word that left the palace and privilege of eternal plans and aspirations.
That same Word that humbled himself even to the dirt and filth of a stable
(Have you ever *mucked* a stable?!)
That same Word that had to flee crowds to get any alone time even for prayer,
for crying out loud.
The same Word that healed blind eyes so they could look upon the Light.
That same Word that gave His Life in service to others.
Let your sacrifice of time and space, privilege and comfort, and your commitment to be, like Immanuel, the closest representative of God among your children, be poured out before the Living Word, the action Verb (To) Love.
Words cannot express the Beauty of this Word. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift (II Cor 9:15).
There are just no words.
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Amen
Beautifully articulated ❤️
Thanks be to God