The Creative Word Made Flesh

[swamidass (S. Joshua Swamidass)]

Continuing the discussion from The Language of God, Mind, and Logos:

The Language of God, Mind, and Logos

I suppose my starting point is in the Language of Scripture. I’m thinking here of John and Genesis, where there is no mention of mind. It seems that the “word of creation” and the “word made flesh” are important and linked concepts. Once gain, they imply communication, and a link between intention and embodiment. It almost seems as if there is a contrast between “god’s word” and ours.

His creative word is efficacious , carrying power and authority ours does not. He says, “let the land give forth,” and the land does give forth. He speaks and it is done in the physical world, without question. Once again, this seems to indicate a two part dialogue. The word goes out, and received by an audience, who responds rightly. Breaking the link with “minds”, the land certainly does not have a mind, nor does the sea.

His word made flesh is Jesus, the perfect representation of his being. I see a statement of authenticity here. Jesus represents God fully, which means God’s word is not distorted in him. What Jesus does in the physical world reveals of God, and in this sense is communicative. Once again, the words of Jesus is heard and obeyed by the storms and the sea, an maybe even rocks. The land and sea, however, have no minds, once again breaking that link. The parallel to Genesis is striking. There is a real authority in his words not carried by ours. Real power.

This conversation got me thinking of the links between the miracles of Jesus and Genesis, or more broadly the old testament. What are your thoughts on this…it would be interesting to start enumerating some of these. Here are a few that come to mind.

1. Jesus healing the blind man by spitting in mud is very evocative of Genesis 2:7, Yawheh forming Adam from the dust.

2. Jesus telling the seas, wind, and storm to be still, is very evocative of Elohim calling out to the seas to bring forth in Genesis.

3. Jesus saying that the rocks would worship him if the crowds did not is evocative (though not demonstrated) of Elohim calling the land to bring forth in Genesis.

4. There might be connections between the Virgin Birth and the de novo Creation of Adam.

5. The forgiveness of Jesus after the crucifixion is contrasted with the blood of Abel’s demand for justice.

6. There might be parallels between the 40 days in the desert, and the temptation of Adam and Eve by the serpent.

What are your thoughts on this? How many of those connections are real? Which ones are might be added or might be more tenuous?

[deuteroKJ (Kenneth Turner)]

1. Jesus healing the blind man by spitting in mud is very evocative of Genesis 2:7, Yawheh forming Adam from the dust.

2. Jesus telling the seas, wind, and storm to be still, is very evocative of Elohim calling out to the seas to bring forth in Genesis.

3. Jesus saying that the rocks would worship him if the crowds did not is evocative (though not demonstrated) of Elohim calling the land to bring forth in Genesis.

4. There might be connections between the Virgin Birth and the de novo Creation of Adam.

5. The forgiveness of Jesus after the crucifixion is contrasted with the blood of Abel’s demand for justice.

6. There might be parallels between the 40 days in the desert, and the temptation of Adam and Eve by the serpent.

What are your thoughts on this? How many of those connections are real? Which ones are might be added or might be more tenuous?

#4 seems the most tenuous at first glance. The others are all worthy of exploration…I’d guess #1-3 are probable, but would also want to add the exodus tradition within the mix. John’s Gospel in particular has Exodus in view, connecting Jesus “I AM” statements with Exod 3 (and 6), and Jesus’ miracles/signs as positive mirrors of the signs/miracles (so-called “plagues”) of Exodus. The Exodus signs begin with turning water to blood and ends with death of the firstborn. John’s Jesus begins with turning water to wine and ends with raising Lazarus from the dead. The next step is to note the intentional links between creation and exodus. Thus there’s definitely a link, so “looking for” examples seems legitimate.

I explore this more in my chapter on Exodus in Kregel’s What the Old Testament Authors Really Care About. Sorry I don’t have a link to read it for free.

[swamidass (S. Joshua Swamidass)]

@deuteroKJ have you thought more about this?