March 23, 2021

John 17:8, “For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.”

Here Jesus connects himself again with God the Father - a great Trinitarian affirmation that has been consistently in these last few chapters recording Jesus’ final speech to his followers. But here we see something particular about “the words” that God has given Jesus to speak to them. We might just think of Christ’s words as kind of having a kind of divinely-informed arbitrariness to them. But in reality, because Jesus is God - his words are the Word of God. In fact, when we think of the authority of the books of the New Testament, the first test is: does this person have direct access to the words of Jesus Christ? Were they are a first-person witness to his teaching, or have a source who was a direct follower of Jesus, like Peter as the source for the gospel of Mark?

All of the New Testament writers fit this criteria, and the reason why many books and writers who claimed to speak authoritatively about the words of Jesus, they fail this test, a la Gnostic gospels that were written as late as the 3rd century. The second test is: do these words match, in theme and content, the other references to Christ’s teaching as recorded by those first apostles? The gospels contain both teaching and historical chronicles of events - the teachings sometimes match word-for-word, as this is an oral society where many teachings were memorized. The historical events, however, never match word-for-word, and why should they? One person’s reporting will have different details than another. When details like the number of angels at the empty tomb come up as contradictions, most historians agree that these diversions in details is evidence of their authenticity - this is how non-fabricated first-person reporting works.

The gospel of John says that if all the words were recorded of Jesus, “I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” The words that are recorded are purposeful, strategic, Spirit-protected, and reliable as the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). And as Jesus claims, the words he says come from God himself - this means these words are important to know, and important to trust as divinely given. Many Bibles put the words of Jesus in red, and I think this is a mistake. Because of what Paul says in 2 Tim. 3:16, the Holy Spirit has protected and inspired all the words recorded: the events, the prophecies, and the apostolic teaching following the words of Jesus. It’s all inspired - it’s all God’s Word, and it’s all for your life. Love the Word of God.

Prayer: God, help me to love your word. Help me to trust it, and to derive from it the life that you offer. By your Spirit, help the Word to sink into my heart. Help me to be disciplined in reading the Word, in discussing it with those that I trust, and believing what it claims. Amen.

40 Days of Joy: The comedy of Nate Bargatze. He’s clean, talks a ton about normal life stuff, and is just a treasure. Enjoy.