Word, Wisdom, Torah

“Word, Wisdom, Torah” (Gospel of John) – January 25th, 2026

Last Sunday night, one of our daughters embarked on a trip, upon the invitation of some close friends, to meet up at a destination none of them had previously visited. Cascade left her Tennessee home shortly before midnight and drove for three hours in icy conditions from the peaks down to the Piedmont in Charlotte, North Carolina. She spent an hour sleeping on the airport floor before security opened for the day. Arriving at her gate, she discovered that her 6am flight was initially delayed by a couple of hours, before eventually being canceled. The gate agent offered her an alternative route, so instead of flying to New York, she ended up in Minnesota. That surprise put her further west than originally planned, slightly shortening her second flight. Fourteen and a half hours later, she arrived in Seoul, Korea, with ample time to stretch her legs during her seven-hour layover. Her third flight, only four and a half hours long, got her to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. A couple of hours later she boarded her fourth flight, a 90-minute jaunt to Cebu City. It was there in Ce-bu that she met her friends, and together they boarded their final flight to an island paradise in the Philippine Sea.

As a seasoned traveler, Cascade knew the importance of preparation and planning. When she set out on her 43-hour journey, she had made travel arrangements and had a clear idea of which routes she would take. Cascade also knew the importance of flexibility and openness when new circumstances arose. She encountered ice and inconveniences, delays and detours. Her trip was filled with twists and turns and turbulence. All of these elements, things known and unknown, things planned and unplanned, became part of her journey! She kept her focus on the main thing, which was to meet up with her friends and enjoy fresh discoveries and all kinds of adventures together.

Today we’re starting a new sermon series on the Gospel of John! Our Pastoral Care & Leadership Team together decide on each year’s plans for sermons, so we have a general idea for what chapters we’re looking at each week. Even with an outline in place, I gotta tell you, as we approach the Scriptures each week, there will be twists and turns and turbulence. We don’t know what life will throw at us at any given moment, let alone from one week to the next. We don’t know what adventures we will have until we get going. We don’t know what discoveries we will make until we start exploring. The main thing is that on this journey, we are going to get to know God and God’s word better. We are going to get to know ourselves and our place in the world better. We are going to enjoy fresh discoveries and all kinds of adventures together. Are you ready? Let’s go!

John 1:1-2 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [The Word] was in the beginning with God.”

And those are the first two verses of the Gospel of John! If you’ve read all four gospels, you will realize that John is not quite like the other three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Theologian D. A. Carson notes that “perhaps more than any other, the Gospel of John has been used by Christians in every age, for the greatest array of purposes. University students distribute free copies to their friends in the hope of introducing them to their Saviour. Elderly Christians on their deathbed ask that parts of this Gospel be read to them. Academics write learned dissertations on the relationship between John and some ancient corpus of literature. Children memorize entire chapters, and sing choruses based on its truth.”

Paul grew up going to the beach many times each year. Hoping to continue that family tradition, we loved taking our children to the beach as often as possible. We encouraged them to dip their toes in and then venture as far as they dared into the “vast expanse” and the “briny deep.” Our two youngest daughters were almost a year and a half old when they first experienced the ocean, shortly after we finalized our adoption. Before they even touched the water, we could all read the inner turmoil on their faces. Their emotions oscillated between curious wonder to immobilizing fear, even as they noticed their older siblings having the time of their lives. It didn’t take long for both Karis and Esther to muster their courage and toddle into the waves, immediately rushing back to the safety of our arms. Little by little they gained confidence and proficiency in the water, soon splashing and laughing in the refreshing waves, much to our collective delight! Sixth century Pope Gregory the Great famously said, “Scripture is like a river again, broad and deep, shallow enough here for the lamb to go wading, but deep enough there for the elephant to swim.” The Gospel of John, like all holy Scripture, is not meant to scare us off but to invite us to start wading, making us feel welcome enough to swim and enjoy the vast expanse of God’s presence, God’s power, God’s Word.

That first verse reminds us of another famous verse, doesn’t it? “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth …” is the very first statement in the Bible, Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning …” Australian New Testament scholar, Mary L. Coloe, observes that John, with his opening words, “plunges the reader back in time to that moment when energy and light exploded and the cosmos began … likewise [beginning] the Jesus story as an explosion of light into darkness.”

John chooses his words carefully and strategically, because he wants us to know that his story is the story of God and the world for all people in all places and all times. John’s story is what English New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright, describes as “the long story, which began in Genesis, [reaching] the climax the creator had always intended.” This climax is the arrival of a human being called the Word. As New Testament professor Miguel Echevarría puts it, “Jesus has returned to illumine a world that has receded into darkness. In so doing, he will redeem what he has created, bringing life out of death … As the darkness could not prevent the presence of light in the original creation, it has no power to thwart Jesus from shining his light into a world in need of renewal. There is nothing … that will stop Jesus from ‘making all things new.’”

Let’s read today’s passage in entirety, wade in, and hopefully even go for a swim!

John 1:1-18 – “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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”‘) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”

Many in our world today struggle with the same age-old question that Jewish teachers of the day had, How can the one true God be at the same time holy and different from his creation and intimately present and active within the world? The answer to this lies in understanding three important terms in both the Old Testament and other Jewish literature, in which each of these terms was personified, and all three were woven together.

The first term we need to understand is Word.

The author of the Gospel, John the Apostle (not John the Baptist!) begins his gospel with “In the beginning was the Word,” the logos. Throughout the Old Testament, God acts by means of his “word.” Genesis 1:3 – “God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” Psalm 33:6, 9 – “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth … For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” John wants his readers to know: the Word isn’t an abstract principle or force. The Word is a person, Jesus Christ.

The second term we need to understand is Wisdom.

Pretty much everything John says about the Word, logos, corresponds to what the Old Testament and other Jewish literature said about divine Wisdom, sofia. English New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham notes that Wisdom and Word both “personify and hypostatize divine aspects,” meaning that in the person of Jesus we see God’s substance or essential nature. Wisdom is a well-understood divine feminine figure who is present with God in the work of creation and who then comes to dwell in their midst. Proverbs 8:1,8,12,17,25,30-31 – “Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? … All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them … I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion … I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me … Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth … then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” Wisdom is portrayed as a master craftsman at God’s side, affirming benevolent design, boundless joy, and unbroken unity within the Godhead.

Let’s look at some of the verses in our passage today from John chapter 1.

• Verse 1 defines the Word – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Both the Word and Wisdom have their origins in God.
• Verses 2-3 describes God’s preexistence and power in creation, “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” Wisdom preexisted and had a role in the task of creation.
• Verse 10 describes God’s fingerprints over all of creation, “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.” Wisdom is infused in creation, giving it order and endurance.
• Verse 14 shows us God’s mission, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Wisdom comes to the world with a mission.

In other chapters in the Gospel of Joh, we will discover that wisdom speaks personally to the world, wisdom offers life and blessings to her followers, and wisdom draws people into friendship with God.

John intentionally chooses all of these images of Word and Wisdom in order to affirm, as Coloe puts it, “that Wisdom, who was with God in the beginning, creating order in the world, has now found a resting place, has pitched her tent in human history.”

The third and final term we need to understand is Torah.

The Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Theologian Craig Keener explains that “Jewish people studied Torah not only to learn how to live, but as an act of devotion toward God … The centrality of Torah for early Judaism cannot be overstated.”

God had provided the light of Torah to not only the Jews but also to all nations. Isaiah 42:5-7 – “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

In today’s passage, John presents the Logos, the Word, as Torah. John 1:3b-4 – “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” John could not have been clearer about the locus of God’s presence being no longer in the Temple but in Jesus’s own body.

And yet, just as the nations rejected the Torah, John tells us, so the world rejected Jesus, God’s Word made flesh. John 1:9-11 – “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.”

John now points, not to the Torah, but to Jesus, as the source of grace and truth, in John 1:16-17 – “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Keener says it plainly, “Jesus himself embodies the Torah and is its fullest revelation.” All of the grace and truth present in the law is fully revealed in Jesus. The glory of God is fully unveiled in Jesus. All that God has already spoken is contained in Jesus. Coloe explains that “the Gospel redefines the meaning of the temple in terms of the person of Jesus and then in terms of the community of disciples in whom God dwells.” Jesus is the ultimate embodiment of all God’s Word.

New Testament scholar Eldon Epp notes that the Old Testament and other Jewish literature identify Wisdom with the Torah.

• Both the Torah and Wisdom are preexistent and related to God in a unique way. Proverbs 8:1,23 – “Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? … Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.”
• Both the Torah and Wisdom are played a significant role in creation. Proverbs 3:19 – “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.”
• Both the Torah and Wisdom are related to truth. Psalm 119:160 – “The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.”
• Both the Torah and Wisdom are related to light, life, and salvation. Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Proverbs 3:13,16-18 – “Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding … Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.”
• Both the Torah and Wisdom are related to glory. Exodus 33:18-19a – “Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And [the Lord] said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord [Yahweh].”’” Exodus 34:5-7a goes on – “The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, ‘The Lord.’ The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” God’s glory, then, is supremely his goodness, the nature of which is God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. This is the very same glory that John saw in Jesus!

Jesus is the embodiment and fulfillment of the Word, Wisdom, and Torah.

John wrote his Gospel precisely to show us that Word, Wisdom, Torah all come together in Jesus. John’s longed to lead others to believe in Jesus, to hallow God’s name, and to trust in Jesus as God. The Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel both described a new covenant that was to come, a covenant in which God would write the law on our hearts and put God’s spirit in us. All would be able to know God, from the least to the greatest. John is directing us to this new covenant which Jesus has initiated by his life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

Verses 12 and 13 of our passage today in John chapter 1 assure us that, “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” Did you catch that phrase to all? That means anyone, in any place, at any time. Anyone! That includes you and me! No special membership or qualification required. Scripture makes it very clear that all humans are very special in God’s sight. Here in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we are assured that anyone can be born into this new family which Jesus started, and which has been spreading all over the world ever since. We call this family “the church” or “the body of Christ.” John wants us to know with confidence that anyone can become a child of God in this family! Women, men, Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, young, old, all can take their place and participate equally in Jesus’ family! There are no restrictions based on ethnicity, class, or gender. Everybody gets to play!

Who is Jesus? John knows his audience, and he knows perfectly well that he is using language that goes far beyond what anyone had ever imagined before. John 1:18 – “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” This is Jesus, God the only Son, God the Word. God the Word became God the human, one of us, Jesus. God the human has made God the Word known. N. T. Wright calls this the theme of the Gospel of John: “If you want to know who the true God is, look long and hard at Jesus.”

Why did Jesus come? The short answer is in Jesus’ words in John 10:10 – “I came that they [you and I] may have life, and have it abundantly.” Life is being offered as a gift for not just a select few, but for all people, as Jesus would say in John 12:32 – “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

How do we live that abundant life? By responding wholeheartedly to Jesus’ call to “Follow me.” To follow Jesus is to believe in Jesus’ name, to receive life in Jesus’ name, to ask in Jesus’ name, and to expect to suffer for Jesus’ name. And so today we come to Jesus, the embodiment and fulfillment of the Word, Wisdom, and Torah. In Jesus, we choose to believe, receive, ask, and suffer. And through it all, in our lives, in our families, in our nation, in the world, in all of human history, we trust in Jesus Christ, the Savior and King of the world.

I want to close our worship service today with a quote from a Minnesotan Bishop yesterday – “The greatest threat we face as a nation is the assault being waged on hope. We must not give in to despair. We must not be consumed by the very justified anger we feel. The only way hatred can be effectively resisted is doubling down on love. The only way darkness can be defeated is light. The only way the forces of death can be overcome is by embracing, every moment of every day, God’s unstoppable life.”

Let’s pray:
Today, as storms both meteorological and moral, surge across the country, we remember that as people of faith:

• We weep with those who weep
• We bear one another’s burdens
• We cry out for mercy
• We respect human life
• We work for justice
• We pray for peace
• We live in hope

May God comfort the grieving, trouble the comfortable, strengthen our resolve, and have mercy upon us all. May the Lord help us each day to continue to do small things with great love, to think and speak and act in the light, and to embrace God’s unstoppable life in every moment.

In the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Amen.