The name of the Messiah is Yeshua, short for Yehoshua (יהושע). It means ‘Yah is salvation’.
John 1:1-14 [King James Version] 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
{This site uses the words God and Jesus only for comparing Scripture or for a better understanding of the topic at hand. Otherwise, we use the Eternal (יהוה) or Yahweh and Yeshua respectively}
Traditional Christianity maintains that the “word” in John 1 is the “pre-existent Jesus” [Yeshua]. When we read the Christian translation above we may understand that the Messiah is the ‘word’ which makes him equal to the Eternal. The ‘word’ is the ‘creative word’, was with the Eternal and was Him. Christianity also concludes that the ‘creative word’, the Messiah existed from the beginning and was made flesh in the person of Yeshua, therefore, he is a divine being.
Logic tells us that this cannot be so. This conclusion makes no sense. The word, be it an idea or the «davar» (logos) is not a being. The word does not become flesh literally speaking. Obviously we are before a metaphor but, why is it not understood as a metaphor? It is understood literally. How could the Messiah literally pre-exist as a word?
● When Messiah says <I am the door> in the same book of John, are we to understand, according to this line of thinking, that Yeshua was a piece of wood or a tree that became a man?
● When John the Immerser says <Behold the Lamb…> do we think that he was an animal that turned into a man?
● When he says <I am the Bread of Life> does it mean that he was a loaf of bread that became a man?
There are more metaphors like <I am the Vine>, <I am the way, the truth and light>…
If we understand all these words metaphorically, why is it that in the case of the ‘word’ in John 1:1 we have to understand it literally. Why do we have to understand that it was Messiah who was speaking in Genesis 1 and went on to become a man?
Either it is all literal or it is all metaphor. We cannot pick and choose.
If the Messiah, in a given moment, is identified as the ‘word of Elohim’ we have to bear in mind that it is symbolic language {«davar Elohim» normally translated as the ‘word of God’ means ‘the word of divine origin’}. So we are dealing with symbolic language, a means that transmits a reality. A parable or metaphor cannot be the reality.
What about Revelation 19?
Revelation 19:13 [TS]
13 His Name is called: The Word of יהוה.
The context of this verse is not before his birth as in John 1:1. The author tells us that his name is the word of the Eternal, it is his identity. He does not say that he is the word of the Eternal. His identification is the word of the Eternal. The context of this verse is after his death.
The word of the Eternal is His will. Messiah fulfilled the will of the Eternal when he died at the stake.
Let us look at the evidence within the so-called book of John. The words of the Messiah himself prove he is not the word of the Eternal
John 14:24 24 Whoever loves me not, guards not my words: and the word you hear is not mine but of the Father who sent me.
The word of Yeshua is the word of the Eternal
John 8:55 [Lamsa NT] 55 but I do know him, and I obey his word.
How can he be the ‘word of the Eternal’ and keep the word of the Eternal at the same time?
John 12 47-48 47 “And if anyone hears My Words but does not watch over them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My Words, has one who judges him: the Word that I have spoken shall judge him in the last day.
It cannot be clearer, Yeshua does not judge, the word (of the Eternal) judges. Therefore, Yeshua is not the ‘word’.
WHO OR WHAT IS THE WORD OF JOHN 1:1?
If Yeshua is clearly not the ‘word’ why then does John 1:1 say “in the beginning was the word, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us?
The ‘word’ in John 1 is not the word in a general sense; it is a specific word or expression. It refers to Genesis (the beginning). Notice how Genesis 1 and John 1 have identical beginnings
Genesis 1:1, 3 [TS]
1 In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth...
3 And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be.
It was the Eternal’s first utterance. The Eternal said, the Eternal spoke, the Eternal expressed, He put the ‘word’ into action and said <Let there be light>. This is the word that was in the beginning of John 1:1, without which nothing would have been created.
The ‘word’ of John 1:1 is the expression of the Eternal when He said <Let there be light>. That light is the Messiah, metaphorically speaking, as we will see. It is not that the Messiah existed from the beginning. It was the light that existed from the beginning and that light became manifest in Yeshua the Messiah.
John 1:1-5 is written in symbolical language and John 1:6-13 describes the manifestation/the understanding of reality/life
John 1:1-5 [written as a metaphor or as a parable that takes us to the manifestation]
1 In the beginning was the *Expression{of Life/Light}, it was with Elohim and the Expression was divine {because it was uttered by Elohim}
2 It {the Expression} was in the beginning with Elohim
3 All things came to be through it and without it nothing that has been made was made
4 In it was life and that life was the light of men
5 and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not prevail against it.
*Expression: "Let there be light". Elohim appears twice in this verse the first one has a definite article and refers to the Eternal and second one has no definite article and has been translated as divine.
John 1:6-13 [describes the manifestation of that first expression] 6 There was a man sent forth from Elohim, by the name of Yohanan. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness of the light that all might believe through him 8 He was not the light but he came to bear witness of the light. 9 the true light{Messiah} coming into the world enlightens all men 10 the light was in the world and the world was made through it and the world did not know it. 11 It came to its own and its own did not receive it. 12 But all those that received it, were given the right to become Benei Elohim{children of Elohim} that is to those that remain firm in its name 13 These were born not of blood nor from the desire of the flesh nor from the desire of man but of Elohim
SCRIPTURE TALKS ABOUT THE LIGHT
Some verses in Scripture that refer to the light:
Isaiah 9:2 mentions <a great light>
Psalm 36:9 <In Your light we see light>
Daniel 2:22 <He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him>
The sages of Yisra’el in their commentaries of these books associate the Messiah with this light. In the light of Messiah we are able to see the light of the Eternal. For Yisra’el’s tradition, the light symbolically represents the Messiah.
This is clearly exemplified in the book of John
John 1:4; 7-9 4 - In it {in the expression "let there be light} was life and that life was the light of men ... ... ... 7-9 - Yohanan the Immerser was not the light but he came to bear witness of the light {it does not say, he came to bear witness of the word}.
When the Messiah, the true light, came into the world he enlightens all men.
We see, again and again, that the light is the Messiah, not necessarily the word in general rather the unique and singular word (“let there be light”).
John 3:19 19 And this is the judgment, that light has come into the world {he did not say "the creative word has come to the world"}
In another book, the same author reiterates that life was in that expression <Let there be light>
1 John 1:1-2 1 What was in the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, looked upon and have handled with our hands concerning the WORD of LIFE 2 For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and we announce to you eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us
We see, once again, that what is being revealed to the world is not the «logos», it is not that word in a general sense rather, it is an expression in Genesis that since long ago, was seen metaphorically as the Messiah by the sages of Yisrael.
So to recap we saw that
John 1:1-5 was written as a metaphor
John 1:6-13 describes the manifestation of the metaphor.
But when the author writes verse 14, he returns to metaphorical language, in other words, to a means to understand a reality
John 1:14 14 And the word{the expression "Let there be Light"} was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw its glory like that of the firstborn of the Father
Note the term ‘like’ which clearly indicates that it is an allegory.
The author returns to the manifestation or reality in verse 15
John 1:15 15 John witnessed concerning him and cried and said, This is the one of whom I said, He is coming after me, and yet he is ahead of me, because he was before me.
Yohanan the Immerser says this because Yeshua represents that light in Genesis and came before Yohanan and before everything.
Yohanan the Immerser is the expression of the prophet Eliyahu (Elijah), Yeshua is the expression of the light in Genesis therefore, Yeshua precedes Eliyahu.
The Eternal, in Genesis 1, expressed a thought, an idea, a wish. That expression <let there be light> was not transformed into a person, it was the thought of the Eternal that came to be, the thought of the existence of light. The Messiah is the manifestation of that thought of light.
The Messiah never said “I am the word”, he always said <I am light> – John 8:12
What is the word that contains life and is manifested in the light?
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
The life and the light in the book of John are a reference to the Kingdom of Heaven, to the Sovereignty of the Almighty that is, Divine Justice implemented in the world. The Messiah has clearly manifested the Kingdom of the Eternal with his life. Yeshua says <He who believes in me shall not perish>. To believe in the Messiah is to follow his teachings, it is to live as he did.
The main theme of Yeshua’s teachings is the Kingdom of the Eternal (which will be here on earth)
Mark 9:43, 47 43 “And if your hand makes you stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled, than having two hands, to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire, ... ... ... 47 “And if your eye makes you stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the reign of Elohim with one eye, than having two eyes, to be thrown into the fire of Gehenna,
Clearly, these verses show us that <life> is equivalent to the <Kingdom of Elohim>; they express the same idea because true life is eternal life.
It is not only ‘life in the kingdom of the Eternal’ but it is also living a just life here and now according to the justice of the Eternal, the Sovereignty of the Almighty on earth.
Matthew 25:34 34 Then the Sovereign shall say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the reign prepared for you from the foundation of the world –
What was prepared from the foundation of the world? <Let there be light>. That infinite light, that wish of goodness from the foundation of the word was the Kingdom of Heaven spoken into action and manifested in Messiah.
The light in the book of John is equivalent to eternal life which, in turn, is equivalent to the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.
To inherit the Kingdom of the Eternal we must live a just life here and now.