What a Word

(Lk. 4:36)

P eople in  Capernaum were surprised by the authority with which Jesus spoke.  “What a word is this?” they wondered out loud.  The Hebrew children said something similar when they came upon the manna for the very first time.  The said “what is this?” which is what manna means.  We hold in our hands the words of Christ, and what a word it is!  His words are eternal.  His words are spirit and are truth.  His words are God’s words.  Luke describes them as I have found them myself to be.  He calls them gracious (4:22).  He calls them powerful (4:32).  Grace and Power come together in Christ like two merging suns.  No one need ever be in the dark again.  The brilliance of his words shine into every dark place chasing away things that like to live in the dark.  John calls him the Word.  This Word came into the world.  This Word became flesh.  What happened to the Word, what men did to, and do with the Word writes the story of every life.  What will we do with the Word today?  Jesus confronted Satan, the dark one, with words which were first uttered in Deuteronomy  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word or God.” (Lk. 4:1).