While a General Conference field secretary, Elder Read was chairman of the Biblical Research Committee and editor of The Israelite. He is now retired in Takoma Park. WE ALL recognize that John 1:1 highlights the deity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
We must not overlook the fact, however, that the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament are also called "the word of God." Is this not what is meant by the text "the word of God came, and the scriptures can not be broken" (John 10:35)? Does not this equate the "word of God" with "the scripture"? In translating the expression "the scriptures cannot be broken," Weymouth gives, "The Scripture cannot be annulled"; Goodspeed* puts it "The scripture cannot be set aside"; Good News for Modern Man † translates "the scripture ... is true forever."
This passage, then, highlights the unity between the Living Word in Jesus and the Written Word in the Scriptures. This unity is also observable in the accompanying chart.
The attitude of Jesus to the Holy Scriptures, which in His day meant the Old Testament, is evident in the outline that follows. Observe the many times He used the expression "It is written," "Moses wrote," or "Moses and the prophets."
A. It is written. Matt. 11:10; 26:24; Mark 11:17; 14:27; Luke 2:23; 4:8, 17; 7:27; 22:37; 24:46; John 15:25.
B. Moses wrote. Luke 20:28; Mark 12:19.
C. Moses and the prophets. Luke 20:42; 24:44. Whether the passage deals with historical incidents, teachings of the Bible not regarded as doctrines, or the main doctrines like Creation, the Decalogue, and God's plan of salvation, Jesus acknowledged and stressed them all. In fact, He was the incarnation of them all.
The term "Word of God" is very definitely associated with Christ the "Word of God," but the same term is equated with the Holy Scriptures. (See Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 445; The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 502, 521; Counsels to Parents and Teachers, pp. 182, 183; Selected Messages, book 1, p. 115; Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 249.) The intimate relationship emphasized in the first section above is seen, however, in the following excerpt from the writings of Ellen G. White:
"The preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then em bodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years from Moses, the historian of Creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel.
"The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all 'given by inspiration of God' (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed have themselves embodied the thought in human language." The Great Controversy, Introduction, pp. v, vi.
Obviously, these two aspects of the Word of God are brought together. What does that mean when we think of Jesus as the Word of God? Can we believe the one and not the other? Are they not so intimately related that to believe the one we must believe the other? How can we treat the Holy Scriptures like any ordinary book and yet accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Is it not a fact that to accept the one, we must accept the other? Shall we not renew His counsel to "search the scriptures" for "they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39)?
This relationship was nicely expressed by Mary A. Hathbury in 1877:
"Break Thou the bread of life, Dear Lord, to me, As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea; Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord; My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word."
