According to John 1:1 and other verses Rebbe Y'shua is "the Word." That chapter discusses this topic in some detail. In this short phrase we have a lot of important information. Unfortunately the word "Word" there is misunderstood by many people.
First, understand that the Greek-based translations of the New Testament we use use employs the Greek word logos here. Most translate it as "Word" -- note that the uppercase is added by the editors. While "word" is an accurate translation of logos, it is somewhat misleading because of its Greek undertones and the fact that logos itself is a translation of the now lost Hebrew original. The word logos in Greek has a lot of meanings that do not exist in the Hebrew. Remember that Y'shua (Jesus), Yochanan (John) and all the other apostles were Jews, not Greeks. In Hebrew the word "word" only has one relevant meaning: Torah.
That Yochanan (John the Beloved) was sharing a deep spiritual truth by using the term is clear from his other writings. For instance:
I John 1:1 The Word [logos], which gives life! He existed from the beginning. We have heard him, we have seen him with our eyes, we have contemplated him, we have touched him with our hands!
2 The life appeared, and we have seen it. We are testifying to it and announcing it to you - eternal life! He was with the Father, and he appeared to us.
3 What we have seen and heard, we are proclaiming to you; so that you too may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah.
4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.As Rebbe Y'shua told us (John 8:58) he existed before Avraham avinu (father Abraham). He existed from the beginning. This is what John is telling us as well. Y'shua existed prior to his birth as the son of Miryam (Mary) and he perfectly manifests or reflects the Torah of HaShem, our Father (Hebrews 2:11).
The word Torah has a few different meanings depending on the context. The most common reference is to the first five books of the Bible (the Written Torah: Genesis - Deuteronomy). Torah is more than that however. Torah is the Wisdom of HaShem (God): the Mind of God. His Torah is revealed in various ways.
Manifesting Torah was the first act of creation. Elohiym (the Creator) spoke existence into being (Genesis 1:3 etc). It is in this context that Torah is the Word.
As I explain in my study Is Y'shua God:
Logos as the Torah of Adonai
KJV: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The "Word" is God's Torah, God's True Utterance/Wisdom/Purposes:
Genesis 1:3 And God said...
Psalm 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning...The Ein-Soph (the pre-manifested Eternal Being) manifested outwardly as Echad Elohiym (the One God) and uttered Torah: the Spark (Light) of creation (for more on this see part two of my Introduction to Messianic Judaism). Echad Elohiym said: "Let there be light." Through His Word (Torah) God brought about all existence ex nihilo, from nothingness, into the Void He created as His palette for the creation. HaShem's eternal Torah is His Word and Purpose.
Torah was present in Eden and partially revealed to Adam and Eve. Later it was further revealed to Noach (Noah) and later still more fully to Avraham and still more fully later to Moshe (Moses) at Sinai. Torah was carried through the wilderness and later placed within the Ark of the Covenant and then within the Beit HaMikdash (the holy Jerusalem Temple). Torah is partially transcribed as the Pentateuch (the five books of Moshe generally referred to as the Written Torah or Pentateuch). The Word was further disclosed in the pages of the Tanakh and expounded upon in the Talmud, the Mishnah, and so on by the elders of Israel. Torah is eternal; it has neither beginning nor end. Torah was the first of Elohiym's creations. It is His Wisdom reflected outward into the darkness (Proverbs. 8:22–31). His Torah is Light (Matthew 4:16)! No one fully comprehends Torah but the One God alone because Torah is the Mind of God. In Torah we live and move and exist (Acts 17:28).
Of the Torah before Moshe the rabbis tell us:
Origin and Preexistence:
"Moses received the Torah from Sinai" (Avot 1:1). Yet there is an ancient tradition that the Torah existed in heaven not only before God revealed it to Moses, but even before the world was created. The apocryphal book The Wisdom of Ben Sira identified the Torah with preexistent personified wisdom (1:1–5, 26; 15:1; 24:1ff.; 34:8; cf. Prov. 8:22–31). In rabbinic literature, it was taught that the Torah was one of the six or seven things created prior to the creation of the world (Gen. R. 1:4; Pes. 54a, et al.).
- For more on this topic see The Jewish Virtual Library
This is the very point being made here in John 1. The Word that was "in the beginning" is this preexisting eternal Torah. The word "Torah" refers to different reflections of the eternal Torah depending on the context. The "Word" being discussed at John 1 should not therefore be thought of as a book or a series of scrolls, but as the Eternal Torah, the Mind of HaShem at the dawn of creation before anything else was made. Through Torah HaShem created all.
The Aramaic Peshita offers added insight here:
Peshita: Yukhanan [John] 1:1: In the beginning was the Miltha [Word]. And that Miltha was with God. And God was with that Miltha.This bears out the understanding that HaShem and His Logos or Miltha are one in absolute harmony, that the Word exists "with" HaShem, and that the Word existed before all creation.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
"With God." This Wisdom, this Truth was created or manifested by the Echad Elohiym at the beginning of creation prior to anything else.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We know that all things were made by HaShem Who is the Creator of all (Genesis 1:1). We also know this creation was done through His Word (logos or miltha).
Thanks to Colossians 1 we also understand that everything that exists is built upon the foundation Adonai established with the creation of His prototype or prototok'os. Colossians 1:15 identifies this as the Son who became Rebbe Y'shua. Hence the text says "by him" (dia autos) personifying the Word as the Son (as confirmed John 1:14).
Matter can be manipulated but not created by anyone other than HaShem. HaShem created everything "through" His Torah: His Word. His Torah is the Son.
That Word was later made flesh as Y'shua. As the Word Y'shua (Jesus) is the Wisdom of God made flesh (John 1:14). As he said:
John 8:28 So Yeshua said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [who I say I am], and that of myself I do nothing, but say only what the Father has taught me.
29 Also, the One who sent me is still with me; he did not leave me to myself, because I always do what pleases him."Rebbe Y'shua perfectly serves and pleases the Father. Note that John not does say that "God was made flesh and dwelt among us" but that "the Word was flesh and dwelt among us." Torah comes from HaShem but it is not HaShem.
Many who reject the deity of Y'shua (as taught by Nicene Christianity) go too far. They make him merely another prophet. That is VERY wrong biblically. No one can compare with Y'shua, not even Moshe himself (Hebrews 3:3). Rebbe Y'shua is "the Only Begotten Son of God."
No one -- including Y'shua -- can be compared with HaShem (the One True God of Israel) and no one can be compared with Y'shua, His only begotten Son.
Colossians 1:15 Who [i.e. Y'shua] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature....Note that Y'shua is "the firstborn of every creature." The God of the Bible was never born; He has no beginning, middle nor end. Y'shua (Jesus) does. He was the firstborn or first created of all beings. Hence he is our "elder brother" (Hebrews 2:11).
Colossians 1:18 Also he [i.e. Y'shua] is head of the Body, the Messianic Community - he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything.Y'shua has preeminence in ALL THINGS. There was no later revelation given (neither al Qu'ran nor any other) by the One True God, and there wont be until the Kingdom is established on this earth and Y'shua takes the Throne of David his father. While there have been prophets since the time of Y'shua and will be in the future, he remains the adon (master) of us all.
Most Nicene Christians (those who embrace the Nicene Creed) today accept that "Jesus is God Incarnate" and part of a Trinity (supposedly the one God in three "persons"). The Bible (and Judaism, including authentic Messianic Judaism) do not accept this teaching. Historically many Christians have not accepted this man-made belief. These more-biblically consistent Christians are often called "Arians" after Bishop Arius (250 or 256 – 336 C.E.) who argued against the deification of Y'shua before the Council of Nicea in 325 CE. The doctrine of the deity of Y'shua (and the Trinity doctrine) has its roots in Roman Paganism not the Bible.
And yet according to the Bible Y'shua is utterly unique. He is the supreme and first created being. Through him everything else that exists came to be. He is not God. The God of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob is "the Father." Y'shua repeated and clearly stated that he the son of God. Y'shua is honored as the "Only Begotten" because he is the only being created directly by the One True God. Everything else is created through the Son.
I discuss this topic in more depth in part 7 of my Introduction to Messianic Judaism if you are interested.
For now, Paul clarifies the meaning of the word "word" and Rebbe Y'shua's association with the Torah nicely in Colossians chapter one where he explains:
Colossians 1:12 ...giving thanks to the Father for having made you fit to share in the inheritance of his people in the light.
13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.
14 It is through his Son that we have redemption - that is, our sins have been forgiven.
15 He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation,
16 because in connection with him were created all things - in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities - they have all been created through him and for him.
17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community - he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything.Again, most Christians believe "Jesus is God Incarnate" today. Most Christians do not understand what the word "Word" (logos) means here.
Authentic Messianic Jews proclaim along with other Jews:
Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One"
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