by Matt Jacoby
What is the Word?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What is the significance of Jesus being the called ‘the Word’?
Amongst other things it means that God’s message to us is not to be appropriated as information to satisfy our curiosity. In case you didn’t notice, we are in the midst of an information revolution. Information is thrown at us in every possible way, using every possible technology to captivate our senses. Anything you want to know or see is only a few mouse clicks away. Most of the information we receive requires no active engagement or any active process of discovery. It is fast food information delivered into your lap within seconds of requesting it.
Yes, today information is first and foremost a commodity of the burgeoning entertainment industry. Information of all sorts, from science through to religion, is presented as curiosity pieces to relieve our general boredom with the familiar and mundane in life. Even information about tragic world events essentially becomes a series of entertainment pieces: “Hear the news! See the exclusive pictures!” 
But why? In some cases there is something we can do about what we hear and see, but in most cases it is information for what sake? For curiosity sake; for entertainment!
His story
A central aspect of the Christian faith is the notion that God has told us things about himself, the world and ourselves. When you are constantly being bombarded with truckloads of purposeless information it is hard to make the switch in your psyche to receive God’s revelation differently. This is why many people struggle to connect emotionally with what they read in the bible. Most people find reading the Bible a dull exercise - this is simply because they approach reading the Bible the way they approach all information. The invitation of the bible however is to encounter truth not as a series of facts but as a person.
God’s revelation to us is a spiritual event in which Christ embraces our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, as he is called. Christian knowledge occurs through personal union with Christ. The function of scripture is to make this encounter happen. When you read the bible do not remain passive. Allow the written word to peel back the layers of your heart to enable you to receive Jesus. For ultimately the word that God wants us to receive is not that of a printed page, but through what is written - to encounter the person who is the word who gives life in the moment He touches our hearts.
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