When the Words Are Not Enough

I was a sophomore in high school when I had to stand in front of my English literature class and dramatize Lewis Carroll's The Jabberwocky. The point of the exercise was to find our own meaning in the nonsense words.

    'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    Did gyre and gimball in the wabe.
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    And the mome raths outgrabe.

I don't know about you, but the assignment was a daunting one for me. I was an oft-repeated victim of stage fright, and I was required to be more than a parrot delivering meaningless lines. For a good grade, I needed to inject feeling into these verses.

    Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
    The jaws that bite; the claws that catch--
    Beware the Jubjub bird
    And shun the frumious Bandersnatch.

Now I was getting it. A sense of danger imbued the words! I put the appropriate note of warning into my voice, and managed, somehow, to shut out the staring eyes of my classmates as I delivered the meaning that was coming clear to me.

    He took his vorpal sword in hand,
    Long time the manxome foe he sought,
    And rested he by the Tumtum tree,
    And stood awhile in thought.

    And as in uffish thought he stood,
    The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
    Came whiffling through the Tulgey wood,
    And burbled as it came.

I admit to loving the word: "Burbled." I tried very hard to convey my definition of "burbled" to the class as I crept across the front of the room, portraying an animal stalking its prey.

And then, the climax!

    One! Two! One! Two! And through and through!
    The vorpal blade went snicker-snack.
    He left it dead, and with its head,
    He went galumphing back.

What a fight for the ages! My vorpal sword-play, I'm sure, impressed my classmates. I was Errol Flynn (Google him, young people) at the front of the classroom.

    And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
    Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
    Oh frabjous day! Calooh! Callay!
    He chortled in his joy.

So there's a parent-child relationship. Someone has just made someone else proud. There's an inheritance. There's a blessing. Out of struggle, a legacy has been borne. The piece takes on new depth. 

And then... quietly, the bookend:

    'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    Did gyre and gimball in the wabe.
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    And the mome raths outgrabe.

(For anyone wondering, that was by memory; I have no idea if the spelling of the nonsense words is correct, and I didn't take the time to Google it. If you wish, if it is important to you, you may do so). :)

As you know if you've been following this blog at all, I worked my way through the book of Genesis chapter by chapter, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is packed full of stories and serves as an important underline for the entire narrative of the nation of Israel, as well as for the story of God's plan of redemption from the very moment when sin entered the world. Truly, it is HiStory.

This morning, I've decided to begin reading through the Gospel of John, although I don't think I can do chapter by chapter. So much meat is packed into this book, that I'm going to have to break it down even further. So today, the Lord spoke to me through John 1:1-18, which is (if you haven't figured it out from my Jabberwocky story above) all about words. More specifically, a word, and even more specifically The Word.

John used a word here that was meaningful to both Jews and Gentiles. To Jews, the word he used for Word referred specifically to God, but was also separate and distinct from God the Father. The Word was a part of the Trinity, here. To Greeks, the word John used meant the Word that was the rational principle that governs all things. So in using this word for Word, John is testifying to all people, not just Jews, not just Gentiles. He is creating a testimony of his relationship to the Word; he is attesting to the deity of Christ. It is a ringing statement, an echo of Genesis 1:1, where God the Creator, the God present before Time, the God of Time is doing His masterwork. "In the beginning."

Here in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." 

I hate math, and I hate even further concepts like reflexive math. I try to block it out, pretend it doesn't exist, but here it swims up through the barriers I've put into place and says: "Hey, I'm a great example; use me." Ugh. So, this is like the reflexive property of math, that is... that the value on one side of the equation is equal to the value on the other side of the equation (that's the cliff's notes version for anyone, who, like me, has no clue about math). So 2 = Two, and Two = 2, and 2 = 2 and Two = Two, and **=** and... (Is anyone else confused?)

Whatever the case: The Word = God, and God = The Word.

John 1:6 introduces us to John the Baptist. Side note: Jesus and John the Baptist are first cousins, and both of these individuals are the product of miraculous births. Jesus, as just about everyone knows, was born from Mary -- a virgin, a circumstance that has never happened before or since in the entire course of history through the present day. John the Baptist was born as a result of an angelic promise to Zechariah, a priest, and his elderly wife Elizabeth. 

It's almost like God had a plan that He'd already scripted out for these two people. Hmm...

At any rate: "There came a man who was sent from God (yep, God had a plan for him all right); his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him (him meaning John the Baptist; the pronoun wasn't super clear) all men might believe" (John 1:6).

I'd like to point out that the Word does not stop with John. John is not the dead end. John is not the cul-de-sac for the Word to turn in and meander in circles. The Word comes through John the Baptist and points to Jesus. How? Through John's testimony. Through his words. 

John is an avenue, a throughway. The Word comes to people through John, people recognize the Word, Jesus, through John. 1:15 says: "John testifies concerning Him. He cries out, saying: 'This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'" Culturally, as Jesus' slightly older cousin, John the Baptist would have ranked in importance a little higher than Jesus, because of his age. John the Baptist scraps this notion completely: "He has surpassed me because He was before me." 

The Word has been before the beginning of Time, and He is Now, and He Will Be in the Future. He Is. 

It's a ringing rephrasing of the story in Exodus where Moses stands before the flaming bush that does not burn up and protests the mission on which God is sending him. 

"Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

"God said to Moses, "I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14).

God IS. There is no beginning to God; He created the Beginning. There will be no end; He will create the end, and He will reign beyond the end. Eternity is His throne room. "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (Revelation 22:12-13).  

In the places of silence, when the words are not enough, He is our Word! In the places where we cannot measure up, where sin separates us from perfection, His Word bridges the gap that is too wide to cross on our own. 

That's our testimony. That's our Word! 

And John 1:1-18 resounds with it! Hallelujah!