⁸ “… for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”

Intriguing – the conversation between Father and Son, and the words given. What were these words to which Jesus referred? Were these words of Greek or Hebrew language? Clearly, this refers to the “teachings” of Christ, not to the specific verbiage.

We are tempted to see a reflection of John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” but this might be a bit misplaced. While in that case John used the Greek term “logos,” in our passage today the word is “rhema.” Logos refers to the wisdom or the concept of God’s communication to the world, in a more philosophical sense. It is the idea behind the words being said. Rhema carries the sense of the spoken word, or that which goes out from the speaker, “that which is said, a word, saying, expression, or statement of any kind.” Jesus has passed on the specific teachings, not just the ideas of God.

This has implications for our understanding of the inspiration of Scripture. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (2 Ti 3:16). We believe this extends to what theologians called the verbal, plenary inspiration. God inspires the specific words of human authors, the writers of what has become known as the canon of Scripture, the 27 books of the NT and the 39 books of the OT. Those who hold to a broader understanding of inspiration believe that there might be specific wording errors in Scripture, but the teachings on the whole are inspired by God. This would allow for errors of so-called non-foundational issues, an often over-easy way to deal with the apparent anomalies of Scripture. We disagree with this limited view on a number of fronts.

First and foremost, in Jesus we find verbal, plenary inspiration at work. His “rhema” was given by God, that is, His words as He originally spoke them were the very words given by His Father. Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word [rhema] that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4). Concerning the OT, Jesus taught, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Mt 5:18).

The words that Jesus spoke were given to Him by His Father, and therefore they are true and we can trust them.

Lord, Your words are true. They are the foundation on which I build my life.