The Power of the Word of God

by Fr Ralph de Hahn · Published January 28, 2023 · Updated January 27, 2023

Fr Ralph de Hahn reflects on the power of God’s Word –

A most potent gift given to us humans is the power of speech — the use of words. Of all God’s creation, only humans have that gift. Mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have their own unique means of communication, but none has the skill to transmit abstract thoughts to one another. In the human dimension, the word has the power to change what is reality.

“By the word of Yahweh, the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6). He spoke, and it was created. The book of Hebrews 11:3 confirms that “the world was created by one word from God”. The great prophet Isaiah taught that all things were created from nothing, but only by God’s word (Isaiah 43:10). Speaking beautifully of God’s word, the prophet concludes: “So the word from my mouth does not return to me empty but fulfilling my will and succeeding in what it has been sent to do.”

St John puts the whole picture together: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things came to be through him; nothing had its beginning except through him…all that came to be had life only in him.” John ends his brilliant prologue with the Incarnation: “…and the Word was made flesh and he dwelt among us.”

In ancient days, the Word of God was transmitted through his chosen prophets, whereas in the New Testament, the Word of God was revealed in a person, through the very son of God, Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation has a rather dramatic representation: “His cloak was soaked in blood, from his mouth came a sharp sword, he is known by the name ‘the Word of God’” (Revelation 19:13). John, the Beloved Disciple, reminds us that John the Baptiser came as a witness to the light, but the Word himself was the Light “and we saw his glory full of grace and truth”.

It would serve us well to reflect on what meaning the Word of God has in our human communication. Perhaps we have never really delved into the positive and negative consequences of the Word in our daily lives. The Word of God brought the promise of new life, hope, grace and glory. In our hands, it can bring consolation and joy, but also destruction. We often speak of the Bible as the Word of God. Yet we learn and understand more deeply that Jesus is the Word of God, not the printed Bible. The Bible, printed with human words, promotes Jesus as the Word. In him we have the fulness of life, says John.

In the Bible we get a glimpse of the power of the Word spoken by Jesus: look at the amazing catch of fish in the lake; the feeding of the thousands from so little on the hillside; the raising of the dead such as the daughter of Jairus, the young man at Nain, or Lazarus of Bethany (after four days in the tomb); the command that calmed the raging sea; and all the healings of the blind, deaf, disabled and disturbed — just one word spoken by the Master!

Consider the power of the Word expressing love and hope. We can surely appreciate the value of this gift of speech that we all have, the one which urges Paul to write: “Guard against foul talk, rather let your words be for comfort and uplifting of others, otherwise you will be grieving the Holy Spirit of God within” (Ephesians 4:29). We so easily forget, especially in moments of anger, that life or death is in the power of the tongue. “Their throats are an open grave and the tongue full of deceit,” cries Paul in Romans 3:13.

The tongue is able to spit fire and set a forest ablaze, touching many innocent people and there is no tracking back to reverse the action…ever! We all need to respect, even reverence, this enormous power of the word, ever conscious of the eternal Word, Jesus Christ. The word can change substance, spoken at the Lord’s command, even over bread and wine at Holy Mass. A word — and, behold, a miracle! The words we choose expose the heart within. From the overflow of the heart, words flow to heal or to hurt, to build up or destroy.

Never pass on what you hear, possibly from gossip; always first check with the source. Play it safe. There is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us! May our words reflect the presence of the Word within us. Our words reveal who and what we are. Do our words speak of Jesus’ healing power and his unending love?

The Word was made flesh and dwells within us.

Fr Ralph de Hahn is a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town.

Published in the January 2023 issue of The Southern Cross magazine