Matthew 4:4, But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Question: Is the “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” that Jesus spoke of here, the same as “the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you”, He spoke of in John 6:27?

Comment: It is the opinion of this website that the words of Jesus, above all other words in the Bible, is the “the food which endures to everlasting life” which nourishes the spirit of a person born again.

John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Question: What would the people listening to Jesus speak in this instance have understood Him to mean when He said “My word”? Would they have understood Him to mean just the words He had spoken or all the words in the Bible?

Comment: From applying the hermeneutical process, it seems reasonable that they would have understood Jesus to mean only the words that He had spoken.

John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

Question: When Jesus refers to the Scriptures, which books of the Bible is He referring to? What is the reason for your answer?

Comment: Following His resurrection and just prior to His ascension, Jesus said in Luke 24:44, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Jesus’ References to Old Testament Scripture
According to this resource, Jesus referenced or quoted only from “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms”

Table of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament
According to this resource, in addition to “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms”, other New Testament writers referenced or quoted from 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, Proverbs, Job, and Joshua

And Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” Most likely, Paul is referring here to all the books in the Old Testament.

John 5:46-47, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Question: Why does Jesus say that it is important to believe the writings of Moses?

Comment: As Jesus said in Luke 24:44, “all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses … must be fulfilled.” Without believing the writings of Moses it would be difficult if not impossible for anyone to recognize Jesus at His coming, or to understand His purpose and mission and therefore to “believe My words”

John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Question: Are all the words in the Bible ‘spirit and life’?

Comment: The words of Jesus are the only words in the Bible which have been found to be referred to as having ‘spirit and life’.

Matthew 7:24,26, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: … But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:”

Question: What might Jesus have meant when he used the word ‘hears’ in this instance? That is, what might it mean to be someone who “hears these sayings of Mine”?

Comment: The words of Jesus are special, i.e., they form the foundation of our faith (Romans 10:17, NASB), and upon which we are to understand everything else in the Bible. Therefore, to ‘hear’ His words means to believe them with all our heart, mind, and soul. And to ‘believe’ them in this way means that all of our thoughts, words, and actions will be based on His words.

Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Question: What does it mean to be “ashamed of Me and My words”?

Comment: Peter’s denial of Jesus is an example of what it means to be “ashamed of Me and My words”.

John 8:30-32, As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Question: What might Jesus have meant when He said, “If you abide in My word”?

Comment: See: Abide In Me

John 8:37, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

Question: What might Jesus have meant when He said here that, “My word has no place in you”?

Comment: They are not making a ‘home’ for His words in their heart, mind, and soul, i.e., they are not ‘abiding’ in Him by not letting His words abide in them.

John 8:42,43, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.”

Question: What might Jesus have meant when He said here that, “you are not able to listen to My word”?

Comment: His words are too uncomfortable for them, i.e., too convicting of their judgemental ways. Too ‘listen’ to His words is to turn away from the Law as a way and means to righteousness; i.e., to turn away from self-righteousness to the righteousness in Christ, freely given to those who ‘listen’ to His words.

John 8:51, “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”

Question: What might it mean to keep His word? What might Jesus have meant when He said, “if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”?

Comment: Keeping, i.e., believing His words is the way and means by which God has provided for us to escape death and receive eternal life. Whatever Jesus meant when He said “he shall never see death” is what we will receive by keeping and believing His words.

John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

Question: What might Jesus have meant when He said, “hear My voice”?

Comment: His voice is the articulation and sound of His words. His voice includes what He is saying as well as the way in which He is saying it.

“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment [words] as to what to say and what to speak.” (See: John 12:49)

John 12:44-50, And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life ; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Here are what may be the last public words of Jesus spoken a day or two prior to the Last Supper. It seems that following these words He spoke privately to His disciples until His trial.
Go to: John tells the Good News about Jesus
Then: Search the webpage for: Jesus’ final words to the people 12:44-50

Questions:
A: What might be the significance of someone’s last words, especially the last public words of Jesus?

B: Does “the word I spoke” refer to all the words that Jesus spoke in His incarnation?

C: Where did Jesus get these words? Are these His own thoughts? Or, did He only speak exactly what the Father was telling Him in His mind to speak?

D: What significance does Jesus place on “the word I spoke”? That is, what role will His words play “at the last day”?

E: Jesus used the expression, “what to say and what to speak”. Is there any difference in meaning between the words ‘say’ and ‘speak’ used here? Could it be that to ‘say’ something refers to ‘what’ is said, and to ‘speak’ something refers to ‘how’ it is said?

Comment: If these are the last public words of Jesus, then it is believed they hold special significance. That is, He repeated the most important parts of his message. He told them again that God had sent Him to the earth. And when people looked at Him, they were really seeing God. Jesus was not just a good man who taught people His ideas about God. God told him exactly what to say and how to say it. And he spoke only those words. Jesus’ words are the words of God Himself.

Matthew 24:34,35, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

Question: What words is Jesus referring to here that “will by no means pass away”?

Comment: It is this websites opinion that Jesus is referring to all the words He spoke during His incarnation.

John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”

Question: When Jesus says, “the Father who dwells in Me does the works”, might these works include “The words that I speak to you”, as well as “the works which no one else did” referred to in John 15:24?

Comment: Yes. His ‘works’, i.e., His actions, include, but are not limited to His ‘words’.

John 14:21,22,23,24, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Questions:
A: How does Jesus say He will manifest Himself to people?

B: How does Jesus say that we are to show our love for Him?

C: What did Jesus mean when He said, “We will come to him and make Our home with him.”?

Comment: See: Abide in Me, and I in You

John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

Question: Describe one way to abide in Jesus, and for His words to abide in us?

Comment: See: Abide in Me, and I in You

John 17:6,7,8,14,17, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. … I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. … Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

Questions:
A: What might Jesus have meant when He said, “I have manifested Your name”? How can a person’s name be ‘manifested’?

B: What word was Jesus referring to when He said, “they have kept Your word”?

C: When Jesus said, “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me”, are these some of the “all things which You have given Me” referred to in the prior sentence?

D: When Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” what word is He referring to here?

Comments:
A: It may be understood that the name of a person in the Bible signifies the qualities of that person. And foremost in the divine, essential, unchanging nature and character of God is the quality of love that the Father has for Jesus. From this then we might conclude that Jesus manifested [displayed in the most real way possible] the Father’s love for Him “to the men whom You have given Me out of the world”.

B: Although all the words in the Bible are true, given the context it may be that Jesus is referring here to the same words that the Father has given Him. However, given 2 Timothy 3:16, that all the words in the Bible are true then they all play a role in the process of our Sanctification. However, it may be that the words of Jesus play the most central and necessary role in this process. Here, the generic meaning of the word sanctification is “the state of proper functioning.”
See: A Definition for Sanctification

John 18:37, Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Questions:
A: Is there a difference between His voice and His words?

B: What might it mean for someone to be “of the truth”?

C: What should our response be to hearing His words?

Comment: The voice of Jesus is thought to be synonymous with His words, i.e., His message. Those who are “of the truth” are open to His truth. Like those in the parable of the sower who were open to His words, i.e., like those whose hearts were open to His seed “where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

(After He had risen) Luke 24:44,45, Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Question: What words is Jesus referring to when He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you,”?

Comment: It is thought that Jesus is referring to all the words He spoke during His Incarnation on earth.