You have often heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Have you ever wondered where that saying came from?

It first appeared in a 1921 ad in the advertising trade journal Printer's Ink. The publicist of the magazine, Frederick Barnard, was the one who wrote it. He wanted people to think that pictures were better than words. His aim was to get people and businesses to believe this saying so that they would see the need for pictures in their ads and therefore use his advertisement company.

pictures vs. words.

As one might guess, people in fact did believe “a picture is worth a thousand words.” By 1921, American society had already become so fast-paced that advertisements with pictures rather than words were found to be more appealing to consumers as well as more effective in product sales—and so continues our visual-based, consumer-oriented society today.

But this begs one question in particular: If this is really the case, why was the Bible written with so many words and no pictures?

I contend that words have far more power than any picture. In fact, just one word alone can be worth a thousand pictures.

Think about the word “love.” What picture comes to your mind? Consider the picture of love painted with the words of poet Francis William Bourdillon (1852-1921):

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies,
When love is done.

See how powerful a picture words can paint?

Consider also the word “hate.” Our world is full of it right now. Intense political divisions, social upheaval, and racial tensions all show there is plenty of hate to go around. Words definitely have power.

words have more power than we think.

Remember this saying from childhood: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?"

It isn’t true.

Every one of us has been hurt by words—lying words, angry words, demeaning words, cruel words. Words definitely have power. They convey thoughts, emotions, feelings, and messages that can all be pictured in thousands of ways.

The Word of God is no exception.

But what’s different about the Word of God is that it has power in and of itself. John’s Gospel begins with the familiar passages about the Word of God creating all things, which helps us understand this power. Ultimately, that very Word became flesh and dwelled on the earth as the man Jesus Christ to overcome hate by showing us God’s love.

Jesus is the Word.

He is the Word by which God spoke and brought creation into existence. Certainly, He is more powerful than any word you or I might utter, and more powerful than any picture. A picture only captures what is already there. This Word creates out of nothing.

And yet as powerful as this Word is, it took the form of a humble servant in Jesus Christ, who willingly gave His life as a ransom for all.

The Gospel writers used words alone to create powerful pictures of how the Word suffered and gave His life: Mocked. Beaten. Flogged. Crucified.

Indeed, the words we find in Scripture might be worth a thousand pictures. Yet the picture they portray is not more powerful than the message that they deliver. Pictures capture emotions, but words deliver them directly to us and specifically for us.

Christ’s Word to you is that He loves you wholly, unconditionally, and irreversibly. He went through death to show it. He walked out of the tomb to prove it.

This world needs more of His Words. It needs more of His love, and more of our words speaking His Words of love and forgiveness. Join me in intentionally speaking to others with words of love about the Word made flesh and His love for them.

In the joy of Jesus,

Pastor Lucas

Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford
President
Minnesota South District, LCMS
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