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Good morning. Today is Wednesday, August 12th!

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📖 Verse Of The Day

— John 3:3

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🧠 Devotional

Most of us know where the word “amen” goes: at the end.

We finish a prayer and say amen. Someone else prays and we respond amen. That actually fits an ancient use of the word. Saying “amen” could affirm what had already been said as true.

But Jesus did something unusual.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly said amen before He spoke.

You may have never noticed because many English Bibles translate it as “truly.” When Jesus says, “Truly I tell you,” the Greek text actually begins with the word amēn, a word that ultimately comes from Hebrew.

So why did Jesus put it first?

Normally, saying amen was a response to something already spoken. It was a way of affirming, “This is true.” Jesus, however, repeatedly used it to introduce His own statements.

Instead of waiting for someone else to confirm His words, Jesus began by declaring their certainty Himself.

That fits something people repeatedly noticed about Jesus.

After the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew says the crowds were amazed “because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:29, NIV)

Jesus could say, “Amen, I tell you,” because He spoke with His own authority.

It also served as a signal to His listeners: pay attention. What I am about to tell you is certainly true.

And sometimes Jesus said it twice.

The Gospel of John repeatedly records Jesus saying, “Amen, amen,” which translations such as the ESV render, “Truly, truly.”

Before telling Nicodemus about being born again, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, ESV)

Before teaching about eternal life, judgment, His relationship with the Father, and other important truths, that phrase appears again and again.

So when you see Jesus say “Truly I tell you,” don’t treat it like filler.

There is an amen at the beginning.

We normally use amen to affirm something that has already been said.

Jesus used it to affirm the truth of what He was about to say.

It’s almost like a verbal underline telling us to pay close attention.

And when the One speaking is Jesus, that’s exactly what we should do.