He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
Revelation 19:13
Simply put, this is an anachronistic fallacy. To read this passage back into John’s earlier gospel (assume the same John wrote both the gospel and Revelation) is not the proper way to understand scripture. A simple reading of Revelation 19 shows that this is exclusively the risen Christ, long after his ascension. To assume that a name given to the risen and glorified Christ, is a name that must apply to the prehuman, preexistent Christ is absurd. Reading just three verses down, we find in Revelation 19:16 that he is given the name “king of kings and lord of lords.” In the prehuman state of the supposed preexistent Christ, was he king of God’s kingdom? No. This is necessarily that which was given to him post resurrection. Even in his ministry, Jesus was king of the Jews only. Not king of the gentiles. He becomes king and lord of all in his resurrection.
Just as Jesus has been given these names in his resurrection, so also is the name “word of God” given to Christ after his resurrection. Never before. We read of Jesus inheriting and receiving a name above names at his resurrection and glorification in the NT (Philippians 2:9, Hebrews 1:4). Jesus receives new names and titles at his resurrection. Compare John 16:7 with 1 John 2:1. The name parakletos is given explicitly to the risen Christ. This is a name for the holy spirit. Keep in mind that the holy spirit is how the word of God comes to the prophets (2 Peter 1:21). So if the word is spirit (John 6:63), then when Jesus receives the name of the spirit, he should also receive the name of the word. This happens at resurrection.
The very verse in question says that the one who is named Word of God is “dressed in a robe dipped in blood.” This is the blood of the Lamb who was slain. The name given to the slain lamb who saved the world through death is, “word of God.” Why? Because the word of God was, in times past, that which the prophets spoke (Hebrews 1:1). These are the messianic prophecies, these are the prophecies concerning the kingdom of God. These are the prophecies foretelling the coming judgement and destruction. The word of God is that which Jesus preached in his ministry; it is the seed of the gospel in us (Luke 8:11). In these last days, Jesus is not those words completely realized. The prophecies of the new man, immortality, the kingdom of heaven, perfection, the new Adam, this is what the resurrected and glorified Christ is. He is the living embodiment of every word from the mouth of God. God now speaks to us in a son, and it is this risen son who is glorified and made perfect through what he suffered that is the word of God (Hebrews 1:2).
Hebrews 4:12 says: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Many Protestants have been told that this means the Bible. The Bible is alive and active and judges us. This is self evidently wrong, because the Bible may be a “living document” idiomatically, but it is not alive or “active.” The Bible is not our judge. In fact, we are not under “words written in ink,” which the Bible necessarily is (2 Cor. 3:3). Hebrews 4:13 goes on to say: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from his sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Who is it that we must give account to? Who judges us on judgement day? The Bible? No. Jesus. In this passage, Jesus is “the word of God,” who is alive, not dead still in his grave, and he is active by his spirit which divides our soul and spirit. We no longer live but Christ in us by the spirit of Christ. He judges us. He is how God judges the world.
This is the resurrected Christ. There is no disagreement that the risen Christ is the Word of God. However, to apply this to the prehuman Christ, is to grant to him qualities he did not yet possess. Revelation 19:13 is not justification for assuming Jesus must be the logos of John 1:1 and 14. This is why John does not call Jesus “the word” in his gospel, which is about the ministry, pre-glorification of Christ. Jesus is the antitype the word of God which came to the prophets. Jesus is now, in these last days, how God speaks to us. He is the Spirit through which God communicates. Arguing that the risen Christ is identical to “the Word of God” does not solve the question of if he is the word of God in John’s prologue. Just as the risen Jesus is identical to the new creation, it is not the prehuman Christ that is a new creation.
Yes, Revelation 19:13 refers to the risen, fundamentally changed Jesus Christ. No, it does not prove that the word of God referred to in John’s prologue is Jesus Christ.