Who Is Jesus?

Historians validate that Jesus really was born as a man. The Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus both wrote about the great oratory and Jewish instigator Jesus. He was a true historical figure born on this earth. He lived, worked and made a difference in the lives of those around Him. He stirred up the Jewish people and many followed him. He showed them how to live, and he was crucified on the cross.

The historians have a lot to say about how Jesus lived, what He did, and the events surrounding Him. What they fail to discuss is His nature as God. But as we can see, John clearly pointed out that Jesus was God. He was truly God incarnate and He was truly man as well. That’s something hard to wrap our brain around. How could someone born of a woman also be eternal, all powerful and perfect? But, the simple fact is that we have a hard time processing what God is really like.

Philip Yancey in his book ‘The Jesus I Never Knew” (slightly re-worded to allow for better text flow in preaching) told this story about how he was able to relate God’s superior status to us just like a fish in a tank might relate their status to humans.

Managing a marine aquarium is no easy task. You have to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content, pump in vitamins, antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. You need to filter the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expanded on their behalf, that tank fish would be grateful. Not so. Every time your shadow looms above the tank they dive for cover into the nearest shell. They show one emotion, fear. Although you can open the lid and drop in food on a regular schedule, 3 times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign to torture them. They couldn’t be convinced someone was caring for them.

To Yancey’s fish he was a deity. He was too large for them, his actions too incomprehensible. His acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; his attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, he began to see, would require a form of an incarnation. He would have to become a fish and ‘speak’ to them in a language they could understand.

Both Man and God

That’s really what Jesus did for us. While in the heavenly realm, we couldn’t see the good that He was doing on our behalf. We had to wait for Him to come to earth to understand much of His purposes and means to assist our lives. By becoming man, and still remaining God, Jesus became the only true mediator between man and God. He had all the power of God and all the pain of man. He chose to experience all the difficulties and unpleasant situations that we live our lives through while disregarding the power He had to dismiss all of the unpleasant situations at any time. He emptied Himself of His power so that He experienced being human , just like we do.

Conclusion

So what does John tell us about Jesus Christ? Jesus journeyed from heaven to earth, from eternity to time, from spirit to body, and from deity to humanity to deliver us from our chaos, to help us redeem time, to provide healing for our bodies and to identify with our fleshly weaknesses. He came on our behalf. He came to save us from sin, Satan and self. He is God’s gift to us, but a gift is not a gift until it is received. (Otis McMillan, “An Awesome Journey”, http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=112446&libronix=1