Who Was Jesus?Sýnishorn

Rescuing the world from evil seems like an impossible feat. Dying as a sacrifice for humanity and then conquering death to offer humanity the gift of eternal life is even more so. But what’s impossible for us is possible for God. Jesus’ unique status as a man who’s also God is the reason He’s able to be a successful Messiah and sacrifice.

Back when Isaiah and his countrymen were facing conquest at the hands of the Assyrians, Isaiah hoped for a better future. He hoped for an anointed king who would one day save his people, but those hopes were inseparable from his belief that God would visit and rescue. It wasn’t just a man that would save Israel, it was God Himself! In Isaiah 40:3 it says, ‘A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”’

Fast forwards a few hundred years and the Gospel writer, Mark, reminds his readers of Isaiah’s prophecy about God coming to visit His people. Then he describes how John the Baptist lived in the wilderness preparing people for a Mighty One who was coming to baptise with the Holy Spirit. Jesus subsequently arrives and Mark spends the rest of his book telling us about how Jesus frees the world from evil and suffering by giving His life. Mark begins his story of Jesus by telling us how Jesus is able to accomplish these incredible things: He’s the Lord God who’s come to visit His people to renew the earth and reveal His glory.

John (the Gospel writer, not the Baptist) tells us the same story. In the beginning, all things were made through the Word who was with God and was God. The Word becomes flesh and reveals His glory. John the Baptist is again the one who cries out about the one who comes after him, preparing the way.

The Gospel writers don’t present Jesus as if He was just a good teacher. They present Him as the rightful king of creation, as the only hope for a world set free from evil and suffering, as glorious and worthy of our worship and praise.

Jesus humbles Himself by becoming flesh to die for us. John the Baptist humbles himself by pointing to the one who’s greater than himself. Are we humble enough to worship Jesus and use our voices to proclaim His glory instead of our own?