At the Table with JesusSample

Jesus Is God

The religious leaders wanted to know who Jesus thought He was. In fact, they demanded to know. And when Jesus mentioned a connection between Himself and Abraham, they scoffed. Abraham was a national treasure for the Jewish people. A founding father. One of the most respected personages in history, right up there with Moses. What on earth could this rabbi be talking about?

That’s when Jesus dropped the bomb: “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Jesus is God. The God. The one and only Creator and Sustainer of the universe. And this same God has prepared a table for you in the presence of your enemies. This same God—the one and only God—has invited you to join Him. Jesus is God, and He is inviting you close.

Jesus is not just someone who lived a good life and taught some helpful things and deserves to be remembered favorably by history because He helped us find a better understanding of God.

No, Jesus is God—and He is the Son of God.

Everywhere Jesus went, the same question rang out over and over again: Who are you? The people wanted to know. The religious leaders wanted to know. Even the Romans wanted to know.

Eventually it was Peter—brash, impulsive, overzealous Peter—who clued in the rest of the disciples when he told Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Yes, Jesus is the Son of God. But what does that actually mean?

He is equal to the Father, but He came as a representative of the Father. He came with the Father’s authority and had access to the Father’s resources in order to accomplish the Father’s work. And so He is rightly known as the Son of God.

It’s easy to think of the Bible—God’s Word—as a book. Or, more accurately, a collection of books. Something that can be sold or given away. But it’s more than that. And we can get a glimpse of what that looks like when we read the first verse of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John was talking about Jesus in that verse. That’s why he used “He” at the beginning of verse 2, “He was with God in the beginning.” Jesus is the Word of God who was “with God” at the beginning and is God.

There are two ways to understand this connection between Jesus and “the Word.”

The first is what we call revelation. The Bible is God’s specific revelation to humanity. It’s one of the primary ways God has revealed Himself to us. Who He is, what He does, what He values, and so on. Jesus is the other primary way God has revealed Himself to us. As John said later in his gospel, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (1:14). Jesus revealed God to us not through lines on a page but by living, breathing, walking, talking, healing, teaching, and correcting.

The second way to understand Jesus as the Word of God goes a little deeper into the historical context of John’s day. In the ancient world, philosophers used the word logos to describe the concept of speaking or thinking. On a broad level, they referred to the logos as reason itself, as the mind of God.

Well, the word Logos is what John used to describe Jesus in these verses. “In the beginning was the Logos . . .” John wanted to introduce Jesus to his readers by pointing out that Jesus is unique. Unprecedented. Divine. He was and is the mind of God personified. The Logos made flesh.

In short, Jesus is the Word of God.

Scripture says it’s through Jesus that “all things have been created.” In other words, Jesus is the Creator of everything.

It’s important to note that the phrase “all things” really does mean all things. Jesus is the Creator of all material things, which means everything that has mass, everything we can touch or measure or observe in some way. But Jesus is also the Creator of all nonmaterial things. He is the source of all love, for example. He is the source of all truth. He is the source of all goodness and mercy and grace.

Jesus is even the Creator of time. He’s not bound by the minutes and months that cage all the experiences of our earthly lives. “All things have been created through him and for him.”

Jesus is the Creator of everything. Jesus is the Sustainer of everything. Jesus is God.

I hope you never lose sight of the wonder of that gift. The Author of life is interested in your life. The Creator of wisdom has offered you His wisdom. The Power that fuels countless stars is available to sustain you and support you and guide you in every way.

Respond

Who do you believe Jesus is?

Why?

Prayer

Jesus, may I learn more about Who You are each and every day!