"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
Jesus walked this earth, died, and rose again to save us from the sin brought into the world by Adam and Eve. Jesus is the perfect son of God, spotless and blameless. He loves us with a sacrificial love that stretches beyond human understanding.
C S Lewis once said: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. This man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Jesus in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, we see appearances of Jesus, which most scholars call a Preincarnate appearance or a Christophany. Christophany, meaning ‘Jesus appeared,’ is two Greek words combined: Christos, which means Christ, and Phainein, which means to appear. This occurs in the Old Testament, in the stories of Hagar (Genesis 16), Abraham (Genesis 18), Gideon (Judges 6), Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3).
In the story of Abraham, Jesus appeared while Abraham was sitting under a tree outside of his tent in Mamre. Abraham encouraged the three men (including Jesus) to stay so his feet could be washed and food could be brought. He did so. They ate and drank, and then there were prophecies that He would return the following year and Sarah would have a son. As the men were leaving, Abraham then pleaded with Sodom. It is a profound piece of scripture where Jesus revealed things to Abraham as one would a friend.
In Hagar's story, following Ishmael's birth with Abraham, she is pushed out because Sarah regrets the decision to give Hagar to Abraham as a concubine, rushing along the plans God had made. Yet God said very specifically that Sarah would have a child and not just that Abraham would become a father. Hagar had nothing left to give in the desert alone and with her son. Jesus met, cared for her, and then told her to return to Abraham. It is here Jesus showed compassion to the lowly and broken.
In the story of Gideon, Jesus met him, sitting under a tree at Ophrah while Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press. Jesus called Gideon and reminded him of who he was and God's plans and purposes for his life. Jesus called Gideon to partner with Him and see the Israelites no longer under oppression but freed.
Lastly, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego tells us of three men sent to a blazing furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. These young men refused to worship idols built for the king, and in response, the king's fury roared. The furnace was heated seven times hotter than usual, and the men were thrown. The king and his advisors noticed that four men were in the fire. When removed, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were unharmed. Here, we see Jesus as a protector of those who need his help.
Jesus in the New Testament
The first name given to Jesus in the Old Testament is Emmanuel, which reminds us Jesus is with us. He is not just a long-distance deity who watches us from afar, but he is our up close and personal Savior.
The New Testament tells us the story of Jesus from his birth until He returns to heaven. This is called the Incarnation. The word means “to take on flesh.” Understanding that Jesus did not lay down his divinity to be incarnated is essential. Jesus is fully God and fully human (Philippians 2). This incarnation happened in the life of a woman named Mary. She was probably 13-15 when the Angel Gabriel approached her to tell her that she had gained favor with God and would be the mother of His son, the long-awaited Messiah initially promised in Genesis 3. Mary wondered how this would be as she was a virgin. Nonetheless, she soon became pregnant with God's son, and prophecies about Jesus started to be fulfilled.
Jesus was born fully human and lived a reasonably everyday life learning his stepfather's business and the laws of the Torah. When He turned 30, Jesus was thrown into ministry and obtained 12 disciples: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Judas Iscariot, Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alpheus, Bartholomew, Judas, and Simon. Jesus spent the next three years healing the sick, raising the dead, teaching the people and the disciples about the Old Testament, and encouraging them to follow Him, often declaring that He is the Lord and the son of God.
Jesus declared what we now call the seven ‘I Am’ statements, recorded in the Gospel of John. These seven statements connect beautifully to Exodus 34:6, where God originally defined himself. Jesus proclaimed to be the fulfillment of all our needs.
- Jesus declared He is the bread of life (John 6:35), promising to fulfill our deep longings and eternal needs.
- ‘The light of the world’ (John 8:12) implies that in the dark world that we live in, Jesus is the one who brings us light, and when we follow Him, we can see better with eternity in mind.
- When Jesus refers to Himself as ‘the door’ (John 10:7), He means He is the only door through which the sheep enter.
- Jesus, as ‘the Good Shepherd’ (John 10:11, 14), knows the sheep and lays down His life for them.
- He declares He is the ‘resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25). He reminds them that He comes as the second Adam, righteous and blameless in all His ways.
- Jesus is ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6), the only One through whom we come to the Father.
- By saying He is ‘the true vine’ (John 15:1), He is declaring He is the one in whom the people of God find true, flourishing, and fruitful.
Jesus fulfilled around 300 Old Testament prophesies through His life, which gives us full confidence He is the Messiah, who came to save us from our sins and make a way for us to be free in Christ and have a relationship with God the Father.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
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