At beginning, we mentioned that Jesus is the Word becoming flesh, and He started to preach when he was about thirty years old. He said clearly that we need to repent. Secondly, He admitted that He was Messiah in some verses including the one that people may not be aware of. Thirdly, we mention some prophecies of Isaiah, which is true. Although Jesus had no appearance that we should be attracted to Him, He had the favor of God and men. Since we talk about Isaiah, we discuss lastly when he saw Jesus and state the reason why it is true so.
Let us first take a look at John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Yes, Jesus is the Word, who becomes flesh. He is from heaven, and no doubt that He can speak words from heaven. “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”(John 3:11-12)
He started to preach about thirty years old as said in Luke 3:23, “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli.” Because He was conceived by virgin Mary, we use such words ‘as was supposed’ to avoid any misunderstanding. In Matthew 4:12-17, it says in more detail, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; …From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””
Jesus is the King. He had a forerunner, “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(Luke 1:17) In Matthew 17:11-13, “And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.” Such words fulfilled the prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6, “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Secondly, He admitted Himself that He was Messiah. In John 4:25-26, “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”” Peter knew that He is Christ because the fact was revealed by Father as said in Matthew 16:15-20, “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. …Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”
In Matthew 26:63-64, it says, “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest (Caiaphas) said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”” It seems that He wants the other admitted who He was before He admitted the fact. Even when before the governor Potter, He behaved the same. “Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”” (Matthew 27:11) It seems that there is only one exception in Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” Didn’t He admit that He was the Christ since He said that many would come in His name? Someone may think that this is just a pure knowledge and don’t edify people. However, if our goal is to be conformed to the image of Jesus, can we afford not to know how He behaved in different situations?
Thirdly, let us mention that His coming fulfilled some prophecies by Isaiah. In Matthew 3:3, it says, “For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!'”” In Matthew 4:14-16, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-“The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.””
We see that He takes away the burdens of worldly things in Matthew 8:16-17, “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”” He also saves us for spiritual matters as described in Matthew 12:17-21, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. “He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. “A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory. “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.”” In Isaiah 53:5, it says, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” Someone talks about this verse when referring to healing a physical sickness by God, and says that Jesus was already pierced by us and thus we must be healed. Yes we are healed in our salvation but this is not referring to physical illness; otherwise, no one would die if every illness is healed all times.
Although He had no appearance that we should be attracted to Him as was described in Isaiah 53:2, “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”(Luke 2:52)
Since we talked about Isaiah, let us use one verse related to him to conclude this short article. In John 12:41 it says, “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.” When did Isaiah saw His glory? In Isaiah 6:1-3, it says, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”” Yes, Isaiah did ‘see’ the glory of the Lord.
From the consistency of the Bible, we know that the Lord is not God the Father since whoever sees God will die for sure as said in Exodus 33:20, “But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” And “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”(John 8:58) Apparently, Jesus is not restricted by time. The Lord is the Jesus before becoming flesh, one of the Holy Trinity.
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
aChristianVoice 一個基督徒的聲音 