Day 36: John 5-6

As we continue reading through John (my favorite gospel!) I want to take a moment and discuss the identity of the Savior.

I still remember back in college when I began to truly read the Bible for the first time and I came face to face with the reality that Jesus is God in the flesh. Even though I grew up in church, somehow that just never clicked for me before. But there I found it, seemingly on every page of the New Testament!

I have a Muslim friend who told me Jesus never claimed to be God, but that His followers ascribed that to Him at a later date. It's true that we don't have stories of Jesus walking around shouting, "I'm God! Fall at my feet!" However, I think we see part of the reason for that in John 5:31 when Jesus said, "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid." He did not come to glorify Himself, but to do the Father's will. To constantly declare His deity was not part of the agenda.

This is well demonstrated in Philippians 2:5-11 where we see that although Christ was God, He laid aside His glory to come to the earth and die for our sins. What a mighty God we serve!

For the people of His day, Jesus' claims were clear. Here in John 5:17-18 we see that they understood exactly what He was saying: He was equal with the Father. In just a few chapters we'll read one of His most profound claims of deity in John 8:58 when Jesus applies the very "I AM" of God to Himself. Again, the implications are clear, as they wanted to stone Him for blasphemy.

Of course, John made it plain who Jesus was in his opening chapter: "the Word was God ... [and] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory!"

The implications of this truth are almost overwhelming. Jesus is not just another great prophet or teacher or man of God. He wasn't just a revolutionary or influential figure in history. He is not on equal footing with Muhammad or Buddha or Lucifer or an angel.

He is the Lord of Glory! The Alpha and the Omega! The Creator and Sustainer of all things! I hope you've come to the place where you see Him as He truly is: indescribable, incomparable, and unlike anyone else. I pray you've come to the place that Peter did when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

And above all, I hope you've put your trust in His work on the cross for your sins and that you find Him to be the One true thing you can build your life upon!