The gospel of John identifies Jesus as the Logos, the “word” by which God made all things, a key theme that is explicated in the body of the book. In doing so, John does not engage in metaphysical speculation but builds on traditional ideas from the Hebrew Bible about how Yahweh created the universe and gave life through His spoken word.
Continue readingMessiah
This is My Son!
In Mark, Jesus first appears when he is baptized by John the Baptist. The passage identifies him with his hometown, Nazareth, a small village of no consequence, though its very insignificance plays a part in the larger narrative.
Jesus is the Messiah who does not fit popular expectations even as he is anointed Messiah at the Jordan River in fulfillment of Scripture.
Continue readingRecognizing Jesus
A theme threaded through the gospel of Mark is the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until AFTER his crucifixion, and even then, and most paradoxically, he is called the “Son of God” by the unlikeliest of persons, the Roman centurion on duty at his execution.
His self-identification as the suffering “Son of Man” made him unrecognizable to unregenerate men. He was and is the kind of Messiah no one expected, and his identity and mission cannot be comprehended apart from his sacrificial death.
Continue readingLAMB OF ISRAEL
Jesus is the “slain Lamb,” the true Messiah of Israel sent by God to redeem humanity and “shepherd” the nations.
The Book of Revelation is addressed to the “churches of Asia” and begins with salutations from God, the “seven spirits that are before His throne,” and especially from Jesus Christ, the “faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” These labels not only establish his royal “credentials,” but point to how he obtained sovereignty over the earth.
Continue readingMAN OF THE SPIRIT
Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed Son of God. From the start, his life was characterized by the empowering presence of the Spirit – Matthew 1:20.
In Matthew, an angel informed Joseph that the child carried by Mary was “conceived of the Holy Spirit.” This indicated more than just the miraculous birth of the child or the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. From start to finish, the activity of the life-giving Spirit characterized the life and ministry of Jesus. He was “Jesus, who is called Christ,” the long-awaited Messiah.
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