Today, and for centuries, billions of people from all over the World, continue to ask and are mystified by who Jesus is?
If you are one of those who have been secretly asking themselves…
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Then this is certainly a must read for you!
How did he come into being?
How was he able to perform incredible and jaw dropping miracles, signs and wonders then, and even now?
Where did Jesus cone from, and what was his purpose on earth?
Why is the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ become imperative for those who want to have an amazing eternal life!
What is the one central and unprecedented divine attribute, source Jesus had and demonstrated that impacted humanity in under 4 years on planet Earth?
The question is why are so many be it Rich or Poor feeling unfulfilled, inadequate, depressed, rejected, broken hearted, unhappy, lonely, bitter, that life has been unfair?
Can you really still experience true joy, happiness, freedom, love, choice, have a sense of direction and purpose?
Questions, questions, questions!
I know you have lots of questions too right?
Questions like…
Who is he?
Why should I or we accept him as our Lord and personal saviour?
Why should I or we follow him and his teachings?
Is Jesus GOD?
I hear you ask!
I sense you are looking round hoping no one is watching or listening to you watch or read something about Jesus!
Don’t tell anyone! I hear you say in your heart
But, I really really want to….know him
The real and burning question is how can I learn to understand and accept Jesus?
I need to know in really simple and basic terms….
Well, the very fact that you have got this far in reading this… means it will happen.
Billions of people young and old, from a variety of races and religions, in various circumstances and situations have turned to Jesus!
Today, as a result of accepting and trusting in Jesus Christ, they have and continue to experience incredible, indelible and amazing transformation in their very lives, marriages, health, business, families, siblings, professions and careers, and mental well-being!
The instruction manual of life “The Bible” documents his identity as the Son of God, part of the trinity (one of the 3 persons).
Jesus, also called Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee, or Jesus of Nazareth, was born 6-4bc, Bethlehem.
Undoubtedly the most intriguing, influential, impacting, remarkable, saviour and transformative divine entity ever.
World’s bestseller ever, an incredible healer without attending medical school or holder of a medical license.
Jesus Christ Power and Authority, surpasses that of any humankind and elements on earth.
Even the storms, rain, trees and wind obeyed him.
The best question that leads to the best answer was asked by Jesus Christ himself!
Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is?
And they answered, some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
He said to them, but who do you [yourselves] say that I am?
Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Then Jesus answered him, blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. Matthew 16:13-17
Well, there you have it!
Even after over 2 thousand years and having spent just 3 and a half years on Earth, Jesus Christ is still the most studied, the most examined, most written about, sung about, discussed person ever, and searched.
Jesus claimed that the whole human race is dead in sin and headed for eternal hell and He is the only Savior – the only Savior.
It is written, I am the way the truth and the life, No one comes to the father except through me.” All of man’s questions of life are answered in this verse.
Jesus declared, your forefather Abraham was extremely happy at the hope and prospect of seeing My day (My incarnation); and he did see it and was delighted.
Then the Jews said to Him, you are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?
Jesus replied, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I Am.
So, they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus, by mixing with the crowd, concealed Himself and went out of the temple [enclosure]. John 8:57-59
Even at the age of 12, he was astonishing, the bible declares in Luke chapter 2, versus 45 to 52.
And when they failed to find Him, they went back to Jerusalem, looking for Him [up and down] all the way.
After three days they found Him [came upon Him] in the [court of the] temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions.
And all who heard Him were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His intelligence and understanding and His replies.
And when they [Joseph and Mary] saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, Child, why have You treated us like this?
Here Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You [distressed and tormented].
And He said to them, how is it that you had to look for Me?
Did you not see and know that it is necessary [as a duty] for Me to be in My Father’s house and [occupied] about My Father’s business?
But they did not comprehend what He was saying to them.
And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was [habitually] obedient to them; and his mother kept and closely and persistently guarded all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favour with God and man.
Yet another exhibit is found in John chapter verse 1 and verse 14.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . .. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
This is one of the most well-known evidence Jesus is eternal (here, “beginning” means “eternity past”).
He was with God the Father and is God the Son.
To make sure that the reader has no misunderstanding, the scripture reiterates that the “Word” referred to is the Son, and notes that He “became flesh” (the incarnation).
Only the Son has a body.
The scripture John chapter 10, verse 30 says “I and the Father are one”
Even the demons succumbed to him, in the book of Luke chapter 4, verses 31 to 37.
And He descended to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and there He continued to teach the people on the Sabbath days.
And they were amazed at His teaching, for His word was with authority and ability and weight and power.
Now in the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the foul spirit of a demon; and he cried out with a loud (deep, terrible) cry,
Ah, let us alone!
What have You to do with us [What have we in common], Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us?
I know Who You are the Holy One of God!
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent (muzzled, gagged), and come out of him!
And when the demon had thrown the man down in their midst, he came out of him without injuring him in any possible way.
And they were all amazed and said to one another, What kind of talk is this? For with authority and power He commands the foul spirits and they come out!
And a rumour about Him spread into every place in the surrounding country.
As navigate towards the home straight, we collide with another encounter in John chapter 11, verse 25.
Here is another indication of Jesus’ great power, His power over death – His power over death.
He said, you remember, “Destroy this body and in three days, I’ll raise it up.”
And they were just absolutely stunned and thought He must have been talking about the temple and He was going to destroy it.
He was talking of the temple of His body. But He said, “If you destroy my life, I’ll take it back.”
This claim also was over the top.
He said, “I lay my life down that I may take it again. No man takes my life from me,”
He said in John 10, “I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”
“I am the resurrection and the life” – “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” I’ll give you eternal life.
Oh, you’ll pass through physical death into eternal life.
Then to prove it, verse 38, He went over to the tomb of his friend, Lazarus.
Verse 39, He said, “Roll the stone away.”
Lazarus had been dead for days now, four days, and his sister was really worried, she said, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench.”
The old English version said, “He stinketh.” Four days dead, no embalming.
Jews never did any embalming. Jesus said, “Didn’t I say to you, if you believe, you’ll see the glory of God?” They removed the stone.
Jesus raised His voice, He said, looking to heaven, “I thank you, Father, that you heard me.
I know you hear me always; because of the people standing around, I said it that they may believe that you sent me.”
And He, having said these things, cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” He who had died came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings.
His face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him, let him go.”
He had to tell them that because they were frozen when this wrapped corpse walked out. “Lazarus, come forth.”
Somebody said, “It’s a good thing He said ‘Lazarus’ – if He had just said ‘Come forth,’ every grave on the planet would have yielded up its possession.” That’s how much power He had.
So He qualified it, “Only Lazarus, just you.”
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In Conclusion
Finally, Philip said to Him (Jesus Christ), “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus’ response was, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?
He who has seen me has seen the Father; in essence, how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will he do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.
Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:7-14)
The implications of Jesus’ words in those few verses are overwhelming.
The fact that He claims to be God is daring enough for them.
But then, wait for it He adds a guarantee that whoever believes in Him would have power to do even greater works than He had done, and concludes by saying that if we ask anything in His name He will do it!
Here comes our reward and privilege
These words are monumental in declaring not only who Jesus is, but also what He intends to do in and for those who belong to Him.
Notice that our Lord was making three momentous revelations to His disciples.
The Revelation of the person Jesus Christ
The first of these was the revelation of His person. Only a few days before, when Jesus had entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to shouts of “Hosanna,” there was no question in the disciples’ minds about who He was.
Now they weren’t sure.
In their hearts they were asking questions about Him that had been answered before, so Jesus reiterated to them who He really was, by revealing His person to them in fresh and unmistakably terminology: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (v. 9). “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (v. 10).
What did He reveal to them about Himself?
One thing: that He is God. They had heard His claims of deity before, and they had witnessed the proof of it in His works.
He had said in verse 6 that He was the way to God, the truth about God, in the very life of God.
He goes a step further in verses 7-10 and says in unequivocal terms that He is God. His words must have been staggering because the claim is so tremendous.
Yet it cannot be dismissed.
The single, central, most important issue of all about Jesus is the question of His deity.
Everyone who studies about Jesus must confront the issue, because of His own claims to be God.
Some conclude that Jesus was a madman, who had delusions of grandeur.
Others believe He was a fraud. Still others try to say that He was only a good teacher, but that is not really an option, because good teachers don’t claim to be God.
Either He was God in the flesh, or He was a madman or a fraud.
Sabellius, a second-century heretic, the forerunner of the Unitarians, taught that Jesus was only a radiation, a manifestation of God.
But He is not a manifestation of God; He is God manifest.
There is a significant difference. Jesus is uniquely one with, but distinct from, the Father—God manifest in human flesh.
Here Jesus makes the very simple, undisguised claim that He is no less than God.
He had told them many times in the past that He proceeded from the Father.
His comment in verse 4 implies that they should have understood: “You know the way where I am going.”
They should have at least known that He was going to be with the Father.
But Jesus’ words left them scratching their heads, and Thomas asked for an explanation.
Jesus’ answer was simply, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
(v. 6).
It was a claim of divine authority. In other words, “If you know Me, you know the way to get where I’m going.
I’m going to the Father and I will take you.”
He reinforced that claim with mild rebuke for their unbelief and a reassurance that they were as secure in their relationship with the Father as they were in their relationship with the Son:
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him” (v. 7).
In a sense, the disciples did not know Jesus at all. If they had really known Him like they thought, they wouldn’t have been worried about where the Father was.
They had some knowledge of who Jesus was.
They had declared that He was Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Peter had even made the statement that He was the Son of the living God.
They were very close to grasping fully the truth of His deity and beginning to understand the meaning of it.
Nevertheless, they were still confused, so Jesus stated it in clearest possible language, terms that they could not possibly miss: “If you had known Me, you would have known
My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him…He who has seen Me has seen the Father…. I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (vv. 7-10).
In other words, Jesus is saying, “if you really knew Me in depth, you would know the Father also.
Your confusion about the Father means that there must be some gaps in your knowledge of Me.
If they had really seen Jesus fully as God, they would not have had fears, doubts and questions about who the Father was and how to get to Him.
Remember, Jesus’ words were meant to comfort them.
They knew He loved them.
He wanted them to know that God cared for them in the same way, because He and the Father are one.
And that is exactly what happened. Thomas, for example, had doubted the resurrection even after hearing eyewitness testimony, but when he saw Christ, finally, it all fell into place, and he understood who Jesus was.
He looked at the risen Jesus and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Philip’s request in John 14:8, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” proved that the disciples did not at this point see the full truth of who Jesus is.
It was a shallow, faithless, ignorant thing to say, and it revealed his lack of understanding.
His knowledge of God was incomplete. So he did what people have done throughout history: he asked to see.
This is exactly what happens to some of us.
Philip was trying to walk by sight rather than by faith. It wasn’t enough for him to believe; he wanted to see something.
It could be that he remembered the account of Exodus 33, when Moses was tucked in a rock and he saw the afterglow of God’s glory pass by.
Or maybe he recalled the words of Isaiah 40:5: “Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together.”
In John 8:19, some unbelieving Jews had asked, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
Philip’s question revealed his lack of faith, and Jesus gave him the same answer He had given the unbelieving Jews.
Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?
The declaration is official
He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?'” (v. 9).
That was, of course, a rebuke to Philip, but I believe there was also pathos in the voice of Jesus.
Can you imagine the heartbreak of Jesus after He had poured His life into these twelve men for three years, to know that one of them was a traitor, one of them a swearing denier, and the ten that were left were of little faith?
It was the night before His death, and they still didn’t really know who He was.
Imagine Philip, standing there staring Christ in the face and asking Him to show him God.
Jesus’ answer to him was, “Open your eyes. You’ve been looking at Me for three years.”
They who had seen Jesus had seen the visible manifestation of God.
The writer of Hebrews says, “[Jesus Christ] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,” or as the King James Version says, “the express image of His person”
(Hebrews 1:3).
Now you know!
The apostle Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), and “In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9). Jesus is God.
It is easy to see how unbelievers might say what Philip did.
But for him to ask to see the Father as proof of Jesus’ claims doesn’t make much sense.
He and the other disciples had seen Jesus’ works and heard His words for three years.
The Divine handover
But Jesus was not discouraged; He had gone as far as He could with the disciples, and now He was ready to turn them over to the Holy Spirit.
That is a good principle to apply in discipleship.
Jesus’ answer night not have seemed very satisfying to Philip, but it was exactly what Philip needed.
Jesus didn’t do any miracles for him or give him any great display of power; He simply commanded him to believe.
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves” (vv. 10-11).
Philip asked for sight; Jesus told him to seek faith instead.
Christianity is walking by faith, not sight. I have never seen Jesus, never had a vision, never seen angelic hosts, never heard heavenly voices, and never been carried into the third heaven.
Yet my spiritual eyes can see things that my physical eyes could never even conceive of.
I don’t want visions, miracles, and strange phenomena.
I don’t want super fantastic, ecstatic things to happen; I want one thing—I want what the disciples prayed for in
Luke 17:5: “Increase our faith.”
Faith is not as one little boy described it: “Believing in something you know is not so.”
In fact, faith is just the opposite—believing in something you know is so.
Genuine faith has an essential basis in fact.
The disciples certainly had a basis for their faith, and Jesus reemphasized that to Philip: “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves” (vv. 10-11).
If Philip and the others had truly been listening for the previous three years, if they had really paid attention to the works Jesus did, they would not have doubted now.
He had answered questions that they had asked not with their lips, but in their hearts.
And if His words were not sufficient proof, they had seen His works—His miracles, and His sinless life.
Philip’s request to see God then was a gross display of unbelief.
He didn’t need to see anything; Jesus had proved that He was God.
What more could He show them?
He was God manifest.
They had heard His words, beheld His works; witnessed His glory; observed His perfection; and experienced His love for them.
How could they ask such a question now?
The Revelation of the Power of Jesus Christ
Next, He revealed to them the incredible resource of power they had available to them through Him.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” (v. 12).
Christians over the centuries have wondered at the richness of such a promise.
What does it mean?
How could anyone do greater works than Jesus had done?
He had healed people blind from birth, cast out the most powerful demons, and even raised a man from the dead after four days.
What could possibly be greater than that?
The key to understanding this promise is in the last phrase of verse 12: “because I go to the Father.”
When Jesus went to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit.
He completely transformed the disciples from a fearful group of timid individuals to a collective force that reached the world with the gospel.
Guess what!
The impact of their preaching exceeded even the impact of Jesus’ preaching during His lifetime.
Jesus had never preached outside Palestine.
Within His Jesus lifetime Europe had never received the word of the gospel, but under the ministry of the disciples it had begun to spread, and it’s still spreading today.
Its all coming out now
Their works were greater than His, not in power, but in scope.
Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, each one of those disciples had access to power in dimensions they did not have even with the physical presence of Christ.
The disciples undoubtedly thought that, without Christ, they would be reduced to nothing.
He was the source of their strength; how could they have power without Him? His promise was meant to ease those fears.
If they felt secure in His presence, they would be even more secure, more powerful, able to do more, if He returned to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit.
The disciples had power to work great miracles—not greater than Christ’s in power, but perhaps greater than His in scope.
Acts 5 says that “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people…they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them” (vv. 12, 15).
Incredible accolade
In Acts 2, Peter preached, and three thousand people were saved.
That simply never happened during the ministry of Jesus.
He never saw widespread revival.
The gospel never went to the Gentiles in the time of Jesus, but through the works of His apostles, conversions took place everywhere.
And after all, the greatest spiritual miracle that God can perform is salvation.
Take note, every time we introduce someone to Jesus Christ, we are literally involved in what God is doing spiritually, and we are seeing things greater than even Jesus saw in His own day!
The Revelation of His Promise
Finally, Jesus gave them a promise meant to ease the grief they felt at His leaving: “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (vv. 13-14).
Jesus had fed them. He had helped them catch their fish.
On one occasion He had even provided their tax money out of the mouth of a fish. He had supplied all their needs, but now He is leaving, and they must have wondered, How are we going to get a job?
How are we going to fit back into society?
What will we do without Him?
They had left everything and were completely without resources.
Without Jesus, they would be all alone in a hostile world.
Yet, He assured them, they did not need to worry about any of their needs.
The gap between Him and them would be closed instantly as they prayed.
Even though He would be absent, they would have access to all His supplies.
That is not carte blanche for every whim of the flesh.
The name of Jesus stands for all that He is. Throughout Scripture, God’s names are the same as His attributes.
When Isaiah prophesied that Messiah would be called “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6), he was not giving actual names, but rather an overview of Messiah’s character.
“I Am that I Am” is as much an affirmation of God’s eternal nature as it is a name by which He is to be called.