When you think of Jesus, how do you picture Him? Most of us think of Jesus as our saviour, our role model, our friend, and someone who is always available to help us. (At least these are the types of answers I received when I asked some of those around me.)
But do we fully grasp who Jesus is, and what He came to do? The thing is that if we have a limited grasp of who Jesus is, then our understanding of who we are in Christ is also going to be limited.
For instance, we readily identify with Jesus as we see Him in the Gospels – healing people, working miracles, teaching the crowds, travelling with the disciples. But the Jesus John saw in heaven who had eyes like a blazing fire, glowing skin and whose face shone like the full force of the sun (Revelation 1:13-16) is unfamiliar. Even the concept of Jesus as the Commander of the Lord’s army, as He appeared to Joshua (Joshua 5:13-16), is rather different from how we usually picture Him.
Enlarging our understanding of Jesus
In Philippians 2:7-11, Paul captures two vital aspects regarding Jesus. The first is that Jesus humbled Himself and took on human form. That’s the Jesus we see in the Gospels. He was God in the flesh, who chose to put aside His divine privileges in order to become like us and take the penalty of death that we deserved. We understand this, and we are so very grateful to Him for it. The second is that because He not only took the penalty, but then rose again, He has been highly exalted. He gained absolute victory over everything – all for us. It’s the vastness of this second aspect in particular that I’m not sure we have really grasped, and therefore haven’t fully stepped into yet, me included.
As I thought more about all this, I began to wonder if maybe we haven’t truly grasped the victory Jesus gained for us, because we haven’t understood the fullness of God’s overall plan. So maybe re-examining what the Gospel writers have to say about who Jesus is, might be helpful.
Jesus, according to the Gospel writers
In fact, none of the Gospel writers explain who Jesus is and what He came to do, the way we would probably explain it today. And I find that fascinating.
Matthew begins his explanation with Abraham. That’s because Matthew’s aim is to show that Jesus fulfils everything God promised to Abraham. And God gave Abraham some very big promises. The Jews themselves didn’t even grasp the full significance of what God promised! So Matthew paints this huge picture of Jesus and what He came to do that goes beyond Jewish expectations.
Mark begins with the prophet Isaiah. The context of Isaiah is the painful time of exile and the return from exile. Mark begins with Isaiah 40 – the incredible chapter regarding the return of the Lord. Interestingly, Mark’s Gospel includes both suffering and victory. Mark’s aim is to clearly show that the way of victory is only through the suffering of the cross.
Luke, a Gentile, begins his depiction of Jesus by echoing the stories of two people – the prophet Samuel and King David. Luke demonstrates that Jesus is a shepherd-king, like David. Then in chapter 4, Luke’s genealogy begins with Adam, because Luke wants to make it clear that the salvation Jesus brings as this shepherd-king, is for the whole world.
Only John begins anywhere near creation. He actually begins before creation – in eternity. John’s purpose is to show that Jesus is the Son of God. John traces God’s presence with His people through the whole of Scripture, demonstrating that Jesus not only fulfils everything the tabernacle and temple stood for, but also that He surpasses it, fulfilling all the purposes of God’s heart, beginning even before anything was created.
The magnificence of God’s plan
Like a jigsaw puzzle being assembled, together the four Gospels give us a larger and far more expansive view of Jesus and the mission He came to accomplish. We see how connected the Gospels are to the Old Testament Scriptures. And we realise that God’s overall plan extends much further than ever envisaged before. We also see the heart of the Father being revealed through everything Jesus does and says.
In fact, the more we find out about Jesus from the Gospels, the more we will be drawn to follow Him. And the closer we follow Him, the more we will be transformed. We will see with fresh eyes the absolute victory He gained, and how it fits into God’s overall plan – and we will start to walk in a new level of His victory for ourselves. The Jesus depicted in Revelation 1 and Joshua 5 also begin come into focus.
Over the next few weeks we will be re-examining how each of the Gospels answer the question “Who is Jesus?” So be ready to see Jesus in a whole new way. And as we do this, may Paul’s prayer become our reality:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:18-23 (NIV)
