Who Was Jesus?

Was Jesus human or divine? Where did he come from? The Gospel of John provides the answers to these questions. John belonged to that inner circle of disciples who were privileged to witness the Transfiguration of Jesus on a high mountain and receive a glimpse of the Kingdom of God in a vision. (Mt 17,1)Until then, Jesus' glory had been veiled by an ordinary human body. John was also the first of the disciples to believe in the resurrection of Christ. Shortly after Jesus' resurrection, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that it was empty: "So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved [that was John], and said to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'" (Joh 20,2)John ran to the tomb and arrived there before Peter, but the bold Peter ventured in first. “After him, the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and saw and believed.” (Joh 20,2).

John deep understanding

John, perhaps partly due to his close relationship with Jesus, possessed a deep and comprehensive insight into the nature of his Savior. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each begin their biographies of Jesus with events that fall within Christ's earthly life. John, however, begins at a point in time that predates the story of creation: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (Joh 1,1-3)The true identity of the Word is revealed a few verses later: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Joh 1,14)Jesus Christ is the only heavenly being who ever descended to earth and became a fleshly man.
These few verses tell us a great deal about the nature of Christ. He was God and became man at the same time. From the beginning, he lived with God, who, from Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit, was his Father. Jesus was formerly "the Word" (Greek: logos) and became the spokesman and revealer for the Father. "No one has ever seen God. Only the One and Only, who is God himself at the side of the Father, has made him known to us." (Joh 1,18).
In the first letter of John, he gives an excellent addition: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched, concerning the Word of life—and the life appeared, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” (1. Joh 1,1-2).

This text leaves no doubt that the person with whom they had lived, worked, played, swum, and fished was none other than a member of the Godhead—of the same substance as God the Father, who had been with them from the beginning. Paul writes: “For in him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Kol 1,16-17)Paul here emphasizes the almost unimaginable extent of the influence and authority of the pre-human Christ.

The Divinity of Christ

John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, repeatedly emphasizes the pre-existence of Christ as God before his birth as a man. This theme runs like a red thread through his entire Gospel. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not recognize him” (Joh 1,10 Elberfeld Bible).

If the world was made through him, then he lived before its creation. John the Baptist takes up the same theme and points to Jesus: “This was the one of whom I said, ‘After me comes one who was before me, because he was before me.’” (Joh 1,15)Although John the Baptist was conceived and born before Jesus, the Son of Man. (Lk 1,35-36), but Jesus in his pre-existence, on the other hand, had already lived eternally before John's conception.

Jesus' supernatural knowledge

John reveals that Christ possessed powers that surpassed all that is human, although he was certainly subject to the weaknesses and temptations of the flesh. (Hebr 4,15)When Christ called Nathanael to be a disciple and future apostle, Jesus saw him coming and said to him: “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel!” (Joh 1,48-49)Nathanael was obviously surprised that a complete stranger could talk to him as if he knew him.

As a result of the signs Jesus performed in Jerusalem, many believed in his name. Jesus knew they were curious: “But Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew them all and did not need anyone to testify about people, for he knew what was in people.” (Joh 2,24-25)Christ, the Creator, had created mankind, and no human weakness was foreign to him. He knew all their thoughts and motives.

who comes from heaven

John was well aware of Jesus' true origin. He quotes Christ as an extremely clear statement: "No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." (Joh 3,13)A few verses later, Jesus reveals his heavenly origin and his supreme position: “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in earthly terms. He who comes from heaven is above all.” (Joh 3,31).
Even before his birth as a human being, our Savior saw and heard the message he would later proclaim on earth. In deliberately controversial conversations with religious leaders of his time, on earth, he said: "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world." (Joh 8,23)His thoughts, words, and deeds were inspired by heaven. They thought only of the things of this world, while Jesus' life showed that he came from a pure world, unlike ours.

The Lord of the Old Testament

In this long dialogue with Jesus, the Pharisees brought up Abraham, the highly esteemed patriarch or father of faith? Jesus explained to them: “Your father Abraham was glad to see my day, and when he saw it, he rejoiced.” (Joh 8,56)In fact, the divine person who became Christ walked with Abraham and spoke with him. (1. Mose 18,1-2)Unfortunately, these zealots did not understand Jesus and said: “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” (Joh 8,57).

Jesus Christ is identical with the divine person who walked in the desert with Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt. Paul makes this clear: “They [our fathers] all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and that rock was Christ.” (1. Kor 10,1-4).

From Creator to Son

What was the reason why the leaders of the Pharisees wanted to kill him? “Because Jesus had not only disregarded their (the Pharisees') Sabbath regulations, but had even called God his Father and thereby made himself equal to God.” (Joh. 5,18 Hope for All). If you, dear reader, have children, then they are on the same level as you. They are not inferior beings like animals. However, the father has always held, and still holds, the higher authority: "The father is greater than I am." (Joh. 14,28).

In that discussion with the Pharisees, Jesus makes the Father-Son relationship abundantly clear: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but only what he sees his Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (Joh 5,19)Jesus possesses the same power as his Father, for he too is God.

Glorified divinity regained

Even before there were angels and humans, Jesus was a glorified person of God. Jesus has existed as God since eternity. He emptied himself of this glory and came down to earth as a man: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage, but emptied himself, taking the very nature of a servant, being born in human likeness.” (Phil 2,6-7).

John writes of Jesus' last Passover before his suffering: "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed." (Joh 17,5).

Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus returned to his former glory: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2,9-11).

part of God's family

Jesus was God before he was born as a man; he was God while walking the earth in human form; and he is now God, at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Is this all the knowledge we can gain about the God-family? Humanity's ultimate destiny is to be part of the God-family: “Beloved, we are already children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1. Joh 3,2).

Do you understand the full implications of this statement? We were created to be part of a family - God's family. God is a father who wants a relationship with his children. God, the Heavenly Father, longs to bring all mankind into an intimate relationship with Him and to shower His love and goodness on us. It is God's deep desire that all people be reconciled to him. That is why he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, the last Adam, to die for the sins of mankind so that we might be forgiven and be reconciled to the Father and brought back to be God's beloved children.

by John Ross Schroeder