That You May Believe - 3

"THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE"
Jesus' Claims In Relation To God

In John's prologue (Jn 1:1-18), we noted the claims he made regarding Jesus; that in relation to Deity, Jesus is the essence of God. In relation to the physical world, Jesus is the creator. In relation to the moral world, Jesus is the life and the light. To darkness, Jesus is the challenger and the victor. In relation to Humanity, Jesus is the creator and the benefactor. In relation to the Father, Jesus is the revelation of the Father. In relation to Grace and truth, Jesus is the fulness. At this point in our study, we begin a closer look at claims made by Jesus Himself. In particular, His claims regarding His relationship to God which should help us appreciate John's claim: "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." - Jn 1:18

First we note that on at least two occasions Jesus claimed He came from God.. After feeding the five thousand He claimed to be "the bread of life" sent from the Father - Jn 6:32-35 "Jesus then told them, "I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world." The people said, "Lord, give us this bread and don't ever stop!" Jesus replied: I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty." His claim is stated more clearly in - Jn 6:38 "I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me," In connection with this claim those who heard Him had problems with this claim - Jn 6:41-42 "The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven. They were asking each other, "Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?"' He said people must accept Him as "the bread sent from heaven" - Jn 6:57-58 "The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever." Many found this hard to accept - cf. Jn 6:60 "Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, "This is too hard for anyone to understand."", 66 "Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him." In the temple, at the Feast of Tabernacles again He claims to have come from God - Jn 7:28-29 "As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, "Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him."' Some to try to seize Him - Jn 7:30-32 "Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, "When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles than this man has done!" When the Pharisees heard the crowd arguing about Jesus, they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him." Yet He continued to speak this way of Himself - Jn 8:23 "Jesus answered, "You are from below, but I am from above. You belong to this world, but I don't.", 42 "Jesus answered: If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and only from him. He sent me. I did not come on my own." If such a claim was difficult for some to accept then, imagine their difficulty as Jesus made another claim in relation to God.

He alone has seen the Father - cf. Jn 6:46 The same claim stated by John in Jn 1:18. What about references to those who saw God? For example, when the Lord appeared to,. Abraham - Gen 17:1, Isaac and Jacob - cf. Exo 6:3, Moses - cf. Num 12:8; Deu 34:10. Such "visions" of God explained the same Scriptures declared that one could not see God and live - cf. Exo 33:17-23. What they saw were representations of God. For example the Angel of His presence (whom some think was Jesus in pre-incarnate form) - cf. Exo 13:21; 14:19 2) The burning bush, the pillar of fire, cloud of smoke, bright glory, etc. Jesus' claim to have seen God is very unique, that He alone has seen God as He truly is! Closely connected to this claim is another one.

Jesus claimed that "He knows God" The Greek words for "know" are ginosko - "knowing which is the result of discernment and which may be enlarged" oida - "implies absolute knowledge: the knowledge of intuition and of satisfied conviction". Jesus used both to describe His knowledge of God. "I know (ginosko) the Father" - Jn 10:14-15 "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep." Knowledge which comes through experience by which we also can know the Father "I know (oida) Him" - Jn 7:29 "But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him." This is absolute knowledge which comes from having been with the Father, and having seen Him. This knowledge of God only Jesus can rightly claim to possess - cf. Jn 8:55 "even though you don't really know him. If I said I didn't know him, I would be a liar, just like all of you. But I know him, and I do what he says."

Having claimed to come from God, that He alone has seen God and truly knows God, we should not be surprised to note Jesus also claimed that reveals God in that He offers a complete revelation of God. As Jesus claimed on at least two separate occasions to the Pharisees in - Jn 12:44-45 "In a loud voice Jesus said: Everyone who has faith in me also has faith in the one who sent me. And everyone who has seen me has seen the one who sent me." And to His disciples in - Jn 14:7-10 "If you had known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need." Jesus replied: Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don't you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? Don't you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn't said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things." The implication of this claim means to reject Jesus is to reject the only full revelation of God made known to man! Thus to reject Jesus is to reject God! - cf. Jn 15:23 "Everyone who hates me also hates my Father."
Finally, we note the claim that caused great irritation among the Jews that He is equal to God. This claim irritated His Jewish brethren so much they tried to kill Him - e.g., Jn 5:16-18 "They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath. But Jesus said, "My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working." Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said that God was his Father, which made him equal with God." They viewed it as blasphemy - cf. Jn 10:30-33 "and I am one with the Father. Once again the Jewish leaders picked up stones in order to kill Jesus. But he said, "I have shown you many good things that my Father sent me to do. Which one are you going to stone me for?" They answered, "We are not stoning you because of any good thing you did. We are stoning you because you did a terrible thing. You are just a man, and here you are claiming to be God!"' Jesus even took upon Himself God’s special name, the Name revealed to Moses at the burning bush - cf. Exo 3: 13-14 "Moses answered, "I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshiped has sent me to them. But what should I say, if they ask me your name?" God said to Moses: I am the eternal God. So tell them that the LORD, whose name is "I Am," has sent you. This is my name forever, and it is the name that people must use from now on." Calling Himself the "I AM" - cf. Jn 8:56-59 "Your father Abraham was really glad to see me." "You are not even fifty years old!" they said. "How could you have seen Abraham?" Jesus answered, "I tell you for certain that even before Abraham was, I was, and I am." The people picked up stones to kill Jesus, but he hid and left the temple." Teaching others that it was necessary to believe in Him as such - Jn 8:24 "That is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am, you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven."

In relation to God, Jesus therefore claimed He came from God, that He alone has seen God, that He knows God. He reveals God and He is equal to God. Certainly these are claims difficult to accept from someone who was simply "a great man." Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or everything He claimed to be in the fullest revelation of God made known to man, and the only way to God - cf. Jn 14:6 ""I am the way, the truth, and the life!" Jesus answered. "Without me, no one can go to the Father." Before we consider the evidence John presents in his gospel to substantiate such claims, we want to look at even more claims made by Jesus in our next study...