Jesus

Jesus

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing

made that was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”

John 1:1-3 & 14 ESV

John’s image of Jesus shows how He fulfilled the ancient Jewish promises of Israel’s God returning to His people to dwell among them (Ezekiel 37:24-28). Interestingly, the word he uses for “dwelt” is the word tabernacle. Literally “the Word became human and set up His tabernacle among us.” John is making the claim that the dwelling place of God found in the wilderness tabernacle and Solomon’s temple find their fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s presence with His people.

As Matthew writes,

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:22-23 ESV)

In John chapter 2, Jesus calls His body the temple when he said,

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19 ESV)

Paul said,

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17 ESV) and “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

(Colossians 2:9 ESV)

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

(Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV)

By becoming human, Jesus fulfilled the very purpose of the tabernacle/temple, that God would come to dwell personally with His people (Matthew 1:23). And He fulfilled the purpose of the tabernacle/temple priesthood and sacrificial system by offering Himself as the once and for all sacrifice for sins and therefore He stands before God as our High Priest (a human representative

before God) advocating on our behalf, forever (Hebrews 7:22-28; John 2:1). So then, Christ’s love for the people He made and His selfless act of obedience on the cross opened the way for humans to have access once again to the life-giving presence of God.

Healing

I used to see Christ’s healings as though they were only random acts to show He had some other-world power to prove that He was someone important—that He was God. However, though they do reveal He is One with the Father, I’ve come to realize that when Jesus healed people, it wasn’t arbitrary. God was revealed in Jesus’ works because they were about reversing the effects of death and imparting life. Through Jesus, God’s life-giving presence was touching and redeeming this broken world of death in a real tangible way to give us a glimpse of what it looks like when God is fully on the throne over all creation. When the God of Heaven—the Creator and life giver of all things—comes proclaiming “Good News, the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near,” to a world ruled by dark spiritual powers and the evil serpent responsible for binding humanity to suffering (Luke 13:15-17), the manifestation of this Kingdom drawing near is exactly what you see Jesus doing. The signs that Heaven’s Kingdom is present within a world of death and decay are the signs of new life and restoration.

“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

(Matthew 11:2-6 ESV)

“Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

(Matthew 12:22-29 ESV)

Jesus was proclaiming and fulfilling the good news of Isaiah’s prophecy that Israel’s God would return to Jerusalem to redeem His people (Isaiah 52:7-10). When Heaven is revealed to the earth in the humble way of Jesus, sin is defeated, death is overturned, and the life-giving presence of our Creator brings healing to everything that has gone wrong in His good creation.

It is precisely this and many other reasons His death and resurrection gave Him the right to sit at the right hand of God, to be appointed heir of all things and to be appointed the One Whom the

world to come will be subject to (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-9). The One through Whom the unity of all things in heaven and earth has begun (Ephesians 1:10) and will one day be fully realized (Revelation 21:1-5).

Now that Jesus has come and established God’s reigning presence on the earth by His life, death and resurrection, He now lives among His people by his Spirit displaying that the age to come, the kingdom of God, eternal life has already begun. God’s heavenly reign over all creation, was planted like a mustard seed in the ground on a Friday evening 2,000 years ago and by the power of God bursted forth on the third day and is now filling creation through His Spirit empowered children. On that day, when Jesus appears a second time, the Kingdom of God, that at present is manifest through the faithful people of God who cover the face of the earth, will be fully realized “on earth as in Heaven.”

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

(Romans 8:19-23 ESV)

In Jesus, God has purchased the freedom of humanity through the binding of Himself to His creation in human flesh to bear into Himself all of our sin and die, breaking its power and being raised to life, making it possible for all who are in Him to pass from death into that same life that the first humans were driven away from and that Christ was raised unto. A heavenly, eternal life given to humanity that death has no dominion over (Romans 6:9). He went into exile (He died) as a human to bring us back out of exile (resurrection). Jesus went through death and was raised never to die again (Romans 6:8-10) therefore we who are in Him have been sealed, in the present, by His Spirit, as a down payment—a guarantee of our future inheritance in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14) and look forward to the day when He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal (subject to death) bodies by His Spirit Who dwells in us (Romans 8:11).

So then, we are left with the question..

Where is He Now?

According to the writer of Hebrews He has entered the true holy place behind the curtain, heaven itself (Hebrews 6:19; 10:20). When Jesus died, He forever removed the veil that separated the two spaces (Matthew 27:50-51; Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:39-46). God’s life-giving presence has been made accessible to humanity through Jesus. The cross of Jesus has become the Tree of Life!

In return, He calls all humanity to Himself, offering a different kind of human life. One connected to the true eternal-life source, the Creator God. One that swallows up death with the resurrection power of Jesus. One that overcomes the toils and burdens of this age and offers true rest.

“At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:25-30 ESV)