Who Is Jesus?

There's a very strange thing you should know about me.  I absolutely LOVE it when the Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door.  Most people I know dread it, but not me.  I love to talk theology, and you could even say I like a good argument once in awhile.  Not a name calling, knock down kind of argument, but lively intellectual debate.

Just this morning, a Joho (my shorthand name for the Jehovah Witnesses) came to my door.  I didn't get too excited though, because it was an older woman who was alone, and I knew she wouldn't stick around long to talk to a man.  She offered me a Watchtower and I politely declined, explaining I had read them before.  But I did invite her in for coffee and said, "Let's talk about who Jesus really is because I think you've believed a lie about him."  Of course she politely declined my invitation, as I expected she would.

The only time a Joho has stuck around to talk with me for an extended length of time was about 7 or 8 years ago on a bitter cold February day when the temperature was in the teens with a brutal north wind blowing.  I was outside chopping firewood for my woodburner (the old fashioned way with a maul) so I was nice and warm.  A car pulled into our driveway and out popped a young man and a young woman, probably in their early 20's.  "Fresh meat," I thought as I saw them make their way down my driveway with some watchtowers and a Bible in hand.  

We made some small talk, and I invited them in.  Of course they refused, so I grabbed the Greek New Testament out of my truck - doesn't everybody carry one of those in their car? - and said, "Let's talk about who Jesus really is because I think you've believed a lie about him."  This young couple stood shivering in my driveway - he in just a suit and she in a dress and overcoat.  We looked together at the Gospel of John and I showed them some important differences in the Greek Text that their New Kingdom Translation had wrongly translated.  

I must have invited them in at least 10 times as they shivered and wiped snot from their noses and tears from their eyes because of the biting wind, but they refused.  We talked about Jesus and about who He claimed to be in the Scriptures, and I could tell that they were unsettled by what I was showing them.  I told them to come back any time, and bring some elders or leaders from their Kingdom Hall and we could talk more.  But I'm certain they told their leaders to stay away from that crazy preacher on O'Hara Road that talks about Jesus with a Bible in one hand and a wood maul in the other, because they never came back.  

So what exactly did we talk about?  We talked about today's reading from John 14, specifically in v.9 where Jesus responds to Phillip's request to see the Father by saying, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!"

Who is Jesus?  He is God in human flesh!   You see, the Johos don't believe this.  They believe that Jesus is a created being, and that He is not eternal and not God in human flesh.  When a Joho shows up at my door, it's always my hope that we can talk about this because it's so important.  

Why is it important?

If Jesus is a created being, he is subject to the fall, just like every other part of creation.  And if Jesus is subject to the fall, then his substitutionary death on the cross is not sufficient to remove the stain of our sin because he is not a sinless, perfect sacrifice.  If Jesus' death on the cross is not sufficient to remove the stain of our sin, then we are still stuck in our sin and no satisfactory payment has been made for our sin.

In v.6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me."  When many people hear these words, and think about the implications, their immediate reaction is, "That's not fair!"  Just as the Joho's on that bitter cold day were unsettled by the truth of who Jesus is, many people are unsettled by the truth of who Jesus is. 

But in a way, I agree with them.  It's not fair.  It's grace, and grace isn't fair.  Because of grace, we get what we don't deserve.  Because of grace, God comes to us in Jesus to rescue us and to save us from our sins, and doesn't wait for us to get our act together on our own before we come to Him.  The fact that God comes to us in Jesus gives us great hope and security.


When we believe that Jesus is who He says He is in the Scriptures, and trust in His power to transform our lives and bring us into friendship - not just fellowship, but friendship - as the sons and daughters of God and to guarantee through His Spirit the inheritances and promises of God, nothing could be more fair than this.  Despite our sin, despite our guilt, despite our shame, and despite our hostility towards God, God came to us in Jesus to restore what our sin has broken.  

In v.7, Jesus speaks these incredible words of hope and promise to his friends: "If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him and have seen him!"

We have hope when we believe Jesus because in Jesus we see the incredible love and grace of The Father who loves us.  When we sin and screw up, we look at Jesus and see that The Father welcomes sinners and that heaven rejoices over our repentance (see Luke 15).  We see that we have a Father who loves us passionately and fully.  We see that we have a Father that would give everything for our redemption and healing.  When we look at Jesus, we look at The Father. 

Is this the Jesus you know?  Or do you know a Jesus who is less than God in human flesh?  If you know a Jesus who is anything less than this, you know a Jesus who is limited in power; you know a Jesus who is impotent to do anything about your sin; and you know a Jesus that isn't really Jesus.