Knowing Jesus in the Flesh or the Spirit?

 

Matthew 16:13-19

Jesus was gaining fame through His teachings and His claims regarding the Kingdom of God and Himself.  Many speculations were circulating among the people as to who He really was.  He was rumored to be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or perhaps one of the other prophets.  From their answers, many people obviously saw Jesus as a religious person – even as one sent from God, as a prophet (one who speaks for God and interprets God’s will to man [from Bible dictionary]).   No one in the crowds was willing to go so far as to call Him the Son of God, however, as that takes spiritual discernment and revelation from the God the Father. 

“Who do you say I am?” When Peter answered this question posed by Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus exclaimed, “Blessed are you, Peter, because this has been revealed to you by my Father!”

Peter had been favored by God with the truth of who Jesus really was.  He was a fortunate man indeed for he was able to see through spiritual eyes what the Father revealed to him!  Those in the crowd were only able to know Jesus according to “flesh and blood.” 

I grew up in the church and heard all about Jesus from a very early age.  In college, I began questioning who He was.  I was like one of the people in the crowd, trying to answer that question in my flesh – and coming up short.  In a last-ditch effort to find answers, I attended a class at church on the Christian faith.  During that time, the Holy Spirit gave me spiritual eyes to see, like Peter, that Jesus is the Christ.

Have you been blessed with the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God?  If not, pray that the Holy Spirit will come to you and embed it into your heart and soul.  If you have such truth, pray for someone to share it with soon.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, come with truth into my heart, and spill over from me to another, Amen.

Overspray and The Son of Man

John 3:1-18

 

At work, I park my car, a 2011 red Mitsubishi Eclipse, at one end of the parking lot, right next to the fence that surrounds the dumpster. Three foot tall poles were recently installed at each corner of the fence, and today - a very windy day, they were spray painted yellow.

 

This was not a light pastel yellow like you would paint a bedroom wall; but a bright yellow like you would use to paint lines in a parking lot. My car was parked less than three feet from the pole. I couldn’t see the wind blowing, but I sure could see where it went by the bright yellow overspray all over the side of my car.

 

Nicodemus was a religious leader who seemed to be sincerely searching for God even though he met Jesus at night so that nobody would see him. Jesus tried to explain things to him. First he told him how to see the kingdom of God. Then he told him how to enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus didn’t get it.

 

If you listen closely, you might hear Jesus’ voice raise an octave as he seemed to get more and more frustrated with Nicodemus. He even made fun of him when he said, “You are Israel’s teacher and do you not understand these things?” Keep in mind, Jesus was a poor, uneducated carpenter mocking a highly respected, religious leader.

 

Finally, Jesus got very direct. He pointed to himself – the Son of Man. “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”  It’s as if He said to Nicodemus, “Alright, if you don’t understand this, how about this? Look at me. I’m standing right here in front of you. Do you get it now?”

 

In many ways, we’re no different than Nicodemus. We’re on a journey trying to find our way. Sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we don’t know where we’re going. Sometimes life feels out of control. We try to make sense of it, but we just don’t get it. Often times, it isn’t until after the fact, when we are looking back with twenty/twenty hind sight, that we can see how Jesus was at work in our lives.

 

We may not know where the wind comes from, or where it is going; but we can see the overspray. If we pick ourselves back up and keep following Him; if we return to Him when we miss the mark; if we reach for Him to hold us in His arms - there is hope. Jesus was the incarnation of the Living God. Let us continually seek the Son of Man.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%203%3A1-18&version=NIV;MSG
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/John.3.1-John.3.18