"Though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him." (John 1:10)
It is very painful when somone one who is closer to you did not recognize you. This can happen after a long time of not seeing each other or something happened physically that has drastically changed your appearance. It is even more difficult if your own spose or children do not recognize you. The Creator of the universe came to this world the creation did not recognize Him. They did not have any idea of what Jesus would look like. There were no prior pictures of Him nor any detailed descriptions of his physical appearance. But there were story pictures of Jesus described in words and letters by many prophets and saints before His birth.
There are a lot of people who are into taking all kinds of pictures of family, parties, vacations, weddings and baby pictures. Some are very anxious to get to church or a Bible study group to show the pictures of their children or grandchildren. Some show their new son in law or daughter in law, who got married recently. They are the proud people who approach you at fellowship time and ask you' "have I shown you the most recent pictures of my so and so?" You may want to say, “yes, thank you, I have seen them 3 times already”. We all carry pictures of our dear ones in our wallets and some of us post them at our desks. Lately, we have facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, where people post all kinds of pictures, some of them unnecessary and undesirable.
Story Pictures are as old as the human race, some of those old story pictures are more graphic than modern cameras can record. They leave more room for imagination. We have some such pictures of Jesus. We we can get a glimpse of Jesus through the writings of many people including the gospel writers.
Bible talks about many people who wanted to see God. David asked to see God. "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4 -David). Moses asked to see God, but God showed him his back and the glorious light around Him. Ex 33:18-23 depicts Moses who asks the Lord to show him His glory. Instead the Lord agrees to proclaim his name before Moses, telling him that it is impossible for a human being to see God's face.
The Bible says in John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." Jesus is the image of God as described by Paul in Colossians. "He is the image of the Invisible God." (Col 1:15).
We have seen hotel people and taxi men at airports and bus stations waiting to receive guests with posters of their guests' names. This is because they dont know how their guests look like. So the guest would come to them and introduce and show some picture identification. How do we see identify God? Jesus came to reveal God to us. How does Jesus look like? If Jesus appeared today, would you recognize him? The Jewish people did not recognize him. The world did not. They did not recognize him in his birth; they did not recognize him in his life and death. No matter how or who wrote the descriptions of Jesus in the Bible or other manuscripts, none of them says how much he weighed, his height at any age, color of his eyes, or his length of hair.
But there are some vivid pictures portrayed in the scriputres in various descriptive forms. These are pictures of Jesus taken by the eyes of men of God and printed them by their tongues and words. The earliest pictures of Jesus was taken the night Jesus was born. Joseph and Mary had arrived at Bethlehem when Mary was late with the child, and could not find a room anywhere. The town had a small primitive hotel, but it was full to the limits. So Joseph and Mary found a place for themselves a place in a stable and just in time. When the baby was born, they used the available facility they had, they used a manger for a crib.
The news of the baby's birth spread in a remarkable way. Some shepherds tending their flocks in a nearby field were visited by an angel, who told them the birth of Jesus. They went to go see the baby, and they had taken some pictures with their eyes, and printed them with their tongues. Luke 2:18 says, "people who were listening to the shepherds were amazed at the story they told them". Their pictures were so good that we still have them today.
Another picture was taken when Jesus was a month old or so. Joseph and Mary took him to the temple for a special Jewish ritual. A ritual much like the infant baptism. Of course, it is no surprise that there were some pictures taken. An old man Simeon, is holding the baby in his arms, and he is praying. In another picture, a devout 84 year old woman, by name Anna, is praising God for the child. These two pictures have been so awestruck, that the gospel writer Matthew printed it very clearly for the world to see.
Another picture was taken some time later, when a company of wise men from the east came to visit the baby Jesus. They made a very long and remarkable journey to get to the baby. When they saw him, they presented him with gifts - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This print is very impressive, a tiny Jewish baby with a group of old wise men from another part of the world. That is quite a remarkable picture and different from any other.
Then we have the picture of Jesus about 12 years old, when he was taken to the temple by his parents. They lost him for three days. We have a picture of him sitting with the elders and teachers at the temple asking questions. The gospel writers narrated his pictures preaching and teaching through the streets of Palestine and Judea. We can see pictures of Jesus performing miracles of healing the sick and raising the dead. We see pictures of Jesus feeding the crowd and we see pictures of Jesus
We are familiar with selfies where we take our own pictures. Jesus took some pictures of himself as we can see in the scriptures. These were made out by the "I AM" statements of Jesus. Those statmetns are pictures that He took on himself to declare who He is.
1) "I Am the Bread of Life" (John 6:22-59). Jesus enters a dialogue with Jews who had followed him because of his miracles—including the recent feeding of the 5,000—and yet they missed the reality behind them (he is the Divine Messiah). More important than solving their physical hunger for food through bread, Jesus offers himself as the Bread of Life to fulfill deeper longings and an eternal need.
There is more to the bread from God than the bread itself (Exodus 16; Deut. 8:3; Ps. 78:23-25). It’s not an earthly bread but a heavenly bread. It comes from above—from God—and comes down to us only by his grace and goodness. We need more than physical bread and we need it from someone other than ourselves. God will provide what we need most, and we should raise our eyes in faith. This is a picture that fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies.
2) "I Am the Light of the World" (John 8:12-30. See also John 1:4-5; 3:19-21; 9:5; 12:35-36).
Light is one of the most prominent themes in John’s Gospel. The world is lost and hopeless in darkness (John 1:4-14). The darkness cannot change its condition. Light must enter and invade. One cannot see or lead others in the darkness, so light is necessary to guide us and walk forward. John picks up light from a rich OT heritage and shows how Jesus is the light. Based upon the fact that in John 8:12 Jesus ties the idea of being the light with his people following after him in the light, the most likely the scriptural background in mind here is the light of God’s presence leading Israel in the wilderness via the pillar of fire (Exodus 13-14). Just as the Israelites were led by the pillar of fire (light) in the exodus and saved from the Egyptians as they crossed the Red Sea, so also Jesus says those who follow him (light) will have life. (Ref: Exodus 13:17-22 (cf. Ex. 14:19-20); Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6
3) "I Am the door or gate" and 4)"I am the Good Shepherd" (John 10:1-18)
In John 10:1-18, Jesus makes two of the I Am sayings together. He claims he is the both the door through which the sheep enter as well as the Shepherd who knows the sheep and lays down his life for them. The metaphor of the door does not have the rich OT background as shepherding imagery does. But, Jesus is both the only way (door) a person enters into the people of God and the one who gives his life for the life of sheep, whom he knows and protects. He is the one who gathers the sheep and cares for them (shepherd) and he’s also the means by which they enter and are kept safe (door). Fulfilment of
OT Background: Psalms 118:20 (gates = door); Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23 (cf. Isaiah 40:11; Numbers 27:15-18; Micah 5:4)
5) I Am the resurrection, and the life (John 11:17-27)
Similar to other I AM statements, Jesus doesn’t just talk about what he can do or give, but who He is. He doesn’t just give bread (like Moses) but he is the bread. He doesn’t merely reflect light; he is the light. So also, in John 11, Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life.
The OT background isn’t as clear here as other statements, but most commentators believe Genesis 1-3 is partially in view. God is the Creator and Life-giver, granting life to creation and breathing life into Adam. However, the first Adam chose sin which brought about death for mankind and brokenness for the creation. Jesus comes as the second Adam, righteous and blameless in all his ways, comes to undo what Adam did and reverse the curse (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15). Where Adam brought about death and decay, Jesus gives life and restoration. He provides not only resurrection and life to individuals who believe in him but for the entire world.
6) "I Am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)
It’s likely Jesus is here contrasting himself to the many ways in the OT that God prescribed for how the Jews could approach and relate to him. The systems of the sacrifices, temple, the curtain, tabernacle, and other means of worship were temporary “ways” to God. As the NT makes clear, these things in and of themselves did not cleanse or make people acceptable to God, but they were avenue by which God’s people could walk in faith and follow after Him (see Hebrews 8-9). Jesus contrasts himself to anything before him they thought led them to the Father. He is the only one who provides the way to the Father, but he is also at the same time to the full revelation of the Father (truth). OT Background: Exodus 26:33; Leviticus 16)
7) "I Am the true vine" (John 15:1-6)
Here, Jesus speaks of a vine, a common OT symbol for Israel (God’s people). The language of the unfruitful branches is tied to Israel as the desolate vineyard in Isaiah 5, but Jesus says the people of God have life and fruit now by being in him, as pictured in Isaiah 27:2-6. Jesus is not simply saying Christians are fruitful by resting in him (though this is true), but he’s making the redemptive-historical claim he is the new Israel. OT Background: Two vineyard songs: Isaiah 5:1-7 (the desolate vineyard) & Isaiah 27:2-6 (the fruitful vineyard).
The Jewish people and there teachers could not connect these piecture in the scriptural foretelling about the Messiah and recogize Jesus as the One they were waiting for.
The Most personal picture is the picture of Jesus dying on the Cross. His suffering in the streets of Jerussalem and the same he took on himself are vivid pictures narrated by the gospel writers. The strongest and the most powerful is the picture of the risen Jesus. His appearing to the people after His resurrection as so powerful that they all went and preached the gospel around the world.
There is one more picture of Jesus, that John portrays in his gospel. Many of us miss this because unlike any other picture, John's gospel starts with the creation story. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, the word was God, and the "Word became flesh and lived among us." (John 1:14). "We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This picture is taken beyond the light rays and recorded outside human ear. This is not just a baby picture, but the picture of what Jesus is all about. Although, the music and the lights and the decorations are great, the most important picture of Jesus is that Jesus came to save us from sin. He didn't come because we are nice people, but because we are lost people.
So what do we learn from the pictures we have? They tell us, not what he looked like, but they tell us who he is. The most important fact about Jesus is who He is rather than what he looked like. Once we know who He is, like Shepherds telling their friends, that they saw the cutest boy with beautiful eyes, we would carry and tell others. The wise men were not satisfied in sending a greeting card, but they traveled thousands of miles and months to bring their gold, frankincense and myrrh.
There is one more picture of Jesus in to keep in our hearts today. This picture needs to settle in our souls as to Who Jesus is and who He is going to be. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him who is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life." (Revelation 22:13). He is the eternal God whom heaven and earth adore.
Someone said like this "if our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was salvation, so God sent us a Savior!"
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