Who is Jesus, Part 1

I reread six biographies on Jesus Christ last week.^{(see note)} None is long, but each is profound and unique. I read because I needed to remind myself who this man is whom God calls my older brother.

How long has it been since you considered Jesus, not for what He said about Himself, but for what those who knew Him best said about Him?

John studied Christ. He knew Him well, and was perhaps Christ’s closest and most trusted friend during His life. John sat by Jesus, ate beside Him, leaned against Him, left all to follow Him, and stood alone at the crucifixion; the only disciple to not desert Jesus in His final hours. John was ultimately exiled for his faith. In that isolation, endowed with the wealth of solitude, he reflects in his writings the Word of God who became flesh: Jesus Christ (ref. Jn. 1:1ff).

John wrote three of the biographies I read. In the candor of an uneducated, working man John simply points out, Jesus Christ explained God (ref. Jn. 1:18b).

As only John could do, he summarized the entire spectrum of Christ’s life, work, death, resurrection, and ascension in three words: Jesus explained God.

If there is a subject that has more ink devoted to it other than the nature and identity of God, I don’t know what that subject is. But John condensed all these volumes to this: Jesus Christ explained God.

What did that life look like? Part 2 is coming day after tomorrow.

^note:  Ref. Jn. 1:1-5, 9-18; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-19; Heb. 1:2-13; Rev. 1:13-16; Rev. 19:11-16