JESUS--WAS HE GOD OR MAN?

JESUS--WAS HE GOD OR MAN?

Certain things Christ said of Himself, either in formal declaration, or incidentally, reveal His self-consciousness, as apart from His relationship, either to God or to man. These again may be grouped under two headings. In certain passages He spoke out of an eternal consciousness; or I should prefer to change the word eternal, and adopt that which is its equivalent, but which far better conveys the real meaning of the New Testament word; He spoke out of an age-abiding conscious­ness. In other passages there are terms which reveal His temporal consciousness; or terms which show that He was speaking, as of the age in which He lived, and as conscious of its limitations.

I have selected, rather by way of illustration than in any attempt to exhaust the theme, three passages in which I find the terms of eternity, the age-abiding terms. Let us first read them. I shall quite deliberately lift these passages out of their context, in order that we may consider them in their lone­liness. This is not to do any violence to them, because the context in no way modifies their meaning in this application.

These then are the three passages:

"I came forth, and am come from God." (John 8:42)

"Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:48)

"I came out from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father." (John 16:28; 13:3)

Almost all the great declarations of Christ revealing His eternal consciousness, and concerning His relationship to God, are found in the Gospel according to John. Bishop Westcott said of this Gospel, "The Gospel of John from first to last is a record of the conflict between men's thoughts of Christ, and Christ's revelation of Himself."

The first of these statements, "I came forth, and am come from God," is a most remarkable word, not describing a fellowship of nearness with God, but one which is essential. The real suggestion of the declaration, "I came forth from God," is not that He came from the side of God, from companionship with God, as an angel might; but that He came out of the essential mystery of the Being of God.

The declaration, "Before Abraham was, I am," was in­troduced by that formula of which He occasionally made use when desiring to fasten attention upon a subject: "Verily, verily." This moreover was a direct and intended contrast on His part between the temporal and the eternal. "Abra­ham was"; that is a term of the temporal; but before that, "I am," which in that contrast becomes distinctly a term of the eternal.

In the last of these three passages we have a perfect summary of the whole mission of Christ as recorded in the Gospels, " . . . from the Father . . . into the world . . . leave the world . . . unto the Father." (John 16:28)

It is impossible, and unnecessary for us to consider fully the value of these words separately. The fact to be observed is that our Lord referred to Himself in such a way that the implication of His references is that of an age-abiding existence. It is important that we notice the persistence of the Ego, of the "I," of the Person, through these passages: "I came forth, and am come from God"; "Before Abraham was, I am"; "I came out . . . am come into . . I leave . . . and go unto."

Herein is no definite or systematic declaration or claim of preexistence; and yet herein is the consciousness of a per­sistent existence; or the vaporing of a diseased mind; or the false claims of an impostor. The Ego is persistent; existing before the coming, or there could have been no coming; present in the world, and evidently set forth before the eyes of men in guise suited to their ability to appreciate; and about to leave the world, but not to cease to be. These are the eternal terms, the age-abiding terms, in which He spoke of Himself; and the inevitable implication is that of an eternal, or an age-abiding consciousness.

Turning next to those terms of existence which were purely temporal; those references to Himself which indicated His relation to the conditions of the age in which He spoke; and which mark His sense of the limitations of time and locality, and His sense of the common experiences of hu­manity, we will group seven such passages, indicating in each case the particular sense suggested.

The first two indicate His sense of the limitations of time and locality: "We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." (John 9:4) That was the sense of time.

"I must preach the good tidings of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also: for therefore was I sent." (Luke 4:43) That was the sense of locality.

The next five reveal His sense of the common experience of men: "Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." (Mark 13:32) That was the sense of limited knowledge.

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." (Luke 9:58) That was the sense of poverty.

"No one knoweth the Son, save the Father." (Matt. 11:27) That was the sense of loneliness.

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." (Matt. 26:38) That was the sense of sorrow.

"The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." (Matt. 27:45) That was the sense of human weakness.

From these illustrations, which can easily be changed or multiplied, we may recognize that His common speech con­cerning Himself was that of One sharing in every way in the conditions of His age, and the experiences of humanity. Thus we find declarations, formally made, or incidentally falling from His lips, which reveal the consciousness of a Being both superior to His own age, and subsisting in all ages; and therefore ageless, timeless, age-abiding, eternal. And we find that He was conscious also of the limitations of time and space; that He did not know the day or the hour; that He knew poverty, that He knew loneliness, that He knew sorrow, that He knew weakness; all the things of one age, its limitations and its human experiences.

Both!!! The answer to the title and question!!! Thank God! thank Him!! and thank the Holy Spirit!!!