How did Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary in a manger, trained as a carpenter, come to understand He was Immanuel, God with us?
It is a mystery, perhaps the mystery of faith, considering that Jesus’ faithfulness and belief in Himself were foundational to establishing Christianity on earth. Jesus had what we all have – holy, divine Scripture – and as Jesus studied diligently, the Spirit revealed the truth in the word and brought the Word to life.
This is Who I AM.
This is what I was sent to do.
Jesus not only predicted His death, He prophesied His resurrection. As He hung on the Cross, rejected by the world, and separated from His Father because of our sin that Christ bore, Jesus clung to the promise and hoped in the Word being actualized: “After He has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied.”1
The darkness of death and finality of the grave transform through Christ into the bright dawn of resurrection. Christians cling to this truth now because Jesus the Christ believed in what was written about Him in Scripture and was faithful to what His Father told Him until His last breath.
“I seek not to please myself but Him who sent Me,” Jesus said.2
Without faith it is impossible to please God;3 therefore, belief is what Jesus looks for and commends. Faith is what He tests in us, just as His was tested. Jesus’ journey from the cradle to the Cross was a tight-rope walk of trust and intimacy with His heavenly Father. There was no material evidence or physical appearance that suggested the truth of who Jesus was; He could believe only what the Spirit spoke to His heart.
And as faith was required of Him, Jesus requires faith from us, because true worshipers are the kind the Father seeks.4 When Jesus encountered a Roman centurion who appealed for the Lord to help his suffering servant, Jesus did not immediately act but asked a question meant to reveal the heart of truth.5
“Shall I come and heal him?” Jesus asked.
“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed,” the centurion responded.
“I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith,” Jesus said. “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”
The beautiful irony of Christ’s message is how it immediately impacts and deeply resonates with people unlearned in religious law or cast to the edges of society. Jesus invites everyone, “come to Me to have life,” for the words He speaks are full of life and manifest through the Spirit in our souls.6
Jesus had one conversation with a Samaritan woman about a drink of water, and based on her testimony, the whole town begged Him to stay longer. He stayed two days with them, and instead of asking for cures, signs, and wonders, they were hungry for His word. And He fed them abundantly: “Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”7
Throughout His ministry, Jesus Christ seemed almost averse to grandiose displays of power. Most of His miracles were spontaneous, in-the-moment, on the roadside, for Jesus always moved with compassion – “Ask and it will be given to you,” Jesus said – yet the Lord’s presence and purpose with us was never about immediate cure. Jesus was born to heal and transform our hearts.
In the end, Jesus’ commitment to the mission of His manger birth resulted in the deadly conflict with a religious majority set on favoring appearances rather than fearing God.8
Jesus wanted only to please His Father, to speak and teach what He learned from the Father. So Jesus went faithfully from the cradle, to the Cross, and into the grave.
As if the mystery of the empty tomb isn’t the ultimate sign and wonder.
