June 1
God or Man?
“Then you will know that I am He.”
—John 8:28
Two thousand years ago, the Pharisees were asked this question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42). For all practical purposes, some of history’s greatest minds have grappled with this question ever since. But it’s worth noting that during the earthly ministry of Jesus, many people were perplexed about who He really was.
Jesus never became God, nor did Jesus ever cease to be God. His deity, which means His divine Lordship—the fact that He was God, was pre-human, pre-earthly, pre-Bethlehem, and pre-Mary. In the incarnation, in that moment when Jesus came to this earth and was born of the Virgin Mary, He didn’t lay aside His deity. He was God before He was born, and He remained God after He became a man.
We are given a glimpse of this in the story of His transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up onto a mountain. The disciples fell asleep (as they often did at critical times), and when they woke up, there was Jesus, standing with two great prophets (see Mark 9:1–3). The Bible says His face shined like the sun. He was radiant.
To me, it wasn’t a miracle that Jesus shined like the sun during His transfiguration. I think the real miracle was that He didn’t shine all of the time. You see, Jesus veiled His glory. But there, for a moment, He let people see who He really was. And He was indeed God and man.
Copyright © 2005 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.