A Vessel Unto Honour

What makes Jesus special is not His personality or the wonderful things He did (even though those things are important and special). His word is what makes Him special and unique to any other prophet, priest or sacrifice before Him.  Our Father in heaven, in His great love for us, sent forth His Spirit and planted a part of His own nature in the womb of Mary.  There by taking on the form of a man.  God’s own word became flesh.

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him;  and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life;  and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness;  and the darkness comprehended it not.”

John 1:1-5

“And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

His word is God’s word, thus He carried out the perfect office of a prophet.

“For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me;  him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.”

Acts 3:22

His action in taking on our sins and offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice fulfilled the duty of the perfect priest.

“But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;  who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s:  for this he did once, when he offered up himself.  For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity;  but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the son, who is consecrated evermore.”

Hebrews 7:24-28 

His obedience to the Father’s will in all things made Him the perfect sacrifice.

“And Jesus answering said unto him, suffer it to be so now:  for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.  Then he suffered him.”

Matthew 3:15

 “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:  for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”

John 5:19

It is about Jesus because of what He offers us in return for our coming to Him, believing in Him and following Him.  He clearly declares, John 14:6  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

When we come to Him: this is the way and we are fed.  When we believe in Him: this is the truth and we thirst not.  And when we follow Him: we enter the narrow way and pick up our cross, this is the life.

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life:  he that cometh to me shall never hunger;  and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

“Enter ye in at the strait gate:  for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Matthew 7:13+14

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

C.S. Lewis