May 6 I Saturday

1 Kings 21-22

Luke 23:26-56

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”   —Hebrews 1:3

When Jesus said, “I am the Truth,” it begs the question, truth about what? Jesus is the truth about God, and “I am the Truth” is a revelation about the truth in our union with God.

       At the Last Supper, Jesus said to His disciples, “‘If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’ Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father’” (John 14:7-9).

       Looking at Jesus, what did the disciples see? They saw a man as God created man to be. Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness....So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them....” Four times within these two verses it is emphasized that God created us to be in His image, because the purpose of human beings before the fall was to demonstrate in the way we live, act and behave what God is like. It is not a physical likeness, as God is not a physical being, but His moral likeness—His character.

       Jesus then asks Philip, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me...” (John 14:10-11). Jesus lived in complete union with His Father, in obedience to Him, dependence on Him and love for Him. When the disciples looked at Jesus, they saw God in action. All the miracles and teachings of Jesus were His Father at work through Him.

       The relationship Jesus had with His Father as a man on earth is the same relationship we are meant to have with Him. Jesus came to earth not only to save His people from their sins, but to reveal the nature of true humanity as God intended it to be. Having been reconciled to the Father, Christ—by His Spirit—lives His life in as well as through us, and is the means for our lives to reflect the moral character of God. Jesus says, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). In other words, “I am the demonstration of how you are equipped to live in union with the Father.” In Him, we have life to the full, empowered and enabled by Christ Himself.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I pray for an increasingly intimate union with You so that your Spirit in me will reflect more and more of the truth about God. Thank You, Jesus.