John

     There is one question that over the past 19 centuries has fueled more discussion, disagreement and even conflict than perhaps any other.  The question is, "Who is Jesus?"
     While the Christ was still living the Jewish world was divided by this question.  The early church was split by opinions concerning the nature of the Lord.  And, even today, debate continues about Jesus.
     This debate has not carried on for nearly 2000 years because the Bible is not clear about the Christ.  The disagreement is the result of men trying to force upon the Bible their ideas about Jesus.
     If we really want to know what Jesus is like, we need only take a look at the Bible.  The gospel of John, for example, has much to say about the Lord.
     In John chapter four, Jesus encounters a woman at Jacob's well in the city of Samaria.  The woman is surprised when He asks her for a drink, since the Jews refuse to have anything to do with the Samaritans.
     "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,'" Jesus suggests in verse 10, "you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
     Like many others, the woman at first focuses on material things and fails to grasp the spiritual point of the statement.  So she responds with surprise because Jesus does not even have a container to draw water.
     "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again;" Jesus explains in verses 13-14, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
     In chapter seven Jesus is in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.  This observance is intended to remind the Jews of the years their ancestors lived in makeshift dwellings in the wilderness.  On each day of the feast water is carried from the pool of Siloam to the Temple, symbolizing the water provided for the Israelites from the rocks in the wilderness.  On the eighth day, however, the water is not carried, representing the entrance into the Promised Land where there was more than enough water to satisfy the needs of the people.  As we learn from verse 37, it is on this last day that Jesus chooses to make a statement about Himself.
     "If any man is thirsty," He cries out, "let him come to Me and drink."
     So Jesus is the source of living water.  This goes along with another claim that Jesus makes in chapter six.
     "Truly, truly, I say to you," the Lord observes in verses 26-27, "you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
     "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal."
     "I am the bread of life;" He explains in verse 35, "he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."
     "I am the bread of life," Jesus repeats in verse 48.
     "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven;" he explains in verse 51, "if any one eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh."
     Jesus is the bread of life.
     "I am the light of the world;" Jesus says in John 8:12, "he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."
     "For a little while longer the light is among you," Jesus tells the people in John 12:35-36.
     "Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.
     "While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light."
     "I have come as light into the world," Christ adds in verse 46, "that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness."
     Jesus is the light of the world.
     "Truly, truly, I say to you," Jesus states in John 10:1, "he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber."
     "Truly, truly, I say to you," the Lord continues in verse seven, "I am the door of the sheep."
     "I am the door;" He claims in verse nine, "if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
     Jesus is the door.
     "I am the good shepherd;" Christ offers in verse 11, "the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
     "I am the good shepherd;" He repeats in verse 14, "and I know My own, and My own know Me."
     Jesus is the good shepherd.

     "My Father is working until now," Jesus expresses in John 5:17, "and I Myself am working."
     Although many people today would like to misunderstand what Jesus means when He says He is the Son of God, the people who actually hear Him speak have no trouble at all grasping the meaning of His claim.
     "For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him," the next verse observes, "because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
     "I and the Father are one," Jesus claims in John 10:30.
     The Jews immediately pick up stones to kill Him.
     In verse 36, He equates his statement about oneness with the Father with calling Himself the Son of God.  When the Jews take Jesus to Pilate and demand His execution in John 19:7, the one complaint they make is that He has called Himself the Son of God.
     Jesus is the Son of God, which means He is divine.
     "In the beginning was the Word," John 1:1 says, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
     From the context, especially verse 14, there is no doubt that this passage is talking about Jesus.  Verses two and three stress the eternal nature of Jesus as well as His participation in the creation.  In verse 15 the prophet John acknowledges that Jesus existed before himself, although we know from Luke 1:36 that his mother, Elizabeth, gave birth about six months before Mary.
     "Truly, truly, I say to you," the Lord responds to the Jews in John 8:58, "before Abraham was born, I AM."
     This statement emphasizes the eternal nature of Jesus.  And, once again, the Jews pick up stones to kill Him.
     "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father," Jesus asks in John 17:5, "with the glory which I ever had with Thee before the world was."
     Jesus is eternal.
     "I am the resurrection, and the life;" Christ says to Martha in John 11:25, "he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die."
     Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
     The Lord tells His apostles in John 14 that He is going to prepare a place for them.  Thomas responds that they do not know where He is going, so they do not know the way to get there.
     "I am the way, and the truth, and the life;" the Master explains, "no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
     Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
     In John 13:13-14 Christ acknowledges that He is both Teacher and Lord.  And in chapter 15 He refers to Himself as the true vine.
     "Abide in Me, and I in you," He instructs in verses 4-5.
     "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
     "I am the vine, and you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing."
     Jesus is the Bread of Life and the source of living water.  He is the Light of the World.  He is the Door and the Good Shepherd.  He is the eternal Son of God.  He is the resurrection, the way, the truth and the life.  He is both Teacher and Lord.  He is the vine.  He is all of this and so much more.  He is everything.
     But knowing all of this does us no good if our lives are not changed by what we learn.
     In John three, a man named Nicodemus recognizes Jesus as Rabbi and Teacher.  But he is more interested in questioning Jesus than in obeying Him.  By chapter seven he wonders whether Jesus might be a prophet, but he doesn't seem to be ready to make a commitment and take a stand.  In chapter 19, however, he steps forward to help prepare the crucified body of Jesus for burial.
     How do we compare with Nicodemus?  Are we just interested in questioning what the Lord tells us?  Do we accept what Jesus says but are afraid to make a commitment?  Or are we willing to step forward and practice the truth that will set us free?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)