Jesus Come To Us
“If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony
of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.”
1 John 5:9-10
Friends in Christ,
If you look at the passage above, you will see the word ‘testimony’ is used 5 times in these two verses.
The word comes from a Greek word, martureia. From this word we get our word martyr. In English, martyr is a person who suffers for a belief.
However, the word was understood as ‘witness’ in the Greek.
In this passage it is translated ‘testimony’.
God is ‘testifying’ or ‘witnessing” that Jesus is truly his son.
Many people had a problem with that belief. Jesus did not seem ‘divine’ enough. He was too ‘human’. How could a human be God’s son?
The Christian Church has come to believe Jesus was both human and divine. Not half and half but fully human and fully divine. Don’t think about it too much. It is a hard concept to prove.
However, it is important Jesus is human. A human Jesus relates to us on a human level. It means he can understand how we feel in the struggles we experience.
Jesus comes in some very down to earth and human ways. He comes in the earthly water of baptism. When I baptize people, I get the water from the faucet. Very simple.
Jesus comes in the wine and bread of communion. I hate to admit it, but the wine is some of the worst tasting wine a person can buy. And the unleavened bread we use is more like a cardboard wafer.
Jesus comes in the written word. No dazzling visions. No supernatural dreams. Just a book with words in it that, let’s be honest, can sometimes be a cure for insomnia.
We call baptism, communion and the word of God the means of grace. God comes to us in very human ways.
Jesus, God’s son, came to the world has a human being. Born in a cave, in a feeder for barn animals.
But it is through these ways God performs miraculous things.
Peace,
Ricky Adams
Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Mill Valley, California