The Jewish leaders who asked Jesus to tell them if He was the Messiah weren’t asking so they could consider believing in Him. They wanted to hear Him plainly and publicly state what they knew He had already been claiming using other terminology. Then they could put Him on trial for blasphemy.

Jesus, wise to their plan, refused to grant them what they wanted. However, at the same time, He made a claim that believers would easily recognize as being even greater than a claim to being the Messiah, but vague enough that unbelievers would have a difficult time using it as evidence to prosecute Him for blasphemy. That is, Jesus said, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30).

We know that when Jesus spoke of the Father, He was speaking of God the Father, and His claim to be one with Him was a claim to be everything that God was. The Jewish leaders who heard Him say it rightly suspected He was claiming to be God and accused Him of it. But it would be difficult to prosecute Him for blasphemy on such a vague statement. That is why they wanted Him to make a clear claim of being the Messiah.

Realizing that they weren’t going to get a public statement from Jesus that they could use to have Him legally executed, the Jewish leaders decided to take the law into their own hands by stoning Him immediately. In their minds, His claim to be one with the Father was grounds enough to justify His stoning. To them, it mattered not that they were about to end a ministry that was responsible for the healing of thousands of sick and suffering people, raising the dead and feeding the multitudes. It mattered not how Jesus was able to do such things supposedly without God’s endorsement or help. It mattered not that He was sinless.

Jesus even reminded His accusers of a verse in the Old Testament when God spoke of certain leaders as being gods, rulers over their domain. So how could they consider it blasphemous for the one who was sent from heaven to call Himself the Son of God? Jesus’ life works and claims were all the proof anyone should need that He was and is the Messiah, the Son of God!

Q. How do you suppose Jesus escaped the hostile crowds of Jewish leaders who had surrounded Him in the Jerusalem Temple with stones in their hands, ready to kill Him?

A. It seems that He must have had God’s supernatural help. Either God blinded the eyes of those in the crowd, or somehow hid Jesus, or supernaturally transported Him away.

Q. Jesus promised eternal life to those who follow Him, joining His flock, saying that they will never perish in hell. Moreover, He promised that no one will be able to snatch them away from Him like sheep are sometimes stolen from their flock. Does this mean that once a person is saved he could never become unsaved?

A. According to other scriptures, it’s possible for a saved person to become unsaved if he, after truly believing in Jesus, decides in his heart to stop believing. Most people who apparently believe and then become unbelievers probably never truly believed in Jesus in the first place. As true believers in Jesus, we are responsible to continue believing in Him, and as we do, we are assured that we will go to heaven (see Romans 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Philippians 3:17-19; Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 3:12-14). We never have to worry about losing our salvation because of God’s unfaithfulness or weakness!

Application: In today’s reading, Jesus made three incredible claims: (1) “The Father and I are one,” (2) “I am the Son of God,” and (3) “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (John 10:30,36,38). Just like today, many didn’t believe Him then. But many did (see John 10:42). And just like to those who believed in Him then, Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him today (see John 10:28).

The first question that the rich young man asked Jesus was, “What good things must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). His question contained his assumption that a person could receive eternal life by doing certain good things. He assumed eternal life was something to be earned by good behavior.

Immediately recognizing the error in the man’s thinking, Jesus tried to help him realize that he was a sinner who fell short of God’s standards of holiness by saying, “Why ask me about what is good? Only God is good” (Matthew 19:17). If only God is good, then everyone else is bad, including the rich young man, and Jesus wanted him to know it.

Jesus also wanted the man to know that, even though he was a sinner, he could be saved if he repented, which is why He told him he could receive eternal life by keeping God’s commandments. He then immediately asked Jesus which of the commandments he needed to keep.

Jesus listed six of the Ten Commandments that dealt with how we treat other people. The rich young man claimed to have kept them all, which was very doubtful. He then asked if there was anything else that he must do to have eternal life. And there was. He needed to become a believer in and a follower of Jesus, the only Savior and Lord. That is God’s requirement for anyone to be saved.

There were, however, two things standing in the man’s way, and Jesus knew it. First, the man didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God; he only believed that Jesus was a good teacher. That’s how he addressed Jesus at first (see Mark 10:17). In order for a person to have eternal life, he must believe in Jesus, and if he believes in Jesus, he will follow and obey Him.

Second, money was the rich man’s god. As Jesus once said, it’s impossible to serve God and money. If Jesus had been the rich man’s God, he would have obeyed Jesus and given his money away to the poor as Jesus commanded him. But the man didn’t believe in Jesus, so he didn’t obey Jesus. Even though he walked away saddened by what he’d heard, he wouldn’t give up any of his many possessions.

As He watched the rich young man walk away, Jesus commented to His disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Matthew 19:24). The reason is because so many rich people are just like the rich young ruler. They love money and are unwilling to submit to Jesus, making Him their Lord and the Lord of their money. Jesus expects everyone who follows Him to be generous and share what God gives to them.

Q. Wasn’t Jesus asking the rich man to give up an awful lot in order to follow Him?

A. Actually, it could be said that Jesus wasn’t asking him to give up anything, because He promised the rich man that if he gave his money away to the poor, he would have treasure in heaven. If the rich man was giving up anything, it was only temporarily. And what he gave up he would have had to give up anyway when he died, whereas what he gained in heaven would be his for eternity. As martyred missionary Jim Elliot once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Q. In heaven, will anyone regret any earthly sacrifice he made for Christ’s cause?

A. No, most will probably wish they had made greater sacrifices and given more when they were on the earth.

Application: Praise God that not all wealthy people are like the rich young man we read about today. Paul wrote to Timothy, concerning wealthy Christians, “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

The religious teachers of Jesus’ day were divided over the question of divorce. The Law of Moses spoke about a man finding some “indecency” in his wife and giving her a certificate of divorce (see Deuteronomy 24:1). The question was, what qualified as an “indecency”? Some religious teachers taught that if a man found anything he didn’t like about his wife, that was an indecency and he could lawfully divorce her. Others considered that the only indecency over which a man could lawfully divorce his wife was the sin of adultery. The question that the Pharisees posed to Jesus doesn’t reveal which group they were in: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?” (Matthew 19:3).

Jesus first responded by telling them what God had said in the Scriptures. God initially created one man and one woman and joined them together as one. It was His intention that they never be separated, and that is His intention for every marriage. Divorce is not His plan for anyone.

The Pharisees then brought up the issue of the provision for divorce in the Law of Moses. Jesus explained that, because of the people’s hard-hearted wickedness, God permitted divorce. He may have meant that because of people’s general selfishness, it was inevitable that married people would fight and separate. Again, this was never God’s original intention for any marriage, but it inevitably occurs. Therefore, the Law of Moses had a regulation to govern divorce when it happened, part of that regulation being that the man had to give his wife a certificate so she could prove she was divorced.

Jesus also clearly endorsed the fact that adultery was the only indecency by which a man could lawfully divorce his wife. It’s possible that when Jesus said that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of people’s hearts, He meant that Moses permitted divorce when adultery had been committed because of the hardness of people’s hearts. That is, a truly loving husband would forgive an adulterous wife who was repentant. If his heart was soft, he would not divorce her.

But what about Jesus’ words, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery”? (Matthew 19:9). It is my opinion that He must have been talking about a married man who falls in love with a woman who is not his wife, quickly finds some small “indecency” in his wife, divorces her, and marries the other woman. He thinks to himself that he has not sinned, and has kept the requirements of God’s Law. What he’s done, however, is no different than adultery.

I find it hard to believe that Jesus’ words apply to other divorced people, like a person who was divorced before he was saved, and then, after he’s born again, falls in love with and marries another Christian. That hardly seems like something that could be considered equivalent to adultery. Nor do I think Jesus’ words would apply to a Christian who finds himself divorced from a nonbeliever, and who later marries a Christian. If everyone who has been divorced and is now remarried is living in the sin of adultery, then not one of them is going to heaven, because the Bible plainly says that adulterers will not inherit the kingdom of God (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). That fact in itself tells me that what Jesus said has little application to many divorced and remarried people.

It’s important that we consider all that God has said when we interpret the few things Jesus said about divorce and remarriage. Some people seem to ignore everything else in the Bible, including the gospel of the wonderful forgiveness that is offered us through Christ, in order to form a theology about divorce! In their minds, God will forgive every sin except divorce or remarriage. If that were true, we’d have to start preaching the gospel differently, telling people, “If you believe in Jesus, all your sins will be forgiven, except if you’ve been divorced and remarried, because then you’re an adulterer as long as you remain married, and adulterers aren’t saved!”

Q. What could an unmarried person do to avoid ever getting a divorce?

A. First of all, he should make sure that he is fully committed to Christ. Second, he should make certain that the person he intends to marry is fully committed to Christ. Third, he should not hurry into marriage, but take his time in getting to know his potential mate. Fourth, he should learn to be unselfish and walk in love, and look for those same qualities in a potential spouse. Fifth, he should seek the advice of his parents and friends, getting their perspective about any potential spouse. Finally, he should keep in mind that it is better to be unhappily unmarried than unhappily married!

Application: There is much more that could be said about the subject of divorce and remarriage from a biblical standpoint. However, the most important thing to remember is that God never intends for anyone to be divorced, but when it occurs, He has made provision for forgiveness.

Have you ever wondered why some people are born with what are called “birth defects”? That is, they have something wrong with them physically, like the man blind from birth that we just read about. It doesn’t seem fair, because most people with birth defects have to live with their problems all their lives. Why does God allow such things?

The Jews of Jesus’ day thought they had the answer to this question, and Jesus’ disciples expressed it when they passed a blind beggar. They assumed that God was punishing the man either for his own sin or his parents’ sins. But their answer to the question wasn’t a very good one. If God was punishing the man for his own sins, then the man must have sinned in his mother’s womb, because he had been born blind. What could a baby in its mother’s womb possibly do that would make God that angry?

And if God were punishing the man for his parents’ sins, that would be completely unfair of God. He Himself stated in His own Law that no child should be punished for its parents’ crimes (see Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:19-20).

Jesus’ disciples were wrong in their assumptions, and He told them so. The man wasn’t born blind because of his or his parents’ sins. Jesus said it was so the power of God could be seen in him. That is, the man was born blind so that Jesus could heal him.

This still doesn’t answer every question we might have because we might wonder why God would have a man suffer blindness for years just so His supernatural power could be demonstrated in him. Something about that doesn’t seem right, even though we know God has the right to do anything He pleases. And what about the many people born blind whom Jesus has never healed? Since they don’t fall into the category of being afflicted so God’s power could be demonstrated in them, why are they born blind?

God has not given us the answers to all these questions, but the one major consolation that all Christians share is the knowledge that Jesus died for everyone. And any person who believes in Him is guaranteed one day to receive a new body that has no defects. And for those Christians like myself who strongly believe in God’s healing promises, we take heart knowing that healing is available in this life. We believe that everyone who has been born with birth defects is a potential candidate for God’s power to be displayed in them, just as everyone whom God has declared a sinner is a potential candidate to be saved—if they’ll only believe. In Jesus’ day, every single person who came to Jesus requesting healing was healed if they believed. Our problem today is lack of faith. Unfortunately, unbiblical teaching has fueled our doubts.

Nothing is mentioned in this story about the blind man’s faith being the reason for his healing, so his healing probably fell under the category of what the Bible calls “gifts of healing” (see 1 Corinthians 12:9). Gifts of healings are sovereign acts of God that don’t necessarily require any faith on the part of the person needing healing. However, notice that the blind man in today’s story did have to obey Jesus by walking to the Pool of Siloam and washing his eyes. That required some faith on his part.

John recorded this story, not only to glorify Jesus, but also to show the various reactions to the miracle. Most of the proud Pharisees refused to believe that Jesus was from God, because He performed this miracle on the Sabbath, breaking their interpretation of God’s Law! And at first, the healed man thought Jesus must be a prophet. Later, however, Jesus spoke to him privately and told him that He was the Son of Man. Some of the ancient manuscripts of John’s Gospel record that Jesus told the man that He was the Son of God. Regardless, the healed man believed in Him. How do we know? Because he confessed his faith in Jesus and then proved his faith by worshipping Jesus. If the man had believed that Jesus was only a prophet, he would have shaken His hand or hugged Him, but he wouldn’t have worshipped Him.

Q. Why do you suppose Jesus put mud on the blind man’s eyes in order to heal him? Why didn’t He just lay His hand on the man, or simply declare him healed?

A. As Jesus said, He only did exactly what His Father told Him to do. So He must have been following the orders of His Father. Perhaps His Father was trying to help people realize that Jesus was not just a prophet, but God. The original human being was made from the soil. Now some new eyes were being made from soil, something that only God could do!

Q. What did Jesus mean when He said, “I have come to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (John 9:39)?

A. Jesus was talking about two kinds of blindness, physical and spiritual. Jesus came to give sight to the physically and spiritually blind. To be spiritually blind means to be ignorant of the truth that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. The problem is that, unlike physically blind people, spiritually blind people often don’t even realize they’re blind.

Application: People may be able to argue against your theology or what you believe, but they can’t reasonably argue against what has happened to you since you believed in Jesus. That’s your testimony. Just like the man in today’s story said, “I was blind, and now I can see!” (John 9:25), so you can tell others how God has changed your life. For some people, your testimony could be what sparks their interest in learning more about Jesus!

Jesus was a great teacher, and that’s why He used so many comparisons when He taught. In today’s reading He compared Himself to a gate and a shepherd. Unlike many of us, the people Jesus taught knew all about sheep and shepherds, however, they didn’t initially understand the spiritual truths Jesus was trying to convey. So He explained.

Sheep, like other livestock, are usually confined within fences or walls when they’re not grazing in open pasture. Regardless of what confines them, there must be a gate to let them as well as the shepherd in or out.

Jesus said that He was like the gate to the sheepfold. Those who believe in Him are, of course, the sheep. The only legitimate way to be a part of the sheepfold, or to be a part of God’s true church and kingdom, is to enter through Jesus, believing in Him. Some try to enter without going through Jesus, but that proves they really don’t belong among the sheep. They have an evil motive, usually to harm the sheep and get something for themselves. For example, a thief might climb over a wall to steal a sheep.

Not only is Jesus the gate, He is also the shepherd. When a shepherd wants to lead his sheep out to graze, he comes through the gate and calls his sheep. Even if his sheep are mixed with another flock, only his sheep will follow him out of the gate. Sheep won’t be deceived into following another shepherd because they recognize their shepherd’s voice. They know to whom they belong.

Jesus is like the shepherd who is calling His sheep. Many sheep may hear His voice, but only those who are His, those who believe in Him and love Him, will come out from among the other sheep and follow Him, obeying Him. That is how true Christians are known—they follow Jesus when others don’t. When false prophets and false teachers call out to the masses of sheep, leading many astray, true Christians aren’t deceived because they know their shepherd and they know what He’s said.

Jesus is not comparable to just any shepherd. He’s a good shepherd who is devoted to His own sheep. In fact, He was willing to die for His sheep. He knows them and they know Him. He leads them to green pastures where there is abundant food. He wants them to enjoy His blessings. He cares about each one. There is no better shepherd than Jesus!

Q. Jesus talked about having other sheep that were not “in this sheepfold” (John 10:16), promising to bring them also into His flock. About whom was He talking?

A. Most likely, He was speaking of the Gentiles who would be saved and brought into His kingdom as equal citizens with Jewish believers.

Q. Jesus made it plain that no one could take His life from Him, but that He laid down His life voluntarily. Why is this so important for us to know?

A. Because we otherwise might be tempted to think that Jesus’ death was involuntary. That is, we might think He had no choice but to die, having been the victim of unfortunate circumstances. If that were the case, then it couldn’t be said that Jesus died for our sins according to the preordained plan of God. He would have died just like any other martyr.

Application: David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need” (Psalm 23:1). Before we know Him as Shepherd, we have to know Him as Lord, just like David did. Sheep look to their shepherd, not just as someone to take care of them and lead them, but also as someone to obey and follow. Wandering sheep don’t have a shepherd!

As we’ve often realized from other readings, if Jesus wasn’t God’s Son, He was guilty of making outrageous claims about Himself. If He was only a man, His claims could be considered blasphemous, because what He said about Himself can only be rightfully said of God. Today’s reading contains a number of Jesus’ specific claims regarding who He is and only what He can do. As we read them, we realize that there has never been and never will be another person like Jesus. If Jesus wasn’t God’s Son, He told the biggest tales anyone has ever told. Let’s consider some of Jesus’ claims that we just read.

Jesus once again declared that God was His Father and that they had a unique relationship. For example, He had come from His Father, having been sent by Him to the earth, and was going back to Him. In a special way, His Father was always with Him, and Jesus said only what His Father told Him to say. Likewise, He always did what was pleasing to His Father, and so He never sinned. Not even once! Jesus claimed that God wanted to glorify Him and that He knew the Father like no one else. Finally, He declared that He existed before Abraham was born, making Himself thousands of years old. Jesus literally told His Jewish audience, “Truly, truly, before Abraham was, I Am.” I Am was a name by which God revealed Himself to Moses, and so Jesus was actually claiming to be the eternal God of the Old Testament! When Jesus made that claim, the unbelievers who heard Him decided He was worthy of death for such blasphemy, and they picked up stones to kill Him.

Because Jesus was who He was, He could do what no one else could do. He claimed to be the “light of the world” (John 8:12). Light stands for truth whereas darkness represents ignorance of the truth. Everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus is ignorant of the truth and believes lies, stumbling in darkness, just as Jesus said. But if they’ll follow Him, just as a person follows a light in the darkness, He’ll lead them to eternal life.

Notice that Jesus didn’t claim to be just a small candle or the light of a little town. He claimed to be the light of the entire world! What a claim! He was saying that every single person in the entire world should look to Him as the source of truth and the only way to find eternal life!

This was not Jesus’ only claim to be the sole source of salvation for humanity. He declared that anyone who wouldn’t believe in Him would die in their sin. That means they would go to hell. However, whoever would believe in Him, He would set them free from their sins. Whoever would obey Him would never die.

Can you understand why it is so absurd for people to say that Jesus was a good man, but not the Son of God? Jesus left us no option to believe that He was just a good man. If He wasn’t God, He was either a liar or a lunatic.

Why are Jesus’ amazing claims so important? Because they force everyone to make a decision to either believe in Him or not believe. And everyone’s eternal destiny is determined by what he or she believes.

If a person truly does believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be and that Jesus can do what He claimed only He can do, that person will begin to obey Jesus. That is why Jesus talked about Himself setting people free from their slavery to sin, and why He said, “Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” (John 8:51, emphasis added). And that is why He said, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings” (John 8:31). Many people make claims of being Jesus’ disciples, but aren’t, as proven by how they live. Jesus’ true disciples keep obeying Him.

Q. When people first believe in Jesus, are they set free from all their sins immediately?

A. No, they are progressively set free from their sins as they learn and grow spiritually. Jesus said that we would be set free by knowing the truth. When we first believe in Him, we gain knowledge of some truth and are set free from some of the more major sins. And as we learn more about Jesus, we grow more like Him, becoming less and less sinful. One day in heaven, we’ll all be sinless!

Q. When Jesus promised that people who obey Him will never die, did He mean that they will never die physically?

A. No, because everyone in the Bible who believed in Him died physically. Jesus must have meant that those who display an obedient faith will never die spiritually, which is much worse than physical death. Physical death is a separation of the body and spirit, whereas spiritual death is a separation of the spirit from God. When people believe in Jesus with an obedient faith, their spiritually dead spirits are reborn and they receive God’s life inside. As they continue in their faith, they never have to be concerned about dying spiritually.

Application: As Jesus said, those who are not born again have Satan as their spiritual father. Because of that, they act like the devil, who is a liar by nature. Those of us who have truly believed in Jesus, however, have God as our spiritual Father. He has caused our spirits to be reborn. Because of that, we act like Him. He always tells the truth, and so should we. People who always lie prove that they aren’t saved. The Bible says that all liars will spend eternity in the lake of fire (see Revelation 21:8).

What long lists these are! Aren’t you glad you don’t have to memorize all those names for your history class?

Why are these two lists of Jesus’ ancestors not identical? Probably because Matthew recorded Jesus’ ancestry through His stepfather, Joseph, and Luke recorded Jesus’ ancestry through His mother, Mary. Also, Matthew’s list goes back to Abraham, whereas Luke’s list goes all the way back to Adam. If you’ll compare the lists closely, you’ll discover that both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David, but through two different sons. On both lists, the people from Abraham to David are the same, except that Matthew left out one name, perhaps to make his list easier to remember as three segments of fourteen generations, as he mentioned (see Matthew 1:17).

Did you know that some of the people on Luke’s list are your ancestors? The reason is because they’re everyone’s ancestors! All of us are descendants of Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and Noah, so all of them are your great, great, great, great (and so on) grandfathers! You’ll get to meet at least some of them in heaven someday!

To the Jewish people, keeping track of their ancestry was very important. All of them were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob was renamed Israel by God, and that is why all his descendants are called “the people of Israel” or “the Israelites.” Jacob had twelve sons who became twelve tribes, and all their descendants knew from what tribe they came.

There are two main reasons why these two lists are so important to us. First, because they prove that Jesus was a real person of history. Some people foolishly think that the story of Jesus is just a myth or fairy tale (like Santa Claus) that someone made up. But Jesus was a person who really was born just like everyone else. He was a person of history just as much as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

Second, these lists are important because God had promised in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse and David. If Jesus had not been a descendant of those men, we could be sure that He was not really the Messiah. Matthew and Luke’s lists prove, however, that Jesus was in the lineage of all six of those men through both His mother and stepfather.

Q. Luke recorded 76 generations from Adam until Jesus. If each generation was twenty-five years apart, how long ago could we conclude that Adam was created?

A. About 3,900 years [(25 x 76) + 2000]. If we use a high estimate for the average rate of growth of the world’s population over the past centuries (.5%) and work backward from that, we can conclude that the earth’s population consisted of just a few people around 4,000 years before Jesus, about the time of Noah’s flood.

Q. Then why do some scientists say that the fossilized human bones they discover are millions of years old?

A. Because the dating methods of those scientists are very questionable. They try to determine the age of the bones based upon their location in the layers of rock, and the dates of those layers of rocks is a guess. Many scientists assume the rock layers were laid down gradually, over billions of years, underneath ancient oceans. They don’t consider the fact of a worldwide flood during Noah’s time, when rock layers could have formed very quickly. Nor do they seem to consider the fact that dead bodies don’t normally turn into fossilized bones. The average dead dinosaur didn’t fossilize—it rotted away. Only under catastrophic circumstances do living things fossilize, which is what may have happened during the worldwide flood of the Bible. People and animals may have been buried quickly under tons of sediment that is now exposed thousands of years later through the process of erosion.

Q. From which tribe of Israel was Jesus descended?

A. Judah

Application: Since Jesus was a real person of history who was also the Son of God, we should want to learn all we can about Him and do what He says.

The story of Jesus begins long before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem. Because Jesus is and always has been God’s Son, He existed before anyone or anything was created. John wrote that Jesus was with God “in the beginning” (John 1:2), which means before the world was created and before time began. When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, He was not created—He just moved from heaven to earth and changed His form into a tiny human being inside Mary’s belly. It would be something like shrinking and transforming yourself into an ant in order to visit an ant colony.

Not only was Jesus with God in the beginning, but John also said that Jesus was God. There are three persons who, according to the Bible, can be called God: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is just as much God as God the Father is God. We learned today that Jesus helped create everything that exists (see John 1:3).

We also read that Jesus prayed to God the Father just before He died, “Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began” (John 17:5). Before the world was created, Jesus lived in heaven, a place filled with God’s glory, with His Father. What is God’s glory? It is something like sunshine, only much brighter. It radiates from God.

The best part is that everyone who is a follower of Jesus will one day see God’s glory in heaven, because Jesus requested that we would. He prayed, “Father, I want these whom you’ve given me [that includes us] to be with me [in heaven], so they can see my glory” (John 17:24). When we see Jesus one day in heaven, He’ll be brightly shining with God’s glory. The Bible tells us that His face will shine like the sun (see Matthew 16:27-17:2)!

Q. Where did God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come from?

A. The answer is that They have always existed. They have no beginning and no end. That is hard for us to understand, but that is the answer. The reason we have difficulty understanding it is because most everything we know has a beginning and an end.

Q. Why did John call Jesus “the Word”?

A. The word word sometimes means “a message.” For example, your teacher might say, “I have a word from our principal,” meaning a message from the principal. Or you might hear someone on a TV show say, “And now a word from our sponsor,” which means a commercial is coming with a message from an advertiser. Jesus is given many symbolic titles in the Bible, such as “Lamb,” “Cornerstone” and so on, which all describe something He has done for us. Perhaps He is called “the Word” (or “the Word of God”; see Rev. 19:13) because Jesus was God’s message to all people of the world. Isn’t it amazing that God had a message prepared for all the people of the world even before He created anyone?

Application: Because we will one day live with Jesus in heaven and see His glory, we should live “in a manner worthy of the God who calls [us] into His own kingdom and glory”(1 Thessalonians 2:12, NASB).