Jesus is God in the Flesh

By Dr. Brandon Steenbock, Family Minister

Colossians 1:19 - For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him

I was sitting across from a young college student at a restaurant table. We had just finished a Bible study, and now she and I were chatting about her story, her relationship with the church, where things had parted ways for her. And I asked the question I like to ask of people in that setting: "What do you think about Jesus?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, I'm happy to believe that he's a good teacher, a good moral guide. But I certainly don't believe that he's God."

I let that rest for a moment. Then I said, "It's odd that you call him a good teacher and not God, since he claimed to be God. How do you make those two work together?"

She gave a small, condescending laugh. "Jesus never claimed to be God."

"Is that true?" I asked. "It certainly seems that he does."

"Oh, I've done my research. I've read the Bible. He never claimed to be God."

I didn't want to get into a back-and-forth, so I asked, "Well, how many times have you read the Bible?" She paused — looking a little miffed at me for even asking — then got a little red in the face. "Okay, I haven't read the whole thing."

"Okay," I said. "But have you read the Gospels? The stories of Jesus? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John?"

"I've read pieces of them, I guess. I've never really read the whole thing."

I just smiled and said, "Okay, how about this? I'm not going to debate you. I would love for you to read all four Gospels freely, with an open mind. You don't have to agree with them or believe them. I just want you to read them with one question in mind: Is Jesus ever claiming to be God? He's not going to use those exact words, 'I am God.' But see if he doesn’t make the claim."

That was the end of our conversation. She never came back to Bible study, so I don't know what happened to her. I remember praying for her afterward and hoping that she would run across some of my favorite stories about Jesus where he really does claim to be God. 

For example, one of my favorites is the one where Jesus is teaching, and some people bring to him a man who is completely paralyzed, lying on a mat. Jesus looks at this man and says, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

That's not exactly what his friends were hoping for. They were hoping for a miraculous healing. But telling him his sins were forgiven wasn’t exactly a small thing. And there were some people there who got that: The teachers of the Law. They were saying to themselves, “How dare he say this? Nobody can forgive a man's sins except God alone!”

And they were right. If a man sins against you, you can forgive him for what he did to you. But only God can claim that every sin is ultimately against him, and therefore only God has the right to declare that all of a man's sins are forgiven.

Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, looked around and said, "What is this you're saying to yourselves? Which is easier — to say to this man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to tell him to get up, take his mat, and walk home?"

Jesus is setting up his claim. He's really saying: you're right, only God can forgive sin. But only God could also heal this man completely. This isn't just about healing paralysis. This man's muscles had atrophied. His mind had no capacity for walking. He couldn't instruct his limbs to move; his muscles didn't have the strength to carry him even if the paralysis were somehow resolved. For this man to get up, take his mat, and walk home is not just healing him, it’s remaking him. So yes: only God can forgive sins. And only God could command this man to get up and go home.

That's the conundrum Jesus is placing in front of the teachers of the law. And he looks at them and says, "But so that you will know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins—" And he turns to the man and says, "Get up. Take your mat and walk home."

And the man gets up.

It's an astonishing moment. And it's one of my favorite stories because in that moment, Jesus demonstrates everything we need to know about who he really is. He is God in the flesh. This human Son of Man is God, with the power to remake the bodies he created at the beginning of time. Not just to heal wounds, but to restore full function: strength to the muscles, direction to the mind, the ability to do everything he commands. Jesus has that power. And therefore he also has the power to forgive sins.

Jesus is God in the flesh. And the most amazing thing about that is that this man who is God chose to die for us. Chose to be the sacrifice for sin, so that he could make good on his claim to forgive. He hasn't abandoned justice. If he had, he wouldn't truly be God. Instead, he met justice with sacrifice. That is what God in human form does.

And so we confess: Jesus is not just a good teacher. Not just a moral guide. He claimed to be God. And he made good on that claim.

This man is God.