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Did Jesus mean what He said? Part 1
Do you think Jesus meant it when He kept saying over and over that prior to Him, NO ONE knew God? If so, how does this affect all things said and written before His arrival? The interesting thing to me is no one seems to be giving the words of Jesus the weight they deserve.
Let’s set the stage, God is about to arrive as a man; the Truth is coming to expose all the lies that had come before Him. Jesus is here to pull away the veil and bring light to the darkness!! Can you imagine this moment!?
John the Baptist heralds the arrival of Jesus with an earth shattering statement. In the face of all the great scholars of his time, in the face of the Sadducees and Pharisees unsurpassed knowledge of scripture the Baptist rips apart their theology in one sentence…
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
For the first seventeen verses of Chapter One the apostle John gives us a history lesson, a mini Bible as he sees it then finishes with, no man until this crucial point in history really knew God, no one! John is making it very clear that before the arrival of Jesus NO ONE had a clear picture of God. Jesus His Son had arrived to declare and reveal the Father’s TRUE nature to mankind.
Have we underestimated this clearly defined truth? When John the Baptist said NO ONE knew God, did he mean it? Was John inspired by God when he said it? When John said NO ONE knew God wouldn’t that include the Old Testament writers?
If this were just one isolated verse some could possibly explain it away or symbolize it but the problem is it’s not an isolated verse, it is repeated by Jesus himself, OVER AND OVER!
John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John the Baptist proclaims to the world that NO ONE knew God before Jesus and here we see Jesus confirming Johns message. NO ONE had fully and completely heard or seen God before Jesus Christ!
John 17:25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Whenever the word (name) is used in Hebrew it simply means nature or character. So when Jesus says; I will declare your name, He is saying I will declare (who you are). The fall had so blinded us, so twisted our nature it was impossible to truly know God in this state. Jesus is the light that came to help us see God for who He truly is. “The world has not known you, but I have and I will declare to them who you are!”
John 8:19 Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.
If you know Me, you would know the Father. Or we could flip this around and say if you don’t know Jesus you don’t really know the Father. Did the Old Testament writers know Jesus as well as a born again believer? Jesus Himself said that the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than the greatest Old Testament prophet. - Selah
Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
Was Jesus actually saying that they didn't know the scriptures? Most scholars agree and Jesus knew that this group of people did know the scriptures at least from mans point of view. But once again He was telling them they didn't know God!
John 6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Beloved, do the words of Jesus mean anything? How many verses do we need to open our eyes to the truth? What will it take before we agree with Jesus and simply say that NO ONE really knew God before Jesus showed up? Is it possible that what is holding us back is Old Testament scripture? Is it possible we have let the writers of the Old Testament trump what Jesus said? If so we remain in the same group of people that Jesus said DID NOT KNOW GOD!
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life
Will we as New Testament believers become like the Pharisees and Sadducees? Will we remain behind a veil that Christ Himself removed? Will we give as much weight to the Old Testament writers as we do to Jesus Himself?
Over and over we are told NO ONE really knew God, no one saw Gods true nature. Jesus was here to clear that up, the express image was telling us that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father. Jesus was here to tell us He didn't do or say anything He didn't see the Father do. The Word, God in flesh was here to say; look at me, I AM. I am what you have been looking for in the scriptures. I am here in bodily form to show you exactly what I am like. All things written before and all things seen before are just shadows; you did not see me clearly. Here, I AM.
If we give as much weight to the Old Testament writers as we do the words of Jesus Christ we simply become one of the (NO ONES) Jesus spoke about when He said no one knew His Father.
If this is all true and it is, how are we as New Testament believers supposed to treat the Old Testament? Just like Jesus did! Click on part two to find out how Jesus treated the Old Testament.
By Tim Cooper
