John 14:8-11

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

Jesus's claim to be God is the reason he was condemned to death. For Caiphas, the High Priest, "King of the Jews" was bad enough; but, Jesus claimed to be Jehovah God incarnate. Sometimes folks want to differentiate between the God of the Old Testament and Jesus of the New Testament. But, the gospel message is that they are one in the same. How can that be one might ask? The early church struggled for the next three centuries trying to define the triune God of faith. How does "Hear O Israel the Lord thy God is one" comport with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? In matters of faith one=three. And three=one. That can't be in our world of time and space. But, in God's universe, which is not bounded by time and space, it evidently is absolute truth.

It is the same kind of reconciliation a believer must make about how the God of the Old Testament comports with the teaching of Jesus in the the New Testament. It takes the eye of faith to put these two testaments together. How does a just God deal with sin? We know that sin separates us from God. Those who refuse to accept his mercy and judgment are indeed under a death sentence. But, the God who created us was willing to come down out of heaven and to empty himself of his divine nature and live among us as one who is fully human. He rescued us by his redemptive actions in dying for each of us upon a cross in our name, place and stead. All we have to do is to believe in him and accept his revelation by being born into his kingdom. The greatest proof of all is Acts 2:38 which promises every believer the "gift of the Holy Spirit".

We sometimes think that because God punishes people that he does not love them? God loved the Egyptians as much as the Israelites. But, he chose Israel for a special role to bring forth the Messiah. When one reads the Torah, you don't get very far before discovering God's concern for the "alien" within their land. And, even God's prophets, like Jonah, thought that God was too merciful to the inhabitants of Nineveh. Jonah quotes from Exodus 34 explaining to God in Jonah 4: 2 :

"That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil."

Poor Amos thought that God had done for the Cushites, Philistines and Arameans what he had done for Israel. (Amos 9:7) And where do those "Wisemen" come from who were foretold of the birth of the Messiah? They were not Jews. When God revealed himself to Moses on the mountain we see in Exodus 34:6-7 how much his declaration of his name resonates with the personality of Jesus as Messiah:

" The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...."

It is the God of the Old Testament who sent his son so that he could forgive "wickedness, rebellion and sin". We have all be invited to the banquet. If we seek Him, he will reward those who look for Him. Our role is not to condemn; but, to invite. We are all sinners standing in the need of God's grace. Jesus is softly and tenderly calling each of us by name.