(Part 2 of 2) Part 1 available here: https://nancyaziz.net/2018/11/05/in-the-beginning/
Yet God would not give up. For at the moment of the Fall, while pronouncing the verdict for man’s sin, He offered a glorious, unfathomable promise. The eternal Logos had a plan that He Himself would execute, but this time not through speech.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Yes the Logos became flesh to execute the plan that He foreknew before the existence of the world and to fulfill the promise that He made to Adam and Eve. He would humble Himself to the extent of becoming a man to restore the mess that man had brought upon himself.
And so He came, walked our streets, healed the sick, and brought the dead to life, all the while preaching truth, hope, and life in the midst of dense lies, despair, and death. Three short years later, He told His followers that He must leave them and they heard Him pray heartfelt prayers to the Father for their protection. They were afraid and didn’t fully understand; “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (John 13:7).
Indeed how could they understand that the King of Kings would not only humble Himself to the extent of becoming human, but that He would wash their feet! Indeed how could they understand that the sovereign Lord of the universe would allow those He had created to spit at Him and beat Him mercilessly when with a single word He could have obliterated them off the face of the earth? Indeed how could they understand that the omniscient God who knew what was in man’s hearts would still choose to die on their behalf? Indeed how could they understand that the Holy God who knew no sin would be made sin so that we would become His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21)? Indeed how could they, how could they possibly comprehend that the perfect God would become a curse to bear our curse (Galatians 3:13)!
It is beyond human understanding. It is absolutely incomprehensible to our limited minds.
And equally unfathomable is that He would do all this out of an overflow of love for us, to redeem and restore us to His original plan of fellowship and relationship with Him and with one another. Certainly, greater love has no one than this (John 15:13)!
And so He walked the path to Golgotha, a path that seemed weak, yet was filled with unsurmountable strength, a path that seemed defeating, yet was the most victorious, a path in which it seemed that Satan had won, yet he was being defeated once and for all, a path that seemed sporadic, yet Jesus was fully in control of every detail.
Being led by Judah to the place where Jesus was, the soldiers came to capture Him. Yet Jesus was the one who “came forward” and asked them “Whom do you seek?” to which they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I AM he,” He replied, and they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:4-6). They couldn’t bear to face the great I AM.
Then they took him to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate. At each step, He was in charge, He questioned those who questioned Him, for Jesus knew that all their authority was given to them by Him (John 19:11). He was truly King, He had all the power to escape the cross, yet it was for this very reason that He had come (John 12:27). The Jews denied his kingship, yelling out, “we have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15) and Pilate (however superficially) acknowledged His kingship by placing an inscription on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). The Jews treated Him in the most inhuman way, yet it was Pilate who declared the historical statement, “Ecce Homo… Behold the Man” (John 19:5)! I doubt Pilate knew what he was saying, but the Apostle John who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recorded this phrase, surely did!
Let’s go back to creation for a second. On the sixth day of creation, God looked upon His creation of man and declared for the first time ever, that what He had created was “very good.” But as we know, it didn’t remain “very good” for very long.
Now, thousands of years later, on the sixth day of the week, totally unbeknownst to Pilate, God is declaring the ultimate restoration of His creation through His Son, “Behold the Man!” Behold the second Adam! Behold the restored and redeemed epitome of my creation! Behold my sinless creation! What a divine statement!
Jesus took pride in referring to Himself as the “Son of Man” (82 times in the Gospels). His life was a statement about what humanity should look like. And His death and resurrection gave humanity the power to live it out.
A quick look at even the few moments preceding Christ’s death reveals humanity at its best. In the midst of all the pain and agony on the cross, He selflessly looks to His mother and asks John to care for her. He forgives a thief. He asks forgiveness for those who crucified Him. He declares that His task has been accomplished. And He gives up His spirit Himself. Wow!
May we “Behold the Man” this Easter season. Since our words will never suffice to thank Him for dying for us a death He didn’t deserve, to give us a life we don’t deserve, may our lives serve to thank Him. May we experience the salvation which He paid His own precious blood for; as Dr. Maher Samuel succinctly puts it, “a judicial salvation that clears our debt, an ethical salvation that grants us the ability to discern and choose what is right, and an existential salvation that restores our humanity and gives our lives meaning and purpose in His grand story.”
I’ll close with John Stott’s poignant words from his book, The Cross of Christ, “Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, leading us to faith and worship, we have to see it as something done by us, leading us to repentance.”
May our beholding of the man bring us to our knees in worship and adoration this Easter, challenge us to be transformed unto His image, and fill us with a passion to share the Gospel with a world that lies in utter desperation for a Savior.