Jesus Christ is the son of the living God, spoken off by the Prophets of old. The opening verses in the book of John Chapter 1 verses 1 to 4 echoes of the pre-existence of the one who came to save the world from sin, ‘The Lamb of God”. In the beginning HE SPOKE, and galaxies whirled into place, stars burned the heavens, and planets began orbiting their suns. Words of awesome, unlimited, unleashed power. He spoke again, and the waters and lands were filled with plants and creatures, running, swimming, growing, and multiplying. Words of animating, breathing, pulsing life. Again he spoke, and man and woman were formed, thinking, speaking, and loving. Words of personal and creative glory. Eternal, infinite, unlimited. He was, is, and always will be the Maker and Lord of all that exists.

And then he came in the flesh to a speck in the universe called planet Earth. The mighty Creator became a part of the creation, limited by time and space and susceptible to aging, sickness, and death. But love propelled him, and so he came to rescue and save those who were lost and to give them the gift of eternity. He is the Word; he is Jesus, the Messiah. It is this truth that the apostle John tells us about in his book. John’s Gospel is not a life of Christ; it is a powerful argument for the incarnation, a conclusive demonstration that Jesus was, and is, the very heaven-sent Son of God and the only source of eternal life.

The book of John discloses Jesus’ identity with his very first words, “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God” (1:1-2); and the rest of the book continues the theme. In every chapter Jesus’ deity is revealed. And Jesus’ true identity is underscored through the titles he is given: the Word, the only Son, Lamb of God, Son of God, true bread, life, resurrection, vine. And the formula is “I am.” When Jesus uses this phrase, he affirms his preexistence and eternal deity. Jesus says, I am the bread of life (6:35); I am the light of the world (8:12; 9:5); I am the gate (10:7); I am the good shepherd (10:11, 14); I am the resurrection and the life (11:25); I am the way, the truth, and the life (14:6); and I am the true vine (15:1).

Scripture brings together seemingly unrelated ideas like servant hood and lowliness with royalty (Zechariah 9:9). Jews had no problem accepting the Messiah's roles of priest and king (Psalm 110:1-4). However, a suffering priest-king is far less obvious and far less palatable. Some among the Talmudic writers apparently recognized the likelihood that the Messiah would have to suffer. In the Babylonian Talmud, the Messiah is said to bear sicknesses and pain. Among the prayers for the Day of Atonement are the words of Eleazar ben Qalir (from perhaps as late as AD 1000): "Our righteous Messiah has departed from us; we are horror-stricken, and there is none to justify us. Our iniquities and the yoke of our transgressions he carries, and is wounded for our transgressions. He bears on his shoulders our sins to find pardon for our iniquities. May we be healed by his stripes?" In a similar vein, Rabbi Eliyya de Vidas writes, "The meaning of 'He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities,' is that since the Messiah bears our iniquities, which produce the effect of His being bruised, it follows that whosoever will not admit that the Messiah thus suffers for our iniquities must endure and suffer for them himself."

 However, no one would have imagined that the Messiah would accomplish his work of salvation through his own death (compare to Isaiah 53:12). Rabbis were unsuccessful in trying to tie together the idea of humiliation and exaltation to their own satisfaction. As a result, some rabbis hypothesized that God would send a Messiah to suffer as well as a Messiah to reign. However, Scripture teaches that the Messiah's terrible suffering is a necessary step toward infinite glory. He is pictured not only as a great king (52:13; 53:12) but also as humble (53:2), humiliated (52:14), and rejected (53:3). He bears the consequences of mankind's rebellion (53:5-6). Yet he is raised up to intercede for, and richly bless, his people (53:12). The Messiah, having accomplished the full obedience that Adam and Israel failed to achieve, will bring Israel and the nations back to God (42:18-19; 49:3, 6).