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Jesus finished or completed His part of the Father’s plan for, setting the
stage for what and who would follow. However, as the scriptures foretell,
Elijah must come first, and it was, and is so! Jesus came to fulfill the
scriptures so they would be completely fulfilled. Perhaps, one can see this
reality more clearly by referring to the scriptural reference. It is recorded in
Mark, when questioned by the teachers of the law: “And they asked him,
‘Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus
replied,
‘To be sur e , El i j ah do e s c ome f i r s t , and r e s t o r e s a l l t h i ng s . Why
t hen i s i t wr i t t en t ha t t he Son o f Man mus t su f f e r much and be r e j e c t ed
[they do not recognize the power of the spirit thinking Jesus is the son of
man]
?
But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything
they wished, just as it is written about him.”
(Mark 9: 11-13)
This understanding
must be reconciled only one way. Was Jesus, in essence, a mere man or was
He God, thought of as a mere man?
Jesus showed us the way, asking mere man to follow thus fulfilling the
scriptures to a fuller extent, but from an imperfect point of view. Once
again Jesus gave testimony as recorded in the gospel of John:
“
Jesus said to
them, My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am
working. For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him: not only
was he breaking the Sabbath, but also he was even calling God his own
Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: I tell
you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he
sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your
amazement
he wi l l show h im e v en g r ea t e r t h i ng s t han t he s e .
For just as
the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to
whom he is pleased to give it.”
‘
“Moreover, the
Fa t he r j udg e s no one , bu t has en t rus t ed a l l j udgmen t t o
t he Son , t ha t a l l may hono r t he Son j us t as t he y hono r t he Fa t he r .
He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. I
tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death
to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the
dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For
as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the
Son t o hav e l i f e i n
h ims e l f .
And he has
g i v en h im au t ho r i t y t o j udg e be c aus e he i s t he Son
o f Man . ’ ”
(John 5: 17-27)
Jesus is our Father, and not the son of any man [son
of man]!