Daily Devotions
Jesus: Man & God
Reading for September 23rd: Amos 6-9
Weekly reading for September 20-26: Hebrews 1-5
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature...
Hebrews 1:3
When you think of Jesus what's the first thing that comes to mind?
Some of you may think about Jesus, the man. You may have the popularized image of Jesus that we've seen in pictures. Of course, we know this isn't what Jesus really looked like, but that's still what we think about.
Some of you may think about Jesus, the Son of God. Maybe you have an undefined and yet glorious image in your head (something like what John described in Revelation 1:12-16). When you think of Jesus you think of the mighty, infinitely wise, and transcendently holy Son of God, who is seated now at the right hand of the Father.
Which of these two images should be in our heads when we think of Jesus? The Hebrew writer used both.
In chapter one Jesus is presented as the Son of God. He has the glory of God and upholds the universe by His power. He is seated on a throne and is worshiped by angels.
However, chapter two presents Jesus as a man, made a little lower than the angels, suffering death, and made like his brothers in every way.
We need both of these images. We need to recognize the exalted place of Jesus in our lives and the unbelievable access He gives us to God as His Son. But we also need to see Jesus as our sympathetic high priest who empathizes with our trouble in the flesh.
Father, our hearts are full whenever we think of Jesus. Give us a clearer picture of both his transcendence and his tender sympathy toward us as we meditate on him.
