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The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” – John 10:11 One thing I’ve loved about researching this blog series is taking these names and digging past the familiar to see where they lead. Jesus as the Good Shepherd is as familiar as it gets. What does “The Good Shepherd” make you think of? Fluffy, white clouds dot the sky, and fluffy, white sheep graze in a meadow, never straying near danger. Birds and butterflies flit among the wildflowers. The temperature is a perfect 70 degrees, and there’s a slight breeze. The shepherd dozes in the sunshine. Edvard Grieg’s Morning plays in the…
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Son of God
Today, we look at Son of God. Isaiah prophesied about this promised Son upon whom the government would rest in the familiar Advent verse, Isaiah 9:6. After 700 years of waiting, the fulfillment comes in the New Testament. When John baptizes Jesus in the River Jordan, the Father declares that Jesus is His Son. After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:16-17 24 times…
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Son of Man
This week is another two-fer, Son of God and Son of Man. Why do these two go together? Together the titles of Son of Man and Son of God express the incredible mystery of the incarnation–that the second person of the Trinity came down from heaven to become one of us so that we could be one with him. – Ann Spangler in Praying the Names of God for 52 Weeks Just as with the concept of the Trinity-God in three persons, I have a hard time wrapping my brain around Jesus being fully God and fully Man. But that’s okay – I don’t have to understand it to accept that…
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Prophet
Jesus isn’t just our Priest and King, He’s a Prophet. Do you stumble over that notion like I do? When I think of prophets, I think of “Thus says the LORD,” and “The word of the LORD came to the prophet so-and-so.” In Jesus’s case, that translates to, “Thus says Me,” and, “I came to Me.” That makes me smile. He’s a ringer! Furthermore, we think of prophets telling of future events. With Jesus, it’s like cheating or insider trading. The one who’s telling the future is the one who ordained it. He knows the end from the beginning. Come on, Jesus, you’ve got insider information. You wrote the book.…
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Priest
This week’s name is a two-fer: Priest and Prophet. We’ll look at priest today, and the next post will focus on prophet. Ann Spangler says: Prophet, priest, and king–these were the three major offices in Israel, titles also ascribed to Jesus. While the king governed as God’s representative on earth, the priest’s role was to represent the people to God . . . We’ve already looked at King here and here. Jesus is not only king; He’s our high priest, the One Who represents us before the Father.. But Jesus wasn’t of Aaron’s line, the Levitical priesthood. Hebrews tells us He is of the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek? We first…
