He is who He is

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

HE IS WHO HE IS

Mark 6:14-15

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying,"John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

NIV

It is amazing how people want to put their faith in anyone other than the one who is standing right there in front of them. Why did those people want to think Jesus was someone else? We are going to see the narrative about Herod killing John, but why would people rather he be John then Jesus? Were the stories about what John did already bigger than what Jesus was doing? What about Elijah, a man long gone with his stories having been passed down through the generations? Did the stories become greater than what actually happened? Did they think Elijah returned, riding back in the chariot of fire, having never died? Still others believed him to be just a prophet. Why did so many want him to be someone other than who he was, the Messiah? Do people today what Jesus to be someone other than who he is? If people try to make him out to be someone other than the Son of God, it seems it would be due to them not wanting to have to admit the truth about him and about want he has said. When Jesus said, He was the Light, the Truth and the Way, and that no man could come to the Father except through him, that might cause people to refuse him as the Son of God. When Jesus said that in order for people enter the kingdom of God, to get into heaven, they had to be born again, it might be cause for people to reject him for who he is. If they say he is someone else, and then want he said is not that important, because he is just another man. True a special man, with great powers, but still just a man. True a man with great wisdom, but still just a man. Admitting he is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and not by a man could be a really good reason to change everything about how people think and behave. We who believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, the divine sacrifice for our sin, the redeemer and the Lord of everything, have experienced that kind of change. Jesus changes everything. Those who enjoy their ways more than anything want Jesus to be someone else. But he is not John, he is not Elijah, he is not just a prophet, he is Jesus and he changes everything. He is who he is.