He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. (John 1:15)

One Personage said, “I am come that ye might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly;” in John 10:10. What kind of life is this Book offering? It is found in John 5:26, “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;” which takes us to John 10:30, “I and my Father are one”.

‘Life’, in Greek, is zōē (dzo-ay’): ‘life (literally or figuratively): this is the vital breath of God which is given through the hypostatic union of Jesus the Christ’. The verb ‘am’ in verse ten does not appear in the original Greek text, albeit, in most cases when Jesus uses the clause “I am” it is ego eime in the Greek, which is the same as “I AM THAT I AM” which God called Himself when Moses asked of His name. The ‘I am’ we see, for example, in verses 7, 9, 11 & 14 of the tenth chapter have the translation of ego eime!

Now let me aid in raising an aura to appreciate John 10:30. The pronoun ‘my’ is also not in Greek (all italicized words of King James Version are so). ‘I’ is ego. ‘Are’ is esmen (es-men’) Thayer Definition: ‘first person plural of “to be”.’ Strong’s Definition: ‘First person plural indicative of eime: ‘we are‘. Jesus, by this declaration, says that the Father is as ‘I AM’ just as He, Jesus, is ‘I AM’! What about the word ‘one’? It is heis (hice), ‘a neuter and a primary numeral; ‘one’.’ With heis Athanasius’ homoousios (Christ’s same substance nature as the Father) gains scriptural establishment as opposed to Arius’ homoiousios (like substance). While the ‘are’, esmen, is a masculine gender, heis is a neuter. The Son and the Father constitute one ‘thing, element, substance’ in nature, thought, deed and essence as two distinct Personages!

So when we read from John 3:31, “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all”; this testimony makes one to see the need to get closer to the Testifier.

Who cometh from above, if not Jesus? Do we know of any other who did come down from heaven to take an abode with men and still belongs truthfully to heaven? If the answer is, “None”, then this One is quite different. You must boast of Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence to be said to be above all.

                            The ‘Beloved Son’ at the transfiguration (Mark 9:7)

It does surprise me when I am attacked, especially by Moslems, with, “Even Jesus never called himself ‘the Son of God’ it is you, his followers, who give him that appellation.’ Let us traverse the scriptures. When Peter answered the question none of the disciples could with, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” in Matthew 16:16, Jesus did not accuse him of satanic blasphemy. He concurred with “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Jesus Himself said in John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus did verbally testify of His Divine Sonship!

Matthew 26:63-64 read, 63) “But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64) Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” As a child I thought ‘Thou hast said’ expressed an attempt by Jesus to exonerate Himself from being credited with having called Himself the Son of God.

“Thou hast said,” said Jesus, in Mathew 26:64.

The term, ‘Thou hast said’ is a simple affirmative, ‘yes’. What Jesus actually meant was, “thou hast said right” or better still, “You have just said so” or “You have just said what is the truth: that I am the Son of God”. Mark 14:61-62 has in the 62nd verse “And Jesus said, I am...” Whether it is “Thou hast said,” of Matthew 26:25, “Thou sayest,” of Matthew 27:11, “Ye say that I am,” of Luke 22:70 or “Thou sayest that I am a king” [John 18:37], it is the same affirmative implication of, “Yes, you have agreed with me.” In the case of John 18:37, Jesus went on to establish His Sonship with the declaration of, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

Angel Gabriel brought a message from heaven to Mary, saying in Luke 1:35, “….therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”. The testimony of Jesus regarding His Sonship of the Deity is true, having received a corroboration by an angel.

                   (…to be continued…)     Read the 2nd part here

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