Is Jesus Really God?

Is Jesus Really God? Jon Tyson reflects on a story of love, sacrifice and redemption.

Questions for Discussion and Personal Reflection

  1. Have you ever felt desperate to be loved, but unsure of who to trust?
  2. What does it mean to you to think that Jesus came to say, "I know you"?

I heard a story once about a soldier who had served in Vietnam. There was a group of prisoners who were taken hostage and put in a prison camp where they were not just physically tortured, but they were mentally tortured. And so there would be various false raids where they'd feel like they were being set free, but it would turn out that it was only their oppressors who were trying to destroy their hope. So one day a group of, uh, U.S. Marines were tagged with the operation to rescue these prisoners of war, and so they broke in and they, they found the prisoners on the floor, and they were beaten, they were psychologically tormented. But they had a problem. Even though they were there to save them, the prisoners wouldn't trust the liberating force. And so one soldier in a moment of genius and compassion realized what he had to do. So he took off his military uniform and stripped himself down like those prisoners were, laid on the floor in the fetal position, and just looked them in the eye so that they could see that he was actually one of them. And after they saw that he was one of them, that he come to rescue them, they were able to trust him and they got dressed, and he was able to lead them to safety. And in many ways, this is why I think we can trust Jesus. Jesus claims to be God, but he stripped away all of his power, he stripped away all of the things that may cause us to fear him, and he came down as a human being to look us in the eye when we feel like we can't trust anybody to say, "I know you. I see you. I know what you're going through. Trust me. I can lead you out to the life that you long for." We're desperate to be known, we're desperate to be loved, we're desperate to matter, we're desperate, um, to, to live a life of meaning, but who do we trust? And when I heard that, I felt like even in my own heart, I can trust Jesus to lead me to the path of life.