May 1, 2002

Reading: Psalm 97: ff

 

“But you excel them all” Prov 31:29

 

The words of our text are spoken of a “virtuous wife,” but how much more are they true of the carpenter of Nazareth – Jesus, the Son of God? Study the annals of history and none can be found of whom these words can be said. There are none within the ranks of the great men of science or philosophy. The greatest of military leaders dim in comparison to the Conqueror of death, sin and the devil. Can we point to the greatest of all the church leaders and say they excel in any point over their Master? The glory and majesty of earthly monarchs are as a candle in the brilliance of the sun when compared to that of the King of Kings.

The heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11, as great as they were, all owed allegiance to Christ. So great were they in their faith that the world was not worthy of them (Heb 11:38), Moses, spoken of as the greatest of the prophets, “endured as seeing Him Who is invisible” (11: 27).

Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the mountain, but it was Jesus whose “face shone like the sun” and whose “clothes became as white as the light” Matt 17:2. It was of Jesus, not Moses or Elijah, that God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him” (5).

Search the universe with the most powerful telescope and you will find no light greater than He who is the “Light of the world.” His radiance lights eternity, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light” Rev 21:23-24.

Jesus said, “I am the Way.” Is there another way as perfect as Jesus? “As for God, His way is perfect” Ps 18:30. Jesus said “I am the Truth.” He did not merely speak truth, He is Truth, “And His truth endures to all generations” Ps 100:5. Jesus said, “I am the Life.” Is there any other? “For with You is the fountain of life” Ps 36:9.

It does not matter with whom Jesus is compared, He stands alone in His perfectness and splendor. As is said of the Beloved is true of God’s Beloved Son, “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her” Song of Sol 6:8-9.

He is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Savior. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isa 9:6.

“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed” Dan 7:13-14.

“All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” Col 1:16-17.

“To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike?” Isa 46:5. The answer is no one, for in all things “You excel them all.”