Dealing With "Unique"

We throw about superlatives often. This is the "most beautiful" or the "best deal" or the "greatest event." We tend toward the unique, the one of a kind, the top of the heap. There is something in us that looks for ways to set us apart from the pack. We keep up with sports stats, entertainers' achievements, and the endless list of the "all time greatest" everything. We boast of finding the best of something in town, from pizza to fishing holes. Mine is better. Yours is inferior. How we love to debate "best."  But, there is a difference between the best of the best and UNIQUE. There is no competition for UNIQUE, otherwise it would not be.

Jesus says, "Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father." (John 6:46) Compare this to John's prologue statement: "No man has seen God at any time' the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father. He has explained (exegeted) Him." (John 1:18) Add to that Hebrews 1:3 in speaking of Jesus who reveals the Father: "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature..."  The UNIQUE words pile up. "The One," "Only" and "exact." Jesus is in a class by Himself. But, imagine what the Jews of His day heard when he made the statement. Let's not think they are going too deep theologically. They are not known as deep thinkers who understand what it means to "see God." But, they do know the history. Moses had made a request 1500 years earlier to be able to see God's glory. (Exodus 33)  God made allowances for this request and offered to let Moses experience two things: 1) God would make his "GOODNESS" pass before Moses; and 2) God would pronounce His name to Moses. Such a thought struck fear in the heart of the Jew. They would not touch getting that close to God's GOODNESS and they did not want even a hint of God's name on their lips lest they take his name in vain. If that were not enough, then God tells Moses, "No man can see Me and live."

Now here stands a man before them who says He alone has seen the Father and He is alive to tell the tale. No matter all the theological implications of seeing God, this did not compute. This had to be the idle boasting of the world's greatest braggart. In short, they thought Jesus must be full of it. We like to talk about UNIQUE but we don't deal with it very well, especially in someone who is not us. Could it be we desire too much to be UNIQUE that we cannot tolerate the semblance of it in someone else, since the nature of UNIQUE is there can only be one! I hear echos of the disciples' conversation: "Who is the greatest?" John the Baptist got it. "I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals." Jesus is in a class by Himself. This one truth could transform the earth. It alone would put us all on our faces before Him. "Jesus, show us the Father for you alone know Him." You alone are UNIQUE.