Jesus is revealed to us throughout the Scriptures. I don’t mean this irreverently, but it reminds me of the ‘Where’s Wally?’ series. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, it is a series of picture books in which every page hides a little character called Wally. The aim is to run your eyes over the entire page from corner to corner until you can spot him. Well, it’s a little like that with finding Jesus hidden in the Scriptures. When we find Him where we hadn’t before, it is like winning a prize! As we look for Him intently under the leading of the Holy Spirit, He opens our eyes, and we are thrilled to see more of the Living Word, making the written Word come alive!

The Scriptures are truly alive, and their depths are unending. Derek’s personal blog, The Emmaus Diaries, provides a great example of this. There, he continues to find treasures of hidden gold nuggets in the account of the two disciples who walked back to Emmaus while Jesus spoke with them following His resurrection.

Jesus is very often unveiled to us through people from the Bible. He is shadowed in Adam, Moses, King David, Solomon, Jonah and others. In the New Testament, He is also shadowed in various individuals. The apostle Paul gave a vivid and moving description of his own life and that of the other disciples who were working with him in a letter to the Corinthian church:

“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” (2 Cor. 6:1–10)

Although the above verses are their personal testimony, they actually unveil Jesus to us, for He was the first to live this way.

• The servant of God.

Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. (Is. 52:13)

…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:28)

• Who endured to the utmost – temptation, the desperate and hostile crowds, open ridicule and slander, being made human when He was God, being misunderstood and falsely accused.
• Who faced many afflictions, like a sheep sent to the slaughter. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth (Is. 53:7).
• Who faced many hardships -testing, rejection, betrayal, and nowhere to lay His head.
• Who faced many distresses – seeing His Father’s house of prayer treated like a marketplace, and many of His disciples walked away from Him. He felt sorrow and grief over His friend and cousin, John. He sweat drops of blood.
• He was beaten and whipped for our transgressions.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (Is. 53:4–5)

• He was taken captive by the Roman soldiers and put under trial, one He knew would never result in earthly favour.
• He laboured under a wooden cross upon His back as He walked along the Delarosa to Calvary’s Hill.
• He went without sleep many nights, seeking His Father’s will and praying that His cup would pass from Him.
• He faced hunger in the wilderness and thirst at Jacob’s well, yet He was their food and their living water.
• He did all this in purity as the holy and righteous one, the spotless lamb, and the exact image of God.
• He did it all in the knowledge of all truth, of what was in the hearts of men, and what was in the heart of His Father, and of where it was all headed for the glorious purpose for which He would suffer.
• He did all this in patience, being long-suffering with people and waiting on His Father, never moving independently of Him.
• He did all this with kindness; the fruit of the Spirit are all His attributes. He had compassion, healed and delivered people, visited the sick and outcasts, and ate with sinners.
• He did it all this in the Holy Spirit, who led and guided Him in the mind of God the Father, according to His will.
• He did it all this in genuine love; there is no greater love than one who lays down their life for a friend, and Jesus lay down His life for the whole world so that anyone who believes in Him would receive eternal life and be with Him where He is.
• He did all this in the word of truth as He is the Word of God in the flesh, and He is truth.

He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Jn. 7:18)

• He did all this in the power of God, sent by God and upheld by Him, displaying His wonderful glory and kingdom, healing the sick, raising the dead and being raised by God’s almighty power.

And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Lk. 8:25)

But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” (Lk. 8:46)

For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. (2 Cor. 13:4)

• He did all this by the weapons of righteousness in both hands, as He is the righteousness of God, perfect and radiant, upright, just and true, righteous in all His judgements.

• He was treated with glory by those who received Him, who accepted Him as the Messiah, and dishonour by those who rejected Him saying, ‘Isn’t this Joseph and Mary’s son?’ (John 6:42)
• He did all this as reported by some as evil, as blasphemous because He called God His Father, therefore making Himself equal with God, and by others as good, who saw Him as a good teacher, and their good shepherd.

• He was regarded by some as a deceiver, even as Beelzabul himself yet He was true; He was the Son of the living God come down from heaven to save mankind.

There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” (Jn. 7:12)

The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?”” (Jn. 7:20)

The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. “But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ (Jn. 8:48–5)

• He was treated as unknown, as a stranger, as they kept asking, ‘Who is this man?’ yet all Scripture spoke of Him who had been known throughout all eternity since before creation and was the one through whom all things that were created were created.

So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? “Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” (Jn. 7:25–29)

• He died daily as He lived a life of self denial for His Father’s sake, and even died physically, crucified on a cross, only to be raised and still live, becoming a life giving Spirit living in us.
• He took our punishment for our sins, yet the cords of death did not restrain Him.
• He was a man of sorrows yet strong in the joy of His Father for the joy that lay before Him, and always with thanksgiving.
• He was made poor for our sakes, though He was rich, giving up His glory He had with the Father since before creation, and made us rich as co-heirs in His inheritance of the Father’s kingdom and giving us His very own life.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by Your poverty could become rich. (2Cor. 8:9)

• He came as a babe, as a man, with nothing, yet He was the King of kings and the head of all things pertaining to the church. He is the government of God, and the sum of all things, and by Him, through Him and to Him are all things.

Jesus’ life carries on this same way in His body members. His life is now our life, ours is now His. As Paul starts off in 2 Cor 6 and verse one, ‘working together with Him’.