Some hours later Holmes woke up, nudged his faithful friend and said; "Watson, I want you to look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson said, "I see millions and millions of stars." Sherlock said, "And what does that tell you?"

After a minute or so of pondering Watson said, "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day today. What does it tell you?" 

Holmes was silent for about 30 seconds and said, "Watson, you dunce! Someone has stolen our tent!"

Whilst we may laugh at the story, unfortunately the analogy holds true for most of us. All too often we get so wrapped up in the details that we miss the obvious. Let that not be true of us this Christmas. At the risk of stating the obvious, Christmas is all about Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ legacy is unparalleled in all of history. He is undoubtedly the most famous person to ever walk the face of this earth. His birth is the focal point of history, with the years before His birth denoted as B.C. (i.e. “before Christ”), and the years afterwards as A.D. (i.e. anno Domini, which means “in the year of the Lord”).

Yet, the question remains, “who is this Jesus Christ?”

I was blind…

Let me tell you a story about a man who had been born blind... ⁱ

Unable to provide for himself, the blind man sat by the roadside each day, begging. One day as Jesus passed by and saw the man. Having compassion on him, Jesus spat into the sand; made mud; rubbed it on the man’s eyes, and instructed the man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man obeyed and his eyes were opened.

The man’s friends and family marvelled at the fact that he could see and so they asked him how he had been healed. The man replied that he had been healed by “the man they call Jesus” ⁱⁱ.

His friends took him to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, who questioned him about how he had been healed. The man related his story of how Jesus had healed him, but the Pharisees were unwilling to believe him. During the course of the questioning they asked him who he thought Jesus was and the man replied, “He is a prophet” ⁱⁱⁱ.

Not wanting to believe his story, the Pharisees interrogated the man’s parents to determine if he was their son and if he had really been born blind. His parents answered in the affirmative, but the Pharisees still refused to believe. Putting the man under oath the Pharisees said to him, “Give glory to God”. “We know that this man is a sinner”, to which the man replied, “Whether He is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see!” ^iv

At this point the Pharisees started to argue with the man about who Jesus was. The Pharisees stated that they followed Moses because they knew that God had spoken to Moses, but as for Jesus they did not know where He came from. To which the man replied, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing." ^v

As a result of the man’s boldness in confronting the Pharisees, they threw him out of the synagogue. When Jesus heard that the man had been thrown out, He went to the man and asked him "Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man replied, "Who is he, sir?" "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Bear in mind that the man had only received his sight after he had washed the mud off his eyes, and thus he had not yet seen Jesus nor did he know that he was speaking to Him. Jesus replied, "You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.” Upon hearing this, the man worshiped Jesus saying, "Lord, I believe". ^vi

Son of Man?

If you are unfamiliar with the Christian faith, you may well ask why the man worshiped Jesus after Jesus had identified Himself as the “Son of Man”.

When Jesus used the term, “Son of Man”, He was alluding to a prophecy made by the prophet Daniel. I quote from the book of Daniel, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” ^vii

To understand the significance of this prophecy we need to look at one other passage of scripture which deals with Jesus’ trial at the hands of the Jews just before His crucifixion. During the trial the high priest said to Him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ^viii

Thus, the term “Son of Man” was a loaded term. Each time Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of Man”, He was using it as a signpost pointing His hearers to His deity. Far from negating His claim of divinity, it was a powerful affirmation thereof.

…but now I see!

It is interesting to note that when the Pharisees questioned the man about Jesus’ identity, he had not yet seen Jesus. He had heard about Jesus and surmised that Jesus was a Prophet, but the text does not say that he had physically seen Jesus. He could see, but he had not seen Jesus and thus he did not know Him. So often in our lives we experience a similar phenomenon in that on an intellectual level we know who Jesus is. We understand that we have rebelled against God’s laws and are thus sinners. We understand that we are unable to live up to God’s perfect laws and are thus unable to save ourselves. We understand that God loves us and does not want us to spend eternity in hell and thus He sent Jesus to die for us. We understand that when Jesus died for us, He took the punishment we deserved for our own sins. But, for a variety of reasons, we stop at this point and never truly put our faith in Jesus as our only hope and saviour. We are like that man who, although he could see, had not yet seen Jesus.

It is also interesting to note how the man progresses in his responses to the question of who Jesus truly is. At first he referred to Jesus as a man; later as a prophet; still later as one sent by God, and finally he worshiped Him as the Lord of his life. These four responses to Jesus’ identity are, broadly speaking, still representative of peoples’ responses today. To some, Jesus is just a good man; to others, He is just a prophet; still to others, He was sent by God; and yet, to some, He is Lord.

What was it that caused this man, and countless others since then, to progress from referring to Jesus as “the man they call Jesus” to exclaiming “Lord, I believe”? I believe that it is not so much a question of “what”, but rather “Who”. It was, and still is, none other than God, by His Holy Spirit, who removed the man’s spiritual blindness, allowing him to exclaim “Lord, I believe”.

Friends, it is imperative that each one of us reaches that point in our lives where our spiritual blindness is removed so that we too can say, “I was blind, but now I see! Jesus Christ is Lord.” For, until such time as our eyes are opened, allowing us to see Jesus Christ for who He truly is, we will never be able to see ourselves as we truly are – wicked, depraved sinners, desperately in need of a saviour.

The ultimate Christmas gift

As we approach this Christmas let’s not miss the obvious; Christmas is all about Jesus Christ. Let’s not relegate Him to the proverbial “manger” in our lives, but rather let’s submit to His Lordship and give Him pride of place in our lives. He deserves nothing less!

If you have not yet reached that place in your life where you have exclaimed, “Lord, I believe”, earnestly ask God to remove your spiritual blindness this Christmas. God has promised through His prophet Jeremiah that, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” ^ix Again, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will opened to you.” ^x

May your eyes be opened this Christmas so that you too can see Jesus Christ for who He truly is. He is more than a man. He is more than a prophet. He is more than one sent by God. He is the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” ^xi

Pay heed to the words of Jesus Christ, “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” ^xii

Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus, come!

i John 9 – NIV Bible