He Who Takes Our Breath Away

Many people today categorically dismiss the truth of Christ and His claims without ever having read the account of Jesus in the four Gospels. They have already decided that the stories about miracles are myths, the record of a crucified Messiah is for weak minds, and identifying Jesus as God is a ridiculous thing to say about a man. They reject the reports they have heard of Christ without having learned His true identity.

In contrast, when a seemingly unreal report about Solomon’s wisdom reached the Queen of Sheba, she did not accept the words of others about Solomon. Instead, she traveled over 1,300 miles to explore the claims for herself. In doing so, she found that the accounts of Solomon had not even captured the full scope of the truth she experienced in a face-to-face meeting with the man. The encounter caused her to praise the Lord (vv. 5–8).

Our efforts to defend the truthfulness of Scripture are worthwhile. Certainly we are called to give a defense of our hope (see 1 Peter 3:15). Yet as the Queen of Sheba’s encounter with Solomon shows, it would be wise to encourage skeptics in our spheres of influence to examine the claims of Christ for themselves. We would do well to point scoffers to the Gospel of Mark, the shortest Gospel that is full of action and to the point, and the Gospel of John, which uses simple language to emphasize the deity of the Son of Man.

Speaking of Himself, Jesus said, “Something greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42). As wise and great as Solomon was, Jesus is the greater true king of Israel. He is the one so amazing that seeing who He really is will cause us to rejoice and praise God.

Pray with Us

A business visionary, Mark Wagner, executive VP and chief operations officer at Moody, is constantly looking for ways to improve operations of MBI’s ministries. Let’s continue to ask God to lead and direct Mark’s every day in the office.

BY Dr. Eric C. Redmond

Dr. Eric C. Redmond serves as a professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and as associate pastor of adult ministries at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, Ill. He is married to Pam and they have five children. He is the author of Say It!  Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition (Moody Publishers), Where Are All the Brothers? Straight Answers to Men's’ Questions about the Church (Crossway), a commentary on Jonah in the Christ-Centered Exposition Series (B&H Publishers), and a study guide on Ephesians in the Knowing the Bible series (Crossway).