Jesus is God

John 1:1, 14-18

The Only Begotten Son of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.[1]

J

esus Christ is God! This doctrine distinguishes the Christian Faith from all other religions. In the Christian Faith, God became man in order to present Himself as the sole sacrifice for sin. Our message is that God made Himself sin on our behalf, offering Himself up in our place that we might be forever freed from the penalty of sin. Therefore, neither deed nor action of our own can make us acceptable to God. All that is necessary, if we will be Christians, is to accept the sacrifice that God has provided in our place. Every other religion in the world seeks to compel God to accept man on his own conditions. In the Christian Faith, because God has demonstrated His love for us, we come to Him submitting to His condition, which is, that we must come as we are.

At the heart of the Christian Faith is the assertion that Jesus is God. At once, this vital teaching reveals the grace of God and dignifies man as the object of God’s affection. The implications of this teaching are astonishing in scope and impact on the way in which we should live. Never again can a Christian treat a fellow human in a cavalier manner, dismissing the needs or the concerns of another person. Never again can a Christian treat a fellow being as an object, but instead the conscientious believer must believe that each individual is endowed with unalienable rights. As believers in the glorious Son of God, we are compelled to acknowledge that God is gracious toward all mankind. We marvel at His love and we are thus compelled by the knowledge that God has shared our condition to tell all that we meet of His love and grace.

Therefore, not only is our Faith dependent upon this vital doctrine, but also we believe that we are transformed into the likeness of Christ by the knowledge of this truth. Surely, such a transforming truth demands that we examine the biblical teaching, seeking to understand as fully as possible what it is that God has done for us. I invite your careful consideration of the divine text chosen for study this day. Join me in examination of John 1:1, 14-18 so that we may learn together about when God became man.

God as God — Each morning, I listened to the cadence of the ancient Shema Prayer—dj;a, [iiynidoa}]] Wnyhela,] [iiynidoa}] laer;c]yi [m’v]. I was enrolled as a first year graduate student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. I was the first “goy” from west of the Mississippi to be accepted into the Sue Goldring Division of Biomedical Sciences. As a child of Kansas, transplanted into what can only be described as a foreign culture, I wondered at that foreign tongue recited in unison as the men voiced the prayer.

I was not a Christian. Though raised in a godly home, I had never made the Faith of Christ the Lord my own faith. God has no stepchildren, nor has He any grandchildren. We are born from above and into the Family of God individually through personal faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Consequently, it was only much later, after God had graciously granted me life in Christ the Lord, that I learned that those Jewish men reciting the Shema prayer were unconsciously confessing a great truth—God is a divine Trinity. God is the what and the members of the Godhead—Father, Son and Spirit are the who.

John’s Gospel begins with an assertion paralleling that of Moses. John writes at the beginning of his Gospel, In the beginning was the Word. Likewise, Moses writes at the beginning of Genesis, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth [Genesis 1:1]. Both push our attention back to a point where there was nothing other than the Creator. There was neither mass nor time, and all that existed was the Living God.

There was a time when all that existed was God. At that point, John identifies God as the Word. The New English Bible captures the power of John’s prologue with its translation: what God was, the Word was.[2] This quite legitimately raises the question, “What is God like?”

In order to answer this question, John uses the strongest possible language, both here and throughout his Gospel account. As he draws to a conclusion his account of the life and times of Jesus, John writes that the account was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name [John 20:31]. The term Son of God conveys a sense that may be misunderstood, except for the opening statement. Here, in our text, Jesus is said to be “fully deity but not the Father.”[3]

D. A. Carson has explained in a powerful fashion that the Greek construction demands the translation with which we are familiar, mainly that the Word was God. Some cults have noted the absence of a definite article in John’s prologue [θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος]. In ignorance, they argue that John is saying the Jesus is divine, that He possesses the quality of “god-ness,” or that He is “a god.” Had John used a definite article in this construction, “he would have been saying something quite untrue. He would have been so identifying the Word with God that no divine being could exist apart from the Word.”[4]

But by writing as he does, John emphasises the doctrine of the Triune God, stating in clearest terms that Jesus—the Word—is God. John intends that this Gospel be read in light of this opening statement. The deeds and words of Jesus are the deeds and words of God. John is but one among many of the New Testament writers to affirm that Jesus is God. Among those writers who speak of Jesus as God are included Paul, Peter and John.

Here are a few examples. [To the Jews] belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen [Romans 9:5].

To Titus, Paul writes that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works [Titus 2:11-14].

As Peter begins to write his second letter, he unequivocally identifies Jesus as God. Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ [2 Peter 1:1].

Paul asserts that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross [Colossians 1:15-20].

In order to assure readers that Jesus is God, John writes in the eighteenth verse, No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known. Moses witnessed God’s glory [see Exodus 33 through 34], but he did not see God. God had warned that Moses could not see His face, for man shall not see me and live [Exodus 33:20]. Isaiah saw only the hem of the Lord’s garment as it filled the Temple [see Isaiah 6:1]. Nevertheless, that vision of the Lord’s robe was traumatic, vivid and terrifying for that righteous man of God. The assumption throughout the Old Testament is that sinful man cannot see God without invoking death.

However, John says that the unique and beloved One, Himself God, has made God known. As Carson explains, “What it means is that the beloved Son, the incarnate Word (1:14), Himself God while being at the Father’s side—just as in verse 1 the Word was simultaneously God and with God—has broken the barrier that made it impossible for human beings to see God, and has made Him known.”[5]

John states quite clearly that the revelation of Jesus—the Word—is the ultimate disclosure of God. This is affirmed by Jesus’ words at other points in this Gospel. Jesus says, Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father [John 6:45a, 46]. Only the One who is from God—that is the Word who is in the Father’s bosom—has seen God. This Word has fully revealed the Father to all mankind.

Again, in response to Philip’s request, Jesus answered, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves [John 14:9-11].

Jesus, the Son of God, the Word who is in the Father’s bosom, has fully revealed the Father to all mankind. The word translated made … known in verse eighteen of our text, is the Greek word ἐξηγήσατο. From this word, we derive our English term exegesis. In the New Testament, the word means “to tell a narrative,” or “to narrate.” Therefore, we might say that Jesus is the narration of God. Just as Jesus gives life and is the Life, just as He gives bread and is the Bread of Heaven, and just as He speaks truth and is the Truth, so Jesus also speaks the word and He is the Word. Will you know what God is like? You need but know Jesus, for He is fully God.

Ridderbos sums up John’s prologue quite nicely. “And thus the circle is completed. No one, of all the witnesses to God, has witnessed to God like the one who was from the beginning with God and was God. No one ascended to God but he was descended from him (3:13). He who comes from above is above all and bears witness to what he has seen and heard (3:31). That is the great thrust of the prologue, and it keeps returning in the Gospel. It is only in that light that we can understand what the Gospel will from this point say about the coming and the work of Jesus Christ.”[6]

God as Man — Jesus Christ is declared to be God. He is also declared to be fully man—“the last Adam” [cf. 2 Corinthians 15:42-49]. Thus, Jesus is presented as God and Man. He is the God-Man, unique in every respect. As man, Jesus would grow weary, thirst, hunger, and He would experience the gamut of emotions common to all mankind. Nevertheless, this humiliation of God becoming man was accomplished without sin.

John asserts in the text before us that that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Christian Standard Bible states, the Word became flesh and took up residence among us.[7] This translation comes closer to the thought John conveyed with his choice in the Greek tongue. The Greek word translated dwelt or took up residence [σκηνόω] is used only this once in the Gospel. Normally the word meant to live in a tent. Therefore, some suggest that the concept communicated by John’s language is that the Word tabernacled among us. There is likely more contained in this language than first meets the eye.

John is the only writer of New Testament Scripture to use this verb, though Paul employs the noun on two occasions. In the Apocalypse, John looks forward to a day when God will dwell with man. Drawing the book to a close, the beloved disciple writes, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away [Revelation 21:3, 4].

Though Paul does not use the verb, he does use the noun twice, comparing this present body to a tent. We know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we sigh, being burdened––not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee [2 Corinthians 5:1-5].

Our bodies are but temporary dwelling places. While confined to this momentary residence, we groan and long to put on our heavenly dwelling. Each grey hair is the messenger of death, reminding us that we are not destined to live forever on this earth. Each ache and pain afflicting us as we age is a reminder that this body is under the curse of sin. Our continual reaction to the injustice and wickedness of this fallen world causes us to groan and to long for Christ’s return. This body is but a temporary residence, a momentary habitation until that day when we are at last fully transformed into the image of God’s Son. This is why I close each service with the plea, Even so, come, Lord Jesus. I long to be clothed with my heavenly home, as does each saint with the passage of time.

Practically speaking, because God tabernacled among us He has fully shared our condition. He understands us and sympathises with us. What a powerful source of comfort are the words of the author of the Hebrew Letter. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need [Hebrews 4:14-16].

Our God is not a remote, impassive deity who is indifferent to our condition. The Lord Christ who redeems us understands our trials and our struggles. He is sympathetic to our toils and to our failures. Though He does not excuse us when we sin, He does enable us to continue to resist temptation and to finally overcome the wearing exertion demanded by righteousness. There is in Paul’s first letter to the Church of God at Corinth a heartening statement. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it [1 Corinthians 10:13]. How often I have drawn strength from that verse. It is precisely because our Lord has shared our condition that He knows how to deliver us from temptation.

I acknowledge that the call of Jesus is demanding, but He does not call us to anything that is greater than what He experienced. There is an account in Luke’s Gospel concerning the cost of following Jesus. Perhaps it would do us good to review Jesus’ interactions with some would-be disciples on that occasion.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” [Luke 9:56-62].

Our Lord understands our situation. He calls us to dedication, but His call is not beyond our capabilities. I fear that His call is sometimes beyond our willingness, but He is pledged by His holy Name not to permit us to experience more opposition or more pressure than we are capable of bearing. We are called to enter into His life so that He will be glorified through us.

Jesus is our example and our pattern in life. John informs each Christian that whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked [1 John 2:6]. Christians shall be like Him when He appears [1 John 3:2, 3], for they are predestined to be conformed to His image [Romans 8:29]. Therefore, Peter’s assertion that Christ has left us an example and that His disciples should follow in His steps [1 Peter 2:21] makes sense only in so far as He is our example and pattern. Jesus is also our example in death. Paul’s goal was to become like Him in His death [Philippians 3:10].

Because He was presented as fully man, Jesus has fulfilled the divine demand for obedience where Adam failed. This is apparent as Paul discusses Jesus’ obedience. As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous [Romans 5:18, 19].

Another reason for His humanity is that He is the pattern for our redeemed bodies. The Apostle Paul contrasts the physical body with that which we shall receive at the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. The pattern for what we shall be at the resurrection is Christ’s own resurrection body. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven [1 Corinthians 15:49].

Becoming man, Jesus fulfilled God’s original purpose for man to rule over creation. God placed man on the earth to subdue it and rule over it as His representatives. Instead of fulfilling the purpose God intended for man, man fell into sin and brought ruin upon the creation. The author of the Hebrew letter recognises God’s original intention and notes that Jesus shall yet fulfil what man lost when he writes, in putting everything in subjection to [Christ], [God] left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him [Hebrews 2:8].[8]

God as Redeemer — There is yet another facet to the teaching that God has tabernacled among us. Some respected theologians would even suggest that this further point is the central reason for the humanity of Christ our Saviour. Nevertheless, the need for completeness compelled exploration of the broader reasons for the incarnation of our Lord and Saviour. The central reason for Jesus’ humanity, I am inclined to agree, is that it was necessary that God provide Himself as an infinite sacrifice in the place of sinful man.

John, in the prologue to the Gospel bearing his name, alludes to this issue when he speaks of Jesus. Referring to our text, I read these words. From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ [John 1:16, 17]. Great as the Law was, it was never meant to save mankind from sin, but rather it was our guardian [Galatians 3:24], pointing us to grace. This is the assertion of the Word of God throughout the whole of the New Testament.

Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in Romans 5:18-21. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The author of the letter to the Hebrew Christians grapples with the great theme of God’s sacrifice for sinful man. His divinely guided effort is echoed and explored further still by Anselm of Canterbury (died 1109) in a theological masterpiece which he entitled, Cur Deus Homo? Literally translated, this ancient work is “Why God Man?” or more colloquially “Why Did God Become Man?” Anselm, in a carefully thought out statement of the atonement answered that only One who is both God and man could achieve our salvation. His conclusion is but an expansion of the teaching of the author of the Hebrew letter, which echoes through the ages to this day that God alone has provided salvation.

This is the thrust of the Hebrews letter when the author writes, when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

…[I]t is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body have you prepared for me;

in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all [Hebrews 9:11-15; 10:4-10].

Salvation is secured for fallen man by the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Perhaps you ask why salvation must be secured through One who is God-Man? Anselm, followed closely by numerous theologians even since, agrees that salvation could only be obtained by God. Therefore, no one else could achieve atonement. Sin—all sin—is against God who is infinite in holiness. Therefore, all sin is infinitely abhorrent and requires an infinite sacrifice. Therefore, only God, who is holy and pure, could provide an infinite sacrifice. God, Himself, must provide the sacrifice to provide atonement.

The second reason why God as Man must provide the sacrifice for sin is that man is the one who has wronged God. Therefore man must make the wrong right. Our first parent, Adam, sinned against Holy God plunging the race into ruin and sin. As federal head of the race, He ensured that the incurable virus of sin contaminated all mankind forever. Therefore, only man could pay the penalty.

Only God as Man can provide salvation, and this has been ensured in the Person of Jesus who is the Incarnate God. Motivated by love and mercy, God Himself initiated and carried out the work of providing atonement for fallen man. This is the reason that we must never permit ourselves to think of the incarnation of Jesus without thinking of the atonement. The two concepts must always be considered together. The world celebrates Christmas, but one wonders if people realise that the reason for our joy is that God became Man in order to secure our salvation!

There can be no suggestion of mere mortals somehow placating God’s wrath. The incarnation provides the means for God to placate His own wrath. God, moved with compassion and in love embraces His fallen creature man in order to provide full salvation. When the story is understood, we marvel because there was not one thing we could have done to secure our salvation. The author of salvation is God and the mediator of salvation is God and the agent of salvation is God. Man is but the recipient of grace.

Dr. James Boice notes in this context, “it is not a matter of substitution in the bald sense in which an innocent victim takes the place of another person who should be punished. Rather, it is substitution in a deeper sense. The One who takes the place of man in order to satisfy God’s justice is actually One who had Himself become man and is therefore what we might term our representative.”[9]

Thus, Jesus has become the one mediator between God and man. This is a final reason for this unique being. We were alienated from God by sin. If we would be brought into the presence of God, we needed someone to come between us. That mediator would of necessity be God and man. There is only one person who has ever fulfilled this requirement. There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus [1 Timothy 2:5].

This truth is presented for several reasons. First, I want Christians to be fully informed of what God has done for us. Only if we understand the magnitude of salvation can we actually worship God in spirit and in truth. Only as we grasp the cost of providing salvation will be fully appreciate the grace and the mercy of Christ our Lord.

Again, in understanding the means by which God has provided redemption, we will be equipped to bring others to faith. We tend to slip into grave theological error when we imagine that we can account for salvation without understanding that we are utterly incapable of providing even the slightest portion of salvation. God alone is able to provide salvation—He calls us to accept what He has provided and we can but respond. Therefore, we must divest those to whom we speak of thinking that they can “do” something to merit God’s love or grace.

Finally, I present this truth in order that some listening may believe and come to faith in the Son of God. This is the message of grace we present. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13]

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5:17-21].

Our invitation is a call for you to believe this Good News and to be saved today. All who receive Christ the Lord as Master of life are saved, entirely without effort and without works, and we pray that this includes you. Amen.

There was a time when all that existed was God. At that point, John identifies God as the Word. The New English Bible captures the power of John’s prologue with its translation: what God was, the Word was.[10] This quite legitimately raises the question, “What is God like?”

In order to answer this question, John uses the strongest possible language, both here and throughout his Gospel account. As he draws to a conclusion his account of the life and times of Jesus, John writes that the account was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name [John 20:31]. The term Son of God conveys a sense that may be misunderstood, except for the opening statement. Here, in our text, Jesus is said to be “fully deity but not the Father.”[11]

D. A. Carson has explained in a powerful fashion that the Greek construction demands the translation with which we are familiar, mainly that the Word was God. Many cults have noted the absence of a definite article in John’s prologue [θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος]. From this, they argue that John is saying the Jesus is divine, that He possesses the quality of “god-ness,” or that He is “a god.” Had John used a definite article in this construction, “he would have been saying something quite untrue. He would have been so identifying the Word with God that no divine being could exist apart from the Word.”[12]

However, John says that the unique and beloved One, Himself God, has made God known. As Carson explains, “What it means is that the beloved Son, the incarnate Word (1:14), Himself God while being at the Father’s side—just as in verse 1 the Word was simultaneously God and with God—has broken the barrier that made it impossible for human beings to see God, and has made Him known.”[13]

Ridderbos sums up John’s prologue quite nicely. “And thus the circle is completed. No one, of all the witnesses to God, has witnessed to God like the one who was from the beginning with God and was God. No one ascended to God but he was descended from him (3:13). He who comes from above is above all and bears witness to what he has seen and heard (3:31). That is the great thrust of the prologue, and it keeps returning in the Gospel. It is only in that light that we can understand what the Gospel will from this point say about the coming and the work of Jesus Christ.”[14]

John asserts in the text before us that that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Christian Standard Bible states, the Word became flesh and took up residence among us.[15] This translation comes closer to the thought John conveyed with his choice in the Greek tongue. The Greek word translated dwelt or took up residence [σκηνόω] is used only this once in the Gospel. Normally the word meant to live in a tent. Therefore, some suggest that the concept communicated by John’s language is that the Word tabernacled among us. There is likely more contained in this language than first meets the eye.