Jesus was among the three visitors who came to Abraham’s tent.
Genesis 18 is an amazing chapter of Scripture. Abraham, the father of what would become the children of Israel, and heir to the promise that his lineage would bring forth the Messiah, met The Lord in person. Prior to this point, Abraham had audible conversations with God, who spoke to the patriarch from Heaven. But in chapter 18, God literally shows up at Abraham’s doorstep:
And the LORD appeared unto [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And [Abraham] lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetch a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. – Genesis 18:1-8.
In verse 3, when Abraham used the phrase
“My LORD”, the Hebrew term is
Adonnai, which is a title only used for God. So the Bible is clear that not only did Abraham see and speak to God and the two angelic beings present with Him, he ate with them and had his servants clean their feet. So how can we be sure this was God The Son? In addition Jesus’ own testimony that
“no man hath seen the Father..”we can also look to the description of Jesus in Scripture.
Colossians 2 says of Jesus:
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus is the physical form of the triune God.
Hebrews 1 says:
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: –
Hebrews 1:1-3.
God the Father on other hand, is a Spirit:
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.“ (
John 4:24).
Now contrast that description of God the Father with Jesus’ own description of spirits in general. The Lord Jesus Christ gives an explanation in Luke 24 after His resurrection:
And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. –
Luke 24:36-43.