Who Is Jesus? A Historical Person An Extraordinary Person God One
of Us Alive A Historical Person Maybe you have never really thought
about who Jesus is, or whether his claims have any implications for
your life. After all, we're talking about a man who was born in the
first century into an obscure Jewish carpenter's family. The basic
facts of his life--where and when he lived, how he died--are all
pretty well agreed upon. But what about the significance of his
life and death? Was he a prophet? A teacher? Was he the Son of God,
or just an unusually gifted man? And for that matter, who did he
think he was? For all the questions, though, everyone seems to
agree on one thing: Jesus was an extraordinary person. An
Extraordinary Person Without a doubt, in his day there was
something about Jesus that caught people's attention. Over and over
Jesus said things that left his contemporaries amazed at his
wisdom, and even confronted them in ways that left them fumbling
around for a way to make sense of it all. (Matthew 22:22). "Many
who heard him were astonished, saying, 'What is the wisdom given to
him?' . . . and 'How are such mighty works done by his hands?'"
(Mark 6:2) Then there were the miracles. Hundreds and hundreds of
people saw with their own eyes Jesus do things that no human being
should be able to do. He healed people from sickness; he made water
instantly turn into fine-tasting wine; he told lame people to walk
again, and they did; he stood on the prow of a boat and told the
ocean to be quiet--and it did; he stood in front of the tomb of a
man who had been dead for four days and called to him to come back
to life--and the man heard him, stood up, and walked out of the
tomb (Matthew 8:24-27; 9:6-7; John 2:1-11; 11:38-44). With every
one of his miracles and in every one of his sermons Jesus was
making and backing up claims about himself that no human being had
ever made before--claims that he was God. God On a number of
occasions Jesus took a name for himself exclusively used for God,
the present tense "I am" (John 8:48-58), which brought to mind the
ancient and famous name of Israel's almighty God (Exodus 3:14).
Prophecies that Jesus claimed to fulfill also pointed to his deity.
The people of Israel were looking forward to a king occupying the
centuries-vacant throne. One prophet described this King as
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be
no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7). The people of that day would have seen that
this promised King didn't sound like just another man who would sit
on the throne for a time and then die. They would have heard their
God promising that he himself would come and be their King. Jesus
also asserted his identity as, "the Son of God." It wasn't just a
royal title; it was also a claim that Jesus was equal to God in
status and character and honor. John explains: "This was why the
Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because . . . he was
even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God"
(John 5:18). One of Us Christians call the reality that God became
human the incarnation. The Bible tells us that Jesus got hungry, he
got thirsty, he got tired, and he even got sleepy. He did things
with a deeply human tenderness, compassion, and love (Matthew
15:32; Mark 6:34, John 11:33-36). He not only was human; he showed
us what God intended humanity to be all along. Jesus was
identifying with us, becoming one with us so that he could
represent us in life and death. When Adam, the first man, sinned,
he did so as the representative of all who would come after him
(Genesis 3:1-15). "One trespass led to condemnation for all men"
(Romans 5:18). Jesus would let God's sentence of death--his
righteous wrath against sinners--fall on him. So, Jesus allowed one
of his own disciples to betray him to the Roman authorities who
sentenced him to be crucified. In Jesus's death on the cross, all
the sin of God's people was placed on him. Jesus died for them. He
died in their place. There's only one thing that would lead the Son
of God to do this: he deeply loves us. "For God so loved the
world," one biblical writer said, "that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"
(John 3:16). But Jesus did not remain dead. When some disciples
entered Jesus's tomb two days later, "they saw a young man sitting
on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
And he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here'" (Mark
16:5-6). Alive Through Jesus's resurrection from the dead,
something breathtakingly extraordinary happened. Everything he ever
claimed for himself was vindicated. (1 Corinthians 15:14-19). Only
the resurrection had the power to turn his own followers--cowardly,
skeptical men--into martyrs and eyewitnesses who were willing to
stake everything on him for the sake of telling the world, "This
man Jesus was crucified, but now he is alive!" The resurrection is
the hinge on which all Christianity turns. It's the foundation on
which everything else rests, the capstone that holds everything
else about Christianity together. Who Do You Say He Is? Maybe
you're not ready to believe his claims. What is holding you back?
Once you identify those things, don't just walk away from them.
Examine them. Pursue them. Find answers to your questions. Don't
put this off. This is the most important question you'll ever
consider! Maybe you're ready to say, "I really do think Jesus is
the Son of God. I know I'm a sinner and a rebel against God. I know
I deserve death for that rebellion, and I know Jesus can save me."
If so, then you simply turn away from sin and trust Jesus, and rely
on him to save you. And then you tell the world! This is who Jesus
is. He is the One who saves people just like me, and just like you!
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