Jesus

Who is Jesus?

What we know about Jesus of Nazareth, from His own time, comes mostly from the four Gospels in the Bible. If we are supposed to have an opinion about who He was and what He did, we must agree or not agree to what is written there. 

The writers of the gospels were convinced that what they told was historically true. Luke begins his story of Jesus by emphasize that he has the information from eye witnesses, and that he has thoroughly investigated everything that happened to show how reliable it is.

They explain Jesus in two ways. First of all, Jesus is completely human, just like us. He could get tired and hungry, and He felt love, joy, anger and grief. The secondly that Jesus is perfect and without sin, as a human being.  All the time He did what was right and good according to the will of God, and he showed an authority, insight and love like no other.

The gospels writers tell us, that what Jesus said about Himself, is far beyond what they expected. He invited people to follow Him personally. He provided what they needed spiritually speaking, and He showed the only way to have fellowship with God. He called himself several things, such as:

1.       The light of the world and promised that those who followed Him would never again walk in darkness.

2.       The bread of life that could give nourishment in this life.

3.       The good shepherd that can lead us safely through this life and into the glory of eternal life in heaven.

Even more sensational is what the gospels say about the way Jesus described himself as God.

1.        It created much fuss when Jesus said He could forgive sin, because that was something only God could do according to Jewish faith.

2.       When He said that he was the one who was going to judge the world, showing that He was divine and therefore God himself appearing as a human. 

3.       Yes, He actually confirmed this by saying that, whoever sees Him has also seen our heavenly Father!

What can confirm that Jesus was right when saying this about Himself?

1.       He preached with an authority and insight they had not seen in any other.

2.        He displayed a power that no one else had.

3.       He showed it by doing sensational wonders. Jesus healed the sick, showed His power over nature by calming the storm (Matt. 8:23-27), yes, He even woke up the dead. He blessed a few bread and fishes and made it enough to feed more than 5000 people (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark. 6:30-44; John 6:1-15), and He could cast out evil spirits from people just by uttering/speaking a few words.

The question of Jesus’ divinity was repeatedly raised throughout the time of His ministry. It is revealed by the mentioning of Him as the Son of God. First it was used as He was baptized when a voice from heaven was heard calling Him that. Later it is told that an evil spirit called Him the Son of God. In the spirit realm they know each other. Further on this became the major subject according to what Jesus said and did. And in the trial against Him this became the crucial question: Are you the Messiah, the Son of God? (Matt. 26:63) When Jesus confirmed it, the high priest tore his garment in “despair/horror”, because this was seen as the greatest blasphemy of all (Matt. 26:65). But the question lived on, and when Jesus took his last breath at the cross, a Roman officer “bursted” out: Surely, this man was the Son of God! (Matt. 27:54)

It is interesting to see that when the writers of the gospels write about the wonders of Jesus, they are concerned with the fact that these are not just random miracles. They are calling them signs to show who Jesus is and why he came:

1.        By showing divine power, He showed that He is the Messiah that was promised and who would establish the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that for all eternity will never be conquered and disappear.

2.       By healing He showed that He came with the power to create something entirely new, and to give hope and new life to humanity.

3.       His death and resurrection demonstrated the biggest climax for the gospel writers. Everything points forward to what happened when Jesus died on the cross like a criminal, and what happened after three days. Then the tomb was empty, and Jesus appeared before many as the conqueror of death. It is told that He faced death voluntarily, and that He in advance clearly explained that He took our place, so that we could be saved from Gods judgment for our sins.  Jesus rose again so we, through believing in Him, will have everlasting life.

The last words from Jesus on the cross were: It is finished! (John 19:30) That is why Jesus met the disciples after the resurrection with these words: Unto Me is given all powers in heaven and on earth! (Matt 28:18) With this He sent His disciples out to preach the message of Him, to make all peoples followers of Him, so they through baptism and faith would belong to Him in this life and the eternal life to come.