Who was Jesus? Or Who did Jesus Say He Was?

Jesus made many claims about Himself that we can read in accounts of His life written by four different ancient authors, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.* These accounts were all written not long after Jesus’ time on earth and give us four different viewpoints of the events that took place.

Jesus said that He was the Son of God, Son of Man, equal with God the Father, and God Himself.

Those are bold claims for anyone to make, but if the claims are true, it is vital that we pay attention.

Jesus’ closest followers had a hard time believing Him. Jesus asked them or challenged them about their faith on a couple of different occasions, “Where is your faith?”

But as they spent three continuous years with Him, traveling through the countryside, attending enormous gatherings and small intimate times with Him, they must have seen Him do THOUSANDS of miracles. Everywhere He went He healed people: raised dead people to life, gave sight to the blind, gave voice to the voiceless, made the deaf to hear, removed paralytic conditions of many years standing, etc.

The disciples saw Jesus do other miracles too. He fed thousands of people on two different occasions with the amount of a meager lunch for one person. He calmed a violent storm – making the wind and waves absolutely still. He turned water into the finest wine at a wedding.

John, one of the closest followers of Jesus and the one who lived longest after Jesus, wrote this:

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. John 21:25

 

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name. John 20:30

It is very interesting to note that Jesus’ disciples never expected Jesus to die. He predicted His death and suffering, and told them several times what was going to happen to Him. But they couldn’t understand. They were totally unprepared when He was suddenly taken, tried and crucified. I wonder if they didn’t think and hope that He would break free and silence everyone somewhere along that agonizing stream of events – and that is why they kept following to watch and see when He might unleash powerful forces to get Himself free. They knew He could. They knew He had power over those who were hurting Him.

Since Jesus submitted to suffering and was killed, those closest to Him were devastated and the small faith that they had seemed to be extinguished. They withdrew quietly and were terrified that they too were going to be arrested and killed since they had been part of what they thought was a political movement to overthrow the Roman rule of Israel.

What changed? What took a cowering fearful handful of uneducated men and women that propelled them to start a movement that eventually conquered Rome? (Have you seen pictures of Rome and noticed all the crosses symbolizing Jesus’ death ALL OVER the city?) What happened that gave that rag tag bunch of people the clout to start a movement that has continued to this day with billions of followers of Jesus all over the world?

Those humble followers of Jesus came face to face with the resurrected Jesus. Jesus didn’t stay dead, but through His own power received life again after death. This life was a different life that we can’t fully comprehend, but the early follower, to whom He appeared, were changed forever. From then on they could not stop telling people about their risen Lord and Savior.

Their experience of the risen Lord Jesus Christ changed them forever and changed the world forever.

John said that believing in Jesus gives us life by the power of His name.

What is your experience and knowledge of Jesus?

Day 16 of Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

If you have been helped in any way through my musings, please give glory to God. If you find anything disappointing or offensive – please let me know so I can improve 

• Day 15: How’s Your Heart?
• Day 14: Too Smart for God?
• Day 13: Where can I Find Hope?
• Day 12: Our Designer
• Day 11: One essential to come to God
• Day 10: How does faith begin?
• Day 9: Faith in the midst of Adversity 
• Day 8: Current State of the World
• Day 7: What does Jesus want from me?
• Day 6: The Critical Question
• Day 5: Best Invitation Ever
• Day 4: Freedom
• Day 3: My Stabilizing Factor 
• Day 2: Knowledge of God and Blessing
• Day 1: Does it make sense to seek Jesus in 2014?

*Three of the authors, Matthew, Mark, and Luke were well acquainted with Jesus. Matthew and Mark were among His twelve closest chosen followers called ‘disciples.’ The fourth author, Luke, was an educated investigative reporter of that day who wanted to do a thorough account so that people like us could continue to read and learn about Jesus life and power today.