Jesus 101

He is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, meaning everything that makes a Christian a Christian, is based on the teachings, the life, and the person of Jesus Christ. In the beginning of His ministry, the first command of Christ was, “Come follow me.” The extent someone can claim to be a Christian depends for the most part on how well they can answer the question, “are you following Jesus?” Are they simply following His example? Are they simply following a few principles they believe He exemplified? Are they simply claiming the name of Jesus to give themselves some sort of authority to do what they do?

Or, have they surrendered their life to Christ’s living and present authority?

That is a Christian. And for Christians, the authority on what Jesus said and did and claims about Him come from the Bible, -specifically the New Testament. So when speaking or writing about Jesus from a Christian perspective, and presenting what Jesus is all about, -these things must come from the Bible. You may agree or disagree, but nevertheless, these are the claims and beliefs about Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, that Christians around the world worship. This is Christianity.

WHO DID JESUS CLAIM TO BE ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE?

Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, He claimed to have the same power and position as God, and He claimed to be God. He claimed all these things at one time or another, in an attempt to get the religious leaders of His day to recognize He was the Messiah, the Annointed One sent from God that had been prophecied hundreds of years earlier in the Old Testament.

The most common name Jesus used for Himself was “Son of Man.” A name that was directly associated with the Messiah in the Old Testament in the book of Daniel. It specifically stated:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” -Daniel 7:13-14

Daniel himself was also called “son of man,” by Gabriel the angel, and Ezekiel was called “son of man” by God, and God said “son of man” when speaking simply of human beings to Jeremiah. So it’s important to see that when Daniel was writing about the Messiah, he said the Messiah would be “like a son of man.”

He wouldn’t be simply a human being like you and I according to Daniel. He would be more than that, and the claims Jesus made about Himself are consistent with this idea.

In John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”

He would clarify this later by saying

“the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” -verse 38.

He would answer this question,

“Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us,”

asked by Philip in John 14:8, with this reply

“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” -verse 9-11.

The Jews certainly reacted in a way that indicated they knew exactly what Jesus meant by these type of statements. When Jesus claimed He was “one” with the Father, they tried to kill Him for blasphemy.

“We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” -John 10:33

Jesus even took the same name as God did when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush! At the burning bush God told Moses:

God said to Moses,

“I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” -Exodus 3:14

And Jesus would say to the Jews:

I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” -John 8:58

And again, the reaction of the Jews is telling.

At this, they picked up stones to stone him -John 8:59

So understand, the idea of Jesus being God AND man is tough for anyone to wrap their brain around, but the idea is one that the Bible obviously presents to us. The statements of Jesus present them to us, and the statements of the other books of the New Testament present them to us.

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” – Hebrews 1:3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth….No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” -John 1:1-18

To speculate that this idea was added later, is just wrong. There is no actual evidence, for instance, that suggests John was purposefully lying when he wrote what he wrote. There is no motivating factor for him, or others who died horrible deaths for what they believed. Early Christian leaders typically lived in poverty and suffering, usually as a direct result of their beliefs. A more reasonable understanding is that John and the early church fathers believed what they wrote and said. They often died for it. John, in fact, spent many of the last days of his life in prison, where he wrote the book of Revelation. He was obviously still a believer.

Whether you believe is a different question. The word for “believe” means more than just agreeing with it. It’s more than simply believing ABOUT Jesus, it’s about believing IN Jesus.

In other words, the question is whether or not you will put your trust, your faith, your life, under the authority of Christ? From the earliest Christians, until know, that’s what it’s all about.