Monday, June 4, 2012

Who is Jesus?

You have no idea how excited that I am that school will be out soon. It is the last week of exams, and graduation is on Monday next week. I do not believe that the students understand how we as teachers need the summer break just as much, if not more than they do. As I prepare for this summer, I am looking ahead to some good intensive bible study of my own. I figure, I will have all this free time, what better way to spend it than to dive into the Word of God. Not just to read, but to study, and break down scriptures to gain a better understanding of the will of God. Now, do I dive right in? No, not really. Just like I do on the soccer field with my athletes, I need a good warm up. As I wrote about last week in my post Unless You Believe, I was involved in a witnessing workshop with a dear brother Marty Minto. From what I learned, I am resolved to change the way I witness. But, in order to do that, I need to spend a great deal more time in the Word. I need to spend more time on the Gospel of Christ and His salvation.

The most important question to be asked is who is Jesus? I know, it seems a little weird to ask this question. You would think that most people have heard of Jesus. But, how do we know? Have we ever really asked that question to someone to see what their answer would be? I did here recently, and here are some of the responses that I got. 1. "He is the guy we learn about at church." 2. "He is the leader of Christianity." 3. "He is a good buddy of mine." 4. "He is the Son of God, Savior, Messiah." Do the first three answers surprise you? Do you think that they "really" know who Jesus is? So, who is He? Let's check the Bible.

Jesus asked the same question in the bible.

Matthew 16:13
"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”"

The following are a list of things people, at His time, thought He was.

1. A resurrected prophet. Matthew 16:14 - " And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”"

2. A carpenter's son with brothers and sisters. Matthew 13:54-56 - "He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”"

3. He was a lunatic. Mark 3:20-21 - "And He *came home, and the crowd *gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “ He has lost His senses.”"

4. He was a good man/liar. John 7:12 - "There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.”"

5. He was possessed. John 10:19-21 - "A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”"

But who is He really? He IS God!
Hebrews 1:8
"But of the Son He says,“ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom."

John 1:1-3;14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.....And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 5:17-18
"But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."

John 8:23-24;58
"And He was saying to them, “ You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”.....Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”"

John 10:30-33
"I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”"

John 14:23
"Jesus answered and said to him, “ If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him."

And there is so much more! Some of this I learned from my brother Marty, and some on my own research on the subject. But as for the rest, it will have to wait until a later post. This is just the start of my studies. As I learn more, I will share more. It is my prayer that this will aid in your understanding of who Jesus is, and help you in your daily witness.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you all this week!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the inspiration! I want to be a better witness for the Lord and am looking forward to the rest of your study. Blessings

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  2. I feel like every verse reflects Jesus in some way because, like you said, He is the Word made flesh! I'm excited about your free-time to study the Bible. Might I suggest the book, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours, by Chuck Missler. I think you will devour it -- I know I am! I'm on chapter/hour 15 :)

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