Who Is Jesus?
Introduction
I
am in the middle of a series of sermons on Basic Christian Theology. Over the past several weeks I have preached
about theological themes like God, the ways God reveals himself to us, God’s
relationship with the world, and sin.
Today, I am preaching about a theme that truly stands at the heart of
Christian faith and theology. What do
you believe about Jesus?
Ultimately,
this is the one thing that separates Christianity from other world
religions. As Christians, we believe
that Jesus is God. Any belief system
that claims Jesus is not God falls outside the realm of Christianity. It might be religious…It may stress morality,
clean living or even justice for all people…But such a belief is not Christian.
Jesus
is a truly interesting person. For some
people, just mentioning the name Jesus is offensive. We are all familiar with efforts to remove
the name Jesus from public prayers and public displays. However, most people are willing to say good
things about Jesus as a person. Both
Jews and Muslims reject Jesus as God…But they are willing to acknowledge that
Jesus was a prophet. Hindus and
Buddhists also reject Jesus as God…But acknowledge that Jesus was a holy
man. Even secular people with no
particular religious beliefs are often willing to say that Jesus was a good
man.
The
problem with these views of Jesus is the fact that they do not go far
enough. Jesus is a prophet, a holy man
and a good man (who set an example for us to follow). But Jesus was and is more than that. As Christians, we affirm all of these views
and insist that Jesus is also God Incarnate—God in the Flesh, or God with us.
We
ought to allow our views on Jesus to be shaped by the biblical witness. In particular, we ought to allow Jesus to
speak for himself and read what Jesus says about himself in the Gospels.
Matthew 16: 13 – 20.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 "But what about you (y'all)?" he asked. "Who do you (y'all) say I am?"
17 Jesus replied,"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
There
are a couple of issues I want to address at the beginning so they will not
distract us from the point of this conversation between Jesus and his
disciples.
First,
the argument could be made that Jesus never addresses his identity in this
passage. Jesus asks his disciples what
the crowds of people think about the Son of Man. Then Jesus asks his disciples for their
opinions about the Son of Man. Such a
view would say that this passage is not about Jesus at all. It is about what the crowds and disciples
think about the coming Son of man. However,
that all breaks down when you compare the two questions Jesus asked his
disciples. In verse 13, Jesus asked, “Who
do people say the Son of Man is?” Then,
in verse 15, Jesus asked, “But what about ya’ll? Who do ya’ll say I am?” In a very subtle way, Jesus has just
identified himself as the Son of Man.
Second,
much has been made of the last verse of our Scripture. In that verse, we read that Jesus warned his
disciples not to tell anyone that Jesus is the Christ. Some people might use this to say that Jesus
is not the Christ and therefore didn’t want his disciples spreading a false
rumor about him. If that position is
true, then Jesus would never want his disciples to spread the word about what
they believe about Jesus. We get a
better understanding of what Jesus was saying when we compare what he says here
in Matthew 16 to what he says in Matthew 28.
In Matthew 28, Jesus commissioned his disciples to go to all nations and
make more disciples of Jesus. It was not
yet time to tell the world, because it was before the cross and the
Resurrection.
The Son of Man
Throughout
the Gospels, this is Jesus’ favorite way to describe himself. Jesus called himself the Son of man. But, Jesus never defined specifically what
that title means. This tells us that his
First Century audience would have been very familiar with both the phrase Son
of Man and what it meant in an early Jewish context.
More
than likely, Jesus and his disciples would have understood Son of Man as it was
previously defined in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Daniel describes the Son of Man as an exalted
figure who will be revealed in the end times.
The Son of Man would be seen in the clouds and would be seated at the
right hand of God. The Son of Man serves
an important role in judging the nations.
If
Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man in this sense, then Jesus understood that he
had an important role to play in the final outcome of the world as we know
it. Jesus knew that he would be exalted
over all the earth and would be assigned the responsibility to judge between
those who were Righteous and those who were un-Righteous. Jesus knew he would be seated at the right
hand of God in the coming Kingdom of God—the right hand being the place of
highest honor. And, Jesus knew that a
new day had dawned on the earth.
If
Jesus is the Son of Man, then the life of Jesus is the beginning of something
new. A new day (or a new age) has come
upon the earth. Jesus’ life was the
beginning of this new age, but this new age will not be fully realized until
Jesus has ascended into Heaven and returned to earth to judge the nations.
The Christ
In
our day, the word “Christ” has become a proper noun and a part of the name
Jesus Christ. In the First Century,
however, “Christ” had not yet become a proper noun. It was actually the Greek translation of the
Hebrew word “Messiah.” Both “Christ” and
“Messiah” can be translated as “the Anointed One.” Therefore, the proper noun Jesus Christ could
just as well mean Jesus Messiah.
In
the Old Testament, men were anointed with oil when they began serving as kings
or priests. This anointing was a way to
set them apart from the rest of the people and indicated they had been called
to special service. It was also a
symbolic way to indicate that these men had been endowed with the Holy Spirit.
Eventually,
the Jews began to hope for a Coming Messiah who would permanently fulfill the
role of Anointed King and Anointed Priest for Israel. When the Messiah came (in the future), he
would bring a permanent peace in Israel; he would establish God’s Righteousness
and justice throughout the world; he would bring prosperity to Israel; and he
would lead all peoples of the world to a proper knowledge and worship of the
One True God. This Messiah would usher
in a new and different future for all peoples and would restore paradise on the
earth.
One
important Jewish belief about the Coming Messiah was his family heritage. In order for this Messiah to be God’s
Anointed One, he must come from the lineage of David, the ideal King of
Israel. This would be in fulfillment of
the words spoken to David by the prophet Nathan. There would always be a descendent of David
to rule over the nation of Israel.
Both
the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke go to great lengths to trace Jesus’
ancestry back through David. This is
significant as it shows how Jesus can be the Messiah Israel had been looking
for. Jesus is the answer to Israel’s
hopes and prayers for the future. Jesus
is the Promised Anointed One.
Of
course, not all of the First Century Jews acknowledged Jesus as their Promised
Messiah. In their understanding of the
Messiah, they were looking for a political or a military leader. They were looking for someone who could
overthrow the Roman Empire. They were
not looking for a Messiah who would suffer and die on a Roman cross. In fact, we often forget that in the years
leading up to the birth of Jesus there had been many men who claimed to be the
Promised Messiah. They led rebellions
against Rome and suffered as a result.
Some were probably even crucified by the Romans. By the time Jesus went to the cross,
crucifixion was not a sign of a true Messiah.
It was a sign of a failed (or a false) Messiah.
The
difference is that crucifixion was not the end for Jesus. Three days after the crucifixion, Jesus rose
again. The Resurrection of Jesus is
significant to his claims that he was the Promised Messiah. Crucifixion without Resurrection would have
been a failure. But, the Resurrection
shows that Jesus has been vindicated by God.
In the Resurrection, God has placed his stamp of approval on everything
Jesus said and did during his earthly life.
He taught us about the Kingdom of God—the sovereign rule of God on the
earth. He demonstrated the Kingdom of
God breaking into the earthly realm by healing the sick, casting out demons and
rolling back the power of darkness on earth.
God has demonstrated his sovereignty by creating and sustaining the
earth. However, we have a difficult time
recognizing the sovereignty of God because the world is filled with death,
sickness and evil. The life and ministry
of Jesus shows us what the world is supposed to look like. Good is supposed to defeat evil and darkness
is supposed to be dispelled by the light.
As
the Messiah (or Christ), Jesus is the King.
However, Jesus is not a political or military king. Jesus is the King who gave his life so that
we can be free from the sin, death, sickness and evil which have dominated our
lives.
The Son of God
In
the Old Testament, Son of God usually referred to a divine being. In the New Testament, this is a title for
Jesus. If the early Christians who wrote
the New Testament were shaped by their understanding of the Old Testament, then
it is easy to see they actually believed Jesus was divine. Jesus is God Incarnate—God in the Flesh.
There
are three occasions in the life of Jesus where the New Testament emphasizes
that Jesus is the Son of God. One
occasion was Jesus’ baptism. When Jesus
came out of the Jordan River, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and a
voice from Heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in him I am well pleased.” Another occasion was on the Mount of
Transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James
and John to the top of a mountain and showed them his glory. Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared alongside
Jesus. And a voice from Heaven said, “This
is my beloved Son, listen to him.” The
other occasion was the miraculous birth of Jesus.
According
to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was born to Mary at a
time when she was still a virgin. Jesus
did not have a normal birth like you and I did.
Jesus was not conceived by a husband and wife. Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy
Spirit. God himself is Jesus’ Father.
Jesus
is the Unique Son of God. His miraculous
birth demonstrates that Jesus came from Heaven.
Throughout his life, Jesus maintained a close and intimate relationship
with God. Jesus lived his life as God’s
loyal Son. Jesus imitated his Father in
everything he did and said. Jesus did nothing
on his own initiative. He modeled God’s
character and was always faithful and obedient to God as his Father.
This
leads us to what is perhaps the most important thing we can say about
Jesus. Jesus was God Incarnate or God in
the Flesh. Jesus was and is both divine
and human. We see his divinity in the
fact that all of creation was under Jesus’ control. He could heal the sick. He could even control the wind and the
storms. We see Jesus’ humanity in the
fact that he experienced everything it means to be human. The Bible tells us that Jesus was hungry and
ate food. Jesus was thirsty and asked
for a drink (on the cross). Jesus was
tired and rested near a Samaritan well.
Jesus was sad and grieved at the grave of a friend. Jesus was angry when he overturned the tables
in the Temple. Jesus was even tempted by
Satan when he fasted in the desert for forty days.
The
proper theological view of Jesus is to say that Jesus was and is both fully
divine and fully human. If Jesus is ONLY
human, then God has not come down to save us from our sins. If Jesus is ONLY divine, then God has not
entered our world. If Jesus is BOTH
divine and human, then God has entered the world of sin and evil…God has set an
example for how we ought to live our lives…And God has provided the way for our
sins to be forgiven and for us to have an eternal relationship with the living
God.
Conclusion
In
this Scripture, we discover three important titles for Jesus: the Son of Man,
who will judge between the Righteous and the un-Righteous; the Christ, who is
the ideal King over all creation; and the Son of God, who is both divine and
human.
Notice
how Jesus responds to Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
the Living God. Jesus said, “Blessed are
you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but
by my Father in heaven.” In other words,
Jesus said, “You are right.” That is
significant, because Jesus agrees with Peter’s confession. Jesus claimed to be divine!
If
Jesus claimed to be God, we have to take those claims seriously. If Jesus claimed to be God, then we have only
a few choices. One way to interpret
Jesus’ words about himself is to say that Jesus was a Liar—he knew that he was
just an ordinary human being but deliberately misrepresented himself by
claiming to be God. Or, perhaps Jesus
was a Lunatic—he honestly believed he was God but was suffering from some sort
of delusion. Or, Jesus is Lord—Jesus truly
is who he claims to be.
How
will you respond to these claims? Is
Jesus a Liar, a Lunatic or the Lord?
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