Bible Basics: Who Is Jesus?

            Matthew 1:21 states, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  This was the message from the angel of God to inform Joseph about Jesus, His name, and His mission.  Jesus is the Anglicized form of the Greek word that is the equivalent of the Hebrew word “Joshua” which means "God is our salvation."  Simply stated, the name Jesus means savior.  This name aptly describes His work of saving men from their sins.  The title Christ or Messiah means "anointed one."  It designates Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic hopes of the Jews in the Old Testament.  The name Jesus means that He is the Messiah who came to earth to save lost mankind.

            As we have been attempting to understand the basics of the Christian faith, we started with God.  It is appropriate that we now examine Jesus, the incarnation of God.  There are many opinions and sentiments regarding Jesus.  One person might say that Jesus is “this” and another person might counter by saying that Jesus is “that.”  Even in Jesus’ day, there were many opinions regarding Him.  Many judgments were given.  Some Jews thought that Jesus was simply the son of Joseph and Mary.  Those who did not like Jesus said that He was a deceiver.  Still others thought that Jesus was a prophet.  The real question and the most important part of this discussion is: What does the Bible say about Jesus?

      John the Baptizer said, “I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (John 1:34 NIV)  Mark, the Gospel writer and disciple of Jesus said, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”  (Mark 1:1 NIV)  When Jesus asked his disciples who they believed him to be, Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  (Matthew 16:16 NIV)  When the Apostle Paul spoke of Jesus, he was clear about his views when he said, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”  (Galatians 4:4-5  NIV)  The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary about Jesus saying, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:35  NIV)  When Jesus confronted the demonic realm, they knew exactly who He was and they said to Him, “What do you want with us, Son of God?”  (Matthew 8:29 NIV)  The greatest testimony regarding who Jesus is are His own words, “Again the high priest asked him, 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?' 'I am,' said Jesus.”  (Mark 14:61-62 NIV)

While the testimony of Scripture is very clear regarding who Jesus was and is, we are given even more help and evidence.  Understand, anyone can claim to be God, but Jesus backed up His claims with divine power.  Jesus performed signs and miracles that verified His claim.  Remember when Jesus and His disciples were traveling across the Sea of Galilee and an unexpected storm descended upon their boat?  Jesus’ disciples were terrified that the boat was about to sink and that they would perish.  This was no simple misunderstanding.  Many of the disciples were seasoned fishermen.  They had spent many hours on boats as they practiced their vocation, fishing.  Read the words of Luke 8:22-25>>”One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side of the lake.' So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we’re going to drown!' He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'”

While many people wish to diminish and minimize who Jesus was and what He did, they do so at their own risk.  The Bible is clear that Jesus claimed to be God.  He repeatedly taught that He was the long-promised Messiah.  To back up His claims, Jesus performed many miracles.  The greatest miracle was His resurrection from the dead.  Today, we are called to answer the question, who is Jesus?  We must not listen to the lies of this world and deny that Jesus is the God-Man who has come to save us.  There is no in-between regarding Jesus.  We either follow Hm or we deny Him. Choose wisely.  Make Jesus the Lord of your life and keep looking up!