Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

Whilst some assume that Jesus is fictional figure, the truth is that there’s a strong consensus among historians that Jesus really existed.

More than that, evidence from both outside the Bible and within it point to Jesus being an extraordinary person.

The accounts of his life are based on eyewitness testimony, as one writer declares, “We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us…”

But who is he? And why does it matter?

Life throws big questions at us, “Why am I here?”, “What is my purpose?”, “Is there more than this?”, “Is God real?” We rarely stop and think about these things, often hurried and distracted by the busyness of life.

But if we do pause to ponder these questions then we have to take the claims of Jesus seriously.

Those who encountered him were never the same, he was a truth-speaking prophet unafraid of confronting the powerful, his teaching has never been surpassed and transformation and healings followed in his wake.

But unlike other religious figures, Jesus’s teaching often pointed to himself.

To his followers, he said “If you want to see God, then look at me!” (John 14:9). On encountering the risen Jesus, his follower Thomas declared, “My Lord, and my God!” …and Jesus received his worship.

So what is going on, is this a God complex, or does the evidence suggest that Jesus is the real deal?

C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia, wrote about how Jesus’ life, example and claims about himself force us to make a choice. A self-described “reluctant” convert, coming to faith only because he became convinced it was true, he wrote:

“Either this man was, and is, the son of God, or else a madman or something worse… but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

And if Jesus is who he claims to be then everything changes …

If Jesus is God walking the earth in human form, heaven meeting earth in a person, then he is both the one who holds the universe together and one who fully understands the reality of what it means to be human.

This means he both cares about our lives, and has the power to transform them. No wonder the Bible describes him as “Immanuel”, God with us.

Jesus said He came to give us life in all it’s fulness, which means he came to give us a greater life than the one we currently have: greater in depth because we discover our purpose and greater in length because the life he brings is eternal.

He brings this life by healing the separation between us and God.

In verses that describe what Jesus would endure on the cross as he was executed, the Bible says, “we all like sheep have gone astray” – meaning we have rejected God’s ways, made mistakes, and ended up far from God.

However, the verses continue that “the sins of us all” has been laid on Jesus. In other words, he has removed all that separates us from God.

How can we be sure?

The promise that our past failings don’t mean we can’t draw close to God is amazing news, but how can we know for sure?

Well the amazing news is that though he was put to death, Jesus rose again.

Ultimately, the vindication of his teaching, his ministry, his claims and his death come in his resurrection. What surprises many people is just how much evidence there is for his
resurrection.

In fact, many who set out to disprove it find themselves convinced of its truth.

Writer Tom Wright puts it like this: “No explanations have been offered in 2,000 years of sneering skepticism against the Christian witness that could satisfactorily account for how the tomb came to be empty, how the disciples came to see Jesus, and how their lives and worldviews were transformed.”

What does this mean?

So many who begin to explore the person of Jesus realms that their understanding of the Christian faith was a misunderstanding.

We don’t get to know God by trying hard at being good, rather, we come to Jesus as we are – or perhaps better put, we discover Jesus comes to us as we are.

The Bible shows us how we can connect with Jesus, on one helpful verse he says: Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3:20 NLT)

This is expressed in the imagery of the painting the Light of the World (below). One observer notes:

“The final striking feature is the opportunity depicted in the picture. One of the strengths of this painting is the extraordinary tension within it. Jesus is knocking on the door but his feet show that he is already on the point of turning away. The sky reveals that dawn is not far away. This is a decisive moment of opportunity and the picture poses a question: will the door of the heart be opened in time? Is this opportunity to receive the King going to be accepted or rejected?”

Of course, the bigger question the painting asks is this: what is your response? Will you open your heart to the one who is the light of the world?