Who is this Jesus, really?

These were the Scriptures discussed by our group August 2, 2009







In the last entry, we discussed that Jesus wants to put His mark of "ownership" on us. Who is He, really....and what right does He have to ask such a thing of us, anyway? Jesus asked His disciples, "Whom do men say that I am?" In today's discussion we are going to look at what both the Old and New Testaments say about this Jesus. We will look at this from four perspectives:



1. Proclaimed in Scriptures: both the Old and New Testaments



2. Approved by God



3. Jesus' testimony



4. Recognized by men







PROCLAIMED IN SCRIPTURE







Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.



Matthew1:21-23"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."







Isaiah 9: 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.



John 1:1 & 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...... 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.







We can see very clearly from both Old and New Testament passages, that the Child born to us was to be God putting on skin = God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. But was He







APPROVED BY GOD







Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."







Matthew 17:1-8 Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid." And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.







John 12:27-30 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. " Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes."







We can see that there were numerous times that Jesus was proven to be an extraordinary man, and even more. He definately had been approved by God His Father. Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.







WHO DID JESUS THINK HE WAS? HERE ARE SOME QUOTES IN HIS OWN WORDS:







John 5:16-18 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 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 5:39-47 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"







John 8:53-59 "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God'; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM." Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.



To understand what is happening in this verse, you must go back to Exodus 3 which records the conversation between God and Moses at the burning bush:



Exodus 3: 11-14 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"



The God name "I AM" is translated as JEHOVAH, the Everlasting, Eternal, Ever-Existant One. Jesus is using the God Name, JEHOVAH: "Before Abraham was, I AM - JEHOVAH." This is why the Jews pick up stones to stone Him, because in their eyes, He has just committed blasphemy.







John 18:1-6 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered Him, "Jesus the Nazarene." He said to them, "I AM (He)." And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, "I AM (He)," they drew back and fell to the ground.



They drew back and fell to the ground because Jesus was once again using the God Name, JEHOVAH, and the power of that name threw them all to the ground!! What a scene that must have been to witness!!







Jesus was clearly under the impression that He was God before He was born a man.







RECOGNIZED BY MEN







John 1:29-34 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."







Matthew 20: 20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.







John 20:24-28 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"







Jesus allows men to worship Him and to boldly call Him GOD. Anytime men try to worship angels, they quickly tell the men to get up and not to worship them because they are servants of the Most High God, just as they also are. This is definately not the case with Jesus.











We have seen from different perspectives that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man was definitely under the impression that He was God in the flesh. It is proven in Scripture; God His Father approved of Him; He said so Himself; and men testified to this fact also. What further proof do we need? It is because He is not only our CREATOR, but also our REDEEMER, that gives Him the right to put His mark of ownership on us.







The only question that remains is, WILL YOU LET HIM?