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Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
“Who say ye that I am?” is the question with which Jesus confronted the twelve at Caesarea Philippi. Men and women of our day are no less challenged to answer the same question, a question upon which hangs the very meaning of life itself. Who is this whose influence has cast itself powerfully across nineteen centuries?
The only Jesus we may know is the one whose story is written in the New Testament by His close companions and disciples. This is the “historical Jesus.” If we attack their simple, straightforward accounts as unreliable, we have burned the only bridge by which He may be known. We have also assumed the burden of proving what hoped-for reward could have moved these men who spoke so often of truth to enter into a gigantic hoax, and to sacrifice their lives rather than confess it. We must accept or reject the Jesus of the New Testament simply because there is no evidence or testimony for any other.
The Christ of Prophecy
The best way to get an answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” is to let Jesus speak for Himself. When the Samaritan woman assured Jesus that she knew when the Christ came He would declare all things, He replied, “I that speak unto thee am he” (John 4:25-26). To His disciples just before His ascension, He said, “These are my words which I spoke unto you, while I was with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets and the psalms concerning me . . . Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again the third day” (Luke 24:44,46). Whatever we may think of it, Jesus clearly claimed to be the promised Christ of all the Old Testament prophecies.
Several hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah declared that the Christ would be descended from Jesse and David (11:1-9; 9:6-7; Jn. 7:42) and be born of a virgin (7:14; Mt. 1:18-23). At the same time Micah spoke of Bethlehem as His birthplace (5:2; Mt. 2:3-6). Yet, in spite of His human birth, Isaiah spoke of Him as “the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father” (9:6-7); and Micah said His goings forth were “from everlasting” (5:2).
More than four hundred years before His conception the prophet Zechariah spoke of His entrance into Jerusalem riding on a donkey (9:9-10). Isaiah chronicled His suffering and death for the sins of the world long before they occurred and spoke beforehand of His burial with a rich man (53:1-9). David revealed the details of the crucifixion fully one thousand years before it transpired (Psalm 22:1-18), and prophesied of the resurrection that would follow (Psalm 16:9-10; Acts 2:25-32). A scheming deceiver might have contrived to seemingly fulfill some of the Messianic prophecies, but, however shrewd, no man has control of the circumstances of his birth and death.
The Son of God
Jesus also made a clear claim to being, in a unique way, the Son of God. To Nicodemus He spoke of Himself as the “only-begotten Son of God” (John 3:16). He made the same clear assertion to a man he healed of life-long blindness (John 9:35-37) and blessed Peter for declaring Him to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:15-17). His other claims reflect His deity indirectly. He claimed to be eternal (John 8:58), sinless (John 8:46), able to forgive sins (Mk. 2:5-10) and give life to the dead (Jn. 5:21,28).
No mere man could make such claims as these unless He were mad or an arch-deceiver. If we reject Jesus as God's Son we are compelled to place Him in one of these categories. We are left to decide if we are willing to attribute to insanity or wicked deception the finest hour of human history.
Jesus is also declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). And the evidence for His resurrection is formidable. Both His friends and enemies agree on three facts: He died, was buried, and the tomb was empty. His enemies, unable to produce the body, bribed the sepulcher guards to tell the puerile story that “while we slept” His disciples came and stole the body away. Is it conceivable that men who ran away in fear while Jesus was alive would afterward risk their lives for possession of His corpse? There is only one explanation of the empty tomb which answers to all the facts and explains the testimony of the disciples and their transformation into a joyous, militant band of preachers. Clearly, as they said, He had risen from the dead and they had seen Him!
The Lord of Lords
From His position as Christ and Son of God, Jesus claimed supreme power over every person and force in the universe (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20- 22). Jesus also claimed that He was the very embodiment of truth and life and the only means of access to God (John 14:6; Matt. 11:27). It should be no surprise then that He demanded from all men a supreme and absolute loyalty (Matt. 10:37-38).
We would do well to ponder carefully the question, “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” It is not the kind of question we can escape, and it sounds very much like our answer will determine our ultimate destiny (Jn 8:24).
