Who is Jesus? Mankind has debated and argued and fought over this question for hundreds and hundreds of years. Some people call him Lord, some call him a madman. Some think of him as the Savior while others think he is nothing more than just a good moral man. And some would even refute that claim saying there is no such person as Jesus Christ. Although the reaction to this man called Jesus varies from one person to another, the one undeniable fact is that this humble man from such lowly beginnings has the whole world speaking his name.

    So who is Jesus? the answer is as close as your Bible.

    To learn who Jesus is, one must first learn where he came from. While Jesus' first "appearance" on earth was that morning in Bethlehem as Mary's child, Jesus has, in reality, been here from the very beginning. Since Genesis and the Creation, Jesus has been here. Genesis 1:3 says "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light". Who was God talking to? Certainly not Himself! And when He created man in Genesis 1:26, God says "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." In our image, after our likeness...sure sounds like there was more than one person up there doesn't it?
    The book of John also gives us an insight to the end. John 1:1,2 says,"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God". The same was in the beginning with God." Who was the Word? Jesus Christ, that's who! John 1:14 clarifies this point."And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us..." So Jesus Christ was the Word and the Word was with God in the beginning.

    Before Jesus's "birth" and life here on earth began, the Bible records His appearances and intercessions for man by calling Him "the angel of the Lord". Notice the word the. Not an angel of the Lord. There are many angels that intercede and help man, but when the Bible refers to the angel of the Lord, it is talking about the pre-earth Jesus. Jesus came down as the angel of the Lord on several occasions in Old Testament history. Some of these appearances include:

Gen. 16:7	Instructed Hagar to return to Sarah and told her she would have many descendants.
Gen. 22:11	Prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son, Isaac.
Gen. 32:24	Wrestled with Jacob through the night and blessed him at daybreak.
Ex. 3:1	Spoke to Moses from the burning bush.
Ex. 14:19	Protected the children of Israel from the pursuing Egyptian armies.
Ex. 23:20	Prepared the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land.
Num. 22:22	Blocked Balaam's path, then sent him to deliver a message to the prince of Balak.
Josh. 5:13	Reassured Joshua in his role as commander of the army of the Lord.
Judg. 2:1	Announced judgement against the Isrealites for their sinful alliances with the Canaanites.
Judg. 6:11	Commissioned Gideon to fight against the Midianites.
1 Kin. 19:4	Provided food for Elijah in the wilderness.

    He is Prophesied

    Jesus coming was prophesied many times in the Old Testament. One of the first times was in Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel." The common interpretation of this passage is that of the redemptive promise of God through Jesus. It is thought to mean that God through Jesus will conquer sin even at the price of pain and suffering on His part.
   Another prophesy of His coming is found in Malachi 4:2-3 "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…" This passage deals with the Resurrection of Jesus after His death at Calvary. This verse in the Bible is the basis of what the Christian belief is all about. Jesus Christ defeated death and lives today. This is not some legend or some fable - it is a true historical fact. There was no body in the tomb when Mary Magdalene went to see it that first Easter morning. As they sat there next to the tomb, an earthquake occurred and an angel descended, rolled away the stone and sat on it. The angel told Mary Magdalene and another Mary who was with her that Jesus was not inside - that He had risen.
    One of the primary beliefs we, as Christians, hold onto is the belief that this life will end and the death (known as the first death by believers) will be the door that allows us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and to live thereafter with the Father. This is what Malachi 4:2-3 prophesies when it talks about the "healing wings" our promise of resurrection and everlasting life in Heaven.

    A Miraculous Birth

The story of Jesus birth in that manger that Christmas morning is well-known. It is one of the first things we learn as Christians and even most non-Christians have heard the story of His birth. The Gospel of Luke gives the most detailed account of how the angel came to Mary, a virgin, and told her she would have a child. It tells of her and Joseph’s travels to Bethlehem, Jesus birth in the manger, the star that appeared in the night sky, and the rest of the story of Christmas.

What is important here is not the how so much as the fact that He arrived in a different, miraculous way. The apostle Paul called Jesus "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45) and it is this expression that is a key to understanding His birth. The first Adam condemned himself and his descendants to sin and death that day in the Garden. Jesus birth in this way symbolized a new beginning, a fresh start, by one who was not born under sin. In this way, he can "save His people from their sins"(Matthew 1:21)

Why did He come?

Why did Jesus leave His heavenly home and come to earth as a man to live with us? Why not just appear as in times past, give his message to selected prophets and holy men and return home? The New Testament gives us the answer and tells us the reason Jesus came to earth. He came "to save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21) He came that we might have abundant life (John 10:10) He came to destroy the works of Satan (1 John 3:8) These are a few of the reasons Jesus came.

Another reason Jesus came to earth as a man was so that he could experience life as a man and be able to understand the trials and troubles we as humans go through in our lives. He came to show us that we can live good, godly lives despite our circumstances if we follow His example. What is the best way to teach a child how to do something? By example. And God came to earth through the embodiment of Jesus, to show us, by His example, how we should live our life.

God came to earth because he wanted to unite with us, His creation, in a way He had never been before. Before Bethlehem, God had been watching and watching over us. But there was still a distance, a separation between God and man. Bethlehem was the bridge that spanned that distance and brought us into a relationship with God that had new meaning. When God created man, it was good. We as a people messed things up. And God tried to set us back on track innumerable times through trials and troubles, through prophets and holy men, through all the methods He used in the Old Testament to teach us His desires. But to no avail. We would get straightened out and pretty soon, be back to our old ways.

God came down to show us how to live our lives. He came to restore us and bring us back once more under His goodness. His becoming one of us through Jesus Christ is His divine way of giving us the model to live by, of restoring us to the goodness we once knew and of uniting with us in a totally intimate way.

His Early Years

    Not much is written in the Bible about the specifics of Jesus' childhood. It doesn't tell such things as where he went to school, although we know He must have been an educated man. We don't know for sure what His home was like, except we can know from the Scriptures, there must have been a love of beauty. We don't know what Joseph did for a living yet Jesus early years had a definite farming or agricultural slant to them. Jesus would speak parables of seeds and planting, of weather and the changing seasons-giving us an idea that He lived a rural life.
    We do know that even as a child, Jesus was keenly aware of people and human nature. Matthew, Mark and Luke, the first three Gospels, are filled with parables Jesus spoke illustrating His awareness of human nature and the needs of people. The parable of the sower and the seeds, the parable of the unmerciful servant, and the parable of the workers in the vineyard all speak volumes of Jesus knowledge of human nature.

His Baptism

    Jesus ministry began with His baptism. His baptism was a foretaste of His death, burial and resuurection. Jesus baptism was His entrance into public ministry. And when the voice of God spoke and said "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" , it left little doubt to those present that this was indeed the Son of God.     Baptism for you and I is an act of obedience and an outward sign of our inner rebirth. It is a public profession for Christ as outlined in the New Testament. In Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke3:21-22, and John 1:19-34 we see the accounts of Jesus baptism.
    Briefly, Jesus traveled to the southern part of the Jordan River when He was about 30 years old and met with John the Baptist who then baptized Him. It is interesting that God selected John the Baptist to perform the baptism. John, being the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, was Jesus cousin by blood, but he also shared another more symbolic relationship with Jesus. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus was the first to proclaim the new kingdom. They shared the same message, held to the common requirement of repentence, and were killed for what they believed in. By submitting to baptism through John, Jesus approved of John’s spiritual leadership and exonerated his expectations by accomplishing the messanic works he spoke of in his ministry. And with the lighting of the dove on His shoulder and the voice of God speaking to the assembled crowd "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" Jesus work began in earnest. He had been truly validated as the Messiah.

His Ministry

    Jesus’ ministry began with that act of baptism and continued for the next three years until His death. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God through the use of parables, which was the favored way of teaching in that day and are still very effective in todays’ society. Everyone loves a good story and by using parables, Jesus was able to teach the lessons needed in a way that was more palatable than structured, rigid, lecturing. He took common everyday occurrences and wove them into life lessons without His listeners even realizing the moral and spiritual content until the end of the lesson. There are some major themes that run through the parables Jesus spoke of. These themes and the message contained in them is constant throughout Jesus ministry. The themes are :

His Death and Resurrection

    How did He die? What happened to this man people call the Messiah? Why did He have to die in such a terrible way? Troubling questions to be sure. As in the case of all great men, their biography would not be complete without some mention of the way they died. The Bible also tells us how Jesus died – in fact it spends a great deal of time on that subject as it’s importance impacts each and every one of us. Every man, woman, or child that has lived or died since that time has been impacted immeasurably by this man’s death. But unlike any other “great man”, death was not the end of Jesus, but merely the end of His humanity.
    Jesus death, much like His life, must be viewed with the proper perspective. He did not die as one would expect a revered man of religion to die – old and wise, with quiet dignity, and many friends surrounding and mourning His passing. No Jesus death was much worse. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was murdered in the prime of life under the most humiliating and despicable circumstances imaginable, and in front of a jeering, mocking crowd who hated Him.
    Jesus was put to death by the Jewish leaders of the day – “the chief priests and the whole Council” as Mark 14:55 describes it. But Jesus also had a hand in His own death. He acknowledged that He was the Christ and in doing so, opened Himself up to a charge of blasphemy. Taken in front of Pilate, He reaffirmed that He was Christ “Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked Him. And answering him Jesus said “It is as you say” (Mark 15:2) This admission was all that was needed. Although Pilate, in a gesture of goodwill during the festival tried to release Jesus, the priests stirred up the people and demanded that Jesus be crucified. Pilate argued with the crowds offering another, Barabbas a convicted thief, in Jesus place. But to no avail. The crowd wanted Jesus.
    History tells us that crosses had a very awesome and terrible dimension to them. Crucifixion started out as a customary punishment among the Persians. Persian criminals sentenced to be crucified were lashed to the cross and hung there until they died (usually from suffocation as it became increasingly harder to breathe as their body weight pulled on them) after which they were burned so as not to pollute the ground with their death. The Romans adopted the practice and adapted it as a method of public execution and warning to deter other criminals as well as for a show of power of the city of Rome. The Romans crucifixion, unlike the Persian method, called for the victim to be nailed to the cross, increasing the torment and suffering of the sentenced man in this vicious and barbaric practice.
    Customarily, the vertical portion of the cross was placed at the site of death and the sentenced man was first “scourged” - whipped with a particularly wicked multi-tailed whip that had sharp pieces of bone or metal woven into it’s tails. This scourging, had the effect of ripping and tearing at the victims flesh and “softened him up” so that by the time he was placed on the cross, he was almost dead anyway. The scourging was a way of punishing the victim for his crimes before the crucifixion itself. After the scourging, any remaining clothing was stripped away and he was lashed naked with his arms outstretched to the horizontal crosspiece and forced to carry to the execution site. There the two pieces were fastened together and the victim was nailed in place on the cross – one huge iron nail through each hand and one through his feet as they were placed one on top of the other. The victim was normally given an anesthetic or narcotic drink prior to being nailed to the cross and once fastened to it, the cross was raised into place. As you can imagine, when the vertical piece was raised and slid down the hole in the ground, the sudden jerk as it hit bottom would do terrible damage and cause indescribable pain and anguish to the pitiful victim. In Jesus case, the crucifixion had a few added features; a crown of thorns was placed on His head as a mockery of His claim to be King of the Jews, no anesthetic was given as a result of His refusal to drink from the cup of suffering, and a spear was thrust into His side to expedite His death as the time neared the sabbath.
    Jesus did not die the calm and serene death of a philosopher nor was it the kind, well-earned rest of the aged religious neither. No, His death came amongst great pain, suffering, and torment. It was a desperate, traumatic event. The Bible records that Jesus died crying and in anguish – He wouldn’t have been human if He did not. Although Jesus died in the midst of great suffering, He was rational till the end. Any who witnessed His death would have marvelled at His death in this regard. With a final prayer to the Father, he surrendered Himself to His fate. “Into thy hands I commit my spirit” were the last earthly words spoken by this great man.

    If you were to ask people of today to define death, most would say “the end of life”;or when your body stopped functioning; or something like that. Most people have a terminal view of death. And if you are talking about this physical body we have here on earth, they are right. We are all aware of what our earthly bodies go through when we die. The old saying “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” explains it quite well. The Bible says “For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return.” (Gen. 3:19) Mankind has fought against this inevitable process since the beginning. We have searched for the fountain of youth and other legends of immortality in an effort to thwart death. In ancient times, the Pharohs created the tombs and pyramids thinking that they would seal themselves inside with all their worldly possessions and avoid death. Of course it didn’t work. No matter what pill, potion, or action we take, death finds us all.“It is appointed unto humans once to die (Heb. 9:27) every man woman and child who has walked the face of the earth meets the same fate. And Jesus was a man. He died there on the cross. But Jesus death was extraordinary in the fact that He did not stop with death.
    An old spiritual hymn asks the question “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Physically, the company that was present at that momentous event included the religious leadership of the day, the Roman soldiers, Mary, Jesus mother and John, His beloved disciple, and many curious onlookers and followers.The hymn goes on to ask “Were you there when He rose from the grave?” The answer is that the authority of Rome was there, Mary Magdalene was there with another woman, as well as a few others. But in a very real sense, no one was “there” as Jesus came from the tomb.The moment that Jesus was resurrected – reborn – the only ones present were God, the Father, and Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit. The people at hand that Easter morning saw the angel appear, but most probably were so blinded by the light that they didn’t see Jesus Himself. The only thing they knew for sure was that the tomb was empty.
    In the Gospel of Matthew the resurrection of Jesus went something like this:

After the Sabbath on the morning of the first day, Mary Magdalene and another Mary went to look at the grave where Jesus was buried. A severe earthquake occurred and an angel descended from Heaven. He rolled away the stone and say on it. The guards froze in fear and could not speak. The angel said “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you” (Matt. 28 1-7)

    Jesus appearance in Galilee marks the beginning of the world mission of the church. What He told His disciples there in Galilee has come to be known as “The Great Commission”: Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20)

His Continuing Ministry

    Jesus death was not the end of the story by far. If that were the case then Jesus would be just another good man who suffered and died a martyr. But Jesus was much more than “just another good man”. After His death and resurrection there was a period of forty days where the risen Jesus remained here on earth, in seclusion, before His ascension into Heaven. Acts 1:3 puts it like this:
“To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” These forty days lasted from the day of resurrection (today known as Easter Sunday) to the day of Pentecost.
    The ascension of Christ is a matter of geographical necessity. If Jesus had remained on earth, history would have been changed dramatically. But unlike the claims of some, Jesus did not visit other countries, continents, or peoples. All of His life had been amongst a select group of people. He spoke to them and walked with them. He taught them and performed miracles in front of them. He spent His days among them and He was taken from their midst.
    After He gave his followers the Great Commission and told them to spread the gospel, it was necessary for Him to go to the Father, there to wait and work through us via the Holy Spirit, until the time of His second coming. This going to the Father is known as the ascension and it was necessary for Jesus to be removed in front of witnesses to prevent any rumors of His body being stolen and later rumors of a second tomb, thus turning His story into nothing more than a treasure hunt. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead but since he remained on earth, he subsequently died again. Jesus, on the other hand, was raised from the dead and joined God in heaven through the ascension – He defeated death once and for all.
    There are two Christian doctrines that are tied to the ascension – the missionary challenge and the promise of Christ’s return. “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:16) This passage has been interpreted two ways

    1.) Jesus death as the little while in which they would not see Him and the end times as the little while before we would see Him again.
    2.) Jesus death and ascension as the little while we would not see Him and their own deaths (and ours as well)and going to be with Him as the little while before they would see Him again.

Whichever interpretation you prefer, two things are obvious: we do not see Him now. But we shall see Him someday.
    So where is Christ now? Well the Bible answers this question in Col. 3:1:”If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” Jesus is in Heaven, seated on the right hand of God, providing intercession for us. What do we mean by intercession? Intercession means to deal with something or someone on the behalf of another. And Jesus intercedes for us by virtue of His person and appointment, and on the basis of His works.
How?
Jesus intercedes for us as our interpreter. It is His task to interpret humanity to the Father. Jesus became and remains human, but He is also divine. However His humanity enables Him to represent us, mediate for us, and interpret us to the Father. Many people mistakenly believe that Jesus left His humanity here on earth when He ascended into Heaven. But that is not the case. By some divine means we cannot hope to fathom as humans ourselves, Jesus’ humanity continues and is the basis for His understanding of us. And as a result, His medation on our behalf continues and is the work by which God understands, forgives, and enters into relationship with us.
    Jesus doesn’t “look back” at His humanity some 2,000 years ago and remember what it was like to be human. He is human and because of that fact, the gulf that spans the distance between God and us has been bridged. Jesus continuing humanity allows God to relate to us and we can relate to God through Jesus. Jesus carried His humanity to Heaven with Him and His experience as a human qualifies Him to be our mediator. He walked the same earth we walk. He felt pain as we feel it. He experienced the same emotions, joys, sorrows, anger, and temptations we all experience. He lived as one of us. And now He intercedes on our behalf, helping God to understand and relate to us.

His Second Coming

    So is Jesus away now? Not really. He may not be able to be seen or felt as He once was, but He is not gone completely. We have the Holy Spirit who bears witness to Christ. We have the Scriptures and the New Testament which is the story of Jesus. We have His memory, especially at His table. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we remember the last days of His life and the amazing sacrifice He made for us. And three days later, we again celebrate in His resurrection and defeat of death. We have His memory, kept alive by the living community of His church. We speak to Him through our prayers, and He in turn speaks to the Father on our behalf. So He is not really gone from us as some would have us believe. True He is not here bodily with us today. He is not a tangible, substantial being we can relate to as we do each other. But one day we shall – or rather we shall be present with Him and He will “have” us. The Scriptures are filled with Gods’ promises and the fulfillments of those promises. From Genesis to Revelations God makes promises to us and fulfills each in His time. The promise of Jesus second coming is no different. We all must remember that this drama is not over – there is still one final act left. One of the most beautiful verses of the Bible (in my own humble opinon) is John 14:1-3:

“Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

This is the promise Jesus made to His disciples just prior to His being taken.
    Another promise was given us by inspiration of God through the apostle Paul, in a letter to the church of ancient Thessalonia. This promise gives us a brief glimpse of how Jesus will return:

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall arise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Notice the word shall. It doesn’t say we may, or we could: it says we shall. Bank on it. God keeps His promises!
    So when is Jesus coming? No one knows. Revelation 3:3 says Jesus will “come on thee as a thief and thou will not know what hour I will come upon thee” Jesus will be back. We do not know any of the particulars, even the angels themselves do not know when the end will be. But it will come. And we must be ready for Him.

If you are not ready for Jesus return, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and allowed Him into your heart, I urge you to do it today. God may call you home before Jesus’ return – He may call you home this very day. And if He does, you must be ready. If you are not sure of your salvation or do not know how you can be sure you are going to Heaven, please go to the Salvation page or click on the cross on the main page.

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