Who is Jesus? Matthew 14:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
There are thousands of questions and millions of answers about Jesus. One primary key question will be about the beingness of Jesus. Especially, the question of ‘Who Jesus was and is’ was the hottest topic ever debated in the history of the Church. The first ever Christian ecumenical council meeting in the city of Nicaea in AD 325 specially deals with the beingness of Jesus. The council produced a concrete belief or doctrine about Christ. Nicene Creed’s major focus was to elucidate who Jesus is. Observe the Nicene Creed (English Language Liturgical Commission translation):
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Many Christian still do not know who their Jesus is. Some unbelieving one will say ‘Jesus is a prophet’ some will say ‘he was created by Jehovah,’- savior, master, Lord, the Lamb of God, redeemer and so on.
Old Testament prophets predicted many about Jesus. There are many controversial about long awaited messiah within Jewish society in inter-testament era.
Jesus himself faced many questions about who he is. Therefore, Jesus asked his closed disciples about who people think he is in Matthew 14:13-16. First, Jesus asked his disciples what they hear from people and secondly he asked what they think about him. This could be one of the hardest questions for Jesus disciples throughout their journey with him. What possible answers could they think and remember they are Jews. Most possible and suitable answer could be ‘Rabbi’ which means teacher or master of the law. It is stunning question for
Habitually in most of religion their followers or believer add the ability which they want their god or gods to have. This is common error in many religions--to slot in what their master do not really have. Many time over exaggeration cause many problems and gradually it leads to unreasonable belief system or contradiction. For example, believing in self to do enough good deeds to get into heaven. The rewards for staying away from lustful desires are also Lustful Heaven such as 7 virgins or 1000 wife nor husband. There are many contradictions in all religion. The primary cause of many contradictions comes from who the Founder is. Over exaggerating or unreasonable illogical belief could confuse people with unrealistic ending. For example doing everything to get into nothingness, killing others in the name of their god and killers are rewarded with lustful ending. The rewards reflect the nature of the founder.
Yes, it could be so difficult for Jesus’ Disciples to answer without exaggerating or making unrealistic.
Let us look into other questions and affirmation of Jesus’ beingness.
The birth of Jesus was predicted many hundreds years before His birth. For example, Isaiah 7:14 foretell the coming of Jesus. In Matthew 4:3, the evil one tests Jesus to show off who he is by saying ‘If you are the Son of God.’ It is not easy to be still in the midst of great trial and temptations. In Matthew 3:7, God the father said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” John the Baptist said ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them (John 3:35-36)”
Everyday there are many people following Jesus to see who he is. Some say he is the son of a carpenter, others say he Galilean (John 7: 52), others say he is from Nazareth (John 1:46).
Before the high Priest Jesus was told to confess who he is Mark 14:61-65. It is not that simple for many people to believe in Jesus just as who he is. On the cross when he was hanging with two other criminals. One of them said “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” No body understands what Jesus is doing. The humanity and humility of Jesus was just amazing.
Sadly, even his own disciples do not understand the will of Jesus. In Acts 1:6 ‘Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”’ This incident shows that even disciples were expecting Jesus to be Political Messiah who will deliver Israel from her bondages and slavery. Therefore, Jesus clarify and said to them “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Matthew Chapter 1 is to give credential of Jesus’ descendent. Likewise Matthew 1 many other book in New Testament is to clarify Who Jesus really is. The Apostles including Paul they all preached Who Jesus is and the church continue to preach and protect who Jesus is.
Is it important to know ‘Who Jesus is?’ Yes, because it is the central message of the gospel. We preach who Jesus is. We follow His foot steps and We obey His teaching and commandments. Because He is God.
God Bless You!
Happy X'mas and New year
tamkitam
