Who is Jesus & what does He want from me?

How can I know who Jesus Is? You're sure to find no shortage of answers to the question of who Jesus is. With all the thoughts, ideas, and opinions flying around, it makes you wonder if it's actually possible to filter through all the subjective and arrive at something objective.

Maybe a good starting point is to recognize that Jesus was someone who actually showed up in history. His life is documented in various sources of antiquity, including, but not limited to the Bible. This is important because it establishes that Jesus was not just a mythological figure (like the Greek gods). That means in order to intellectually honest, we have to be willing to follow where the historical evidence leads.

The most accurate source of information about a historical figure comes from those who were in closest proximity with that person. So for example, if 50 years from now, you decide to write a biography on Martha Stewart, you'll find all kinds of information on her from all kinds of different sources. But if you're a good journalist, you won't just read a newspaper article or a web blog, you'll go to primary sources - people who knew her firsthand and spent extended periods of time together with her - her friends, co-workers, family, jailmates, etc.

The disciples are the primary sources for Jesus' life. In the Bible, the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are written accounts of Jesus' life by those who knew Him best and spent extended periods of time together with Him. Does the fact that they were Jesus' disciples invalidate their testimony? Of course not - theirs is exactly the kind of testimony a journalist would pursue.

So what did those who knew Jesus the best have to say about Him? When you survey their testimony you find that Jesus made the outrageous claim that He was the Messiah - He was nothing less than eternal God with skin on who came from heaven to do something that only God could do - reconcile humanity back to Himself. God created us to live in a close, intimate relationship with Himself, but sin has separated us from a God who is not only loving but holy & just as well. Jesus left heaven, came to earth, lived the perfect life that none of us have ever lived and went to the cross where He died the death that you and I should have died in our place. He took the sin of the world on His back and bore it on the cross so that by trusting in who He is and what He accomplished we can be brought back to God. This is the basic message of Christianity, which is often called the Gospel (Good News). According to the disciples, the clearest and most vital picture of Jesus' identity is not seen in His moral teachings, which are second to none. It also not seen in the example of His life, which is a great one to emulate. It's seen in the atoning work that He accomplished on the cross for you and me.

The message of the Gospel is unique because it is all about grace. It's not about what we do to get to God (religion) and trying to do things to earn God's approval. It's about trusting personally in what Jesus has already accomplished on our behalf and building our identity on His finished work (relationship). Unlike religion, the grace of the Gospel leads to humility, never pride or arrogance.

Jesus said that the basis for believing the outrageous claims He made about Himself would be His resurrection (Matthew 12:39-40). Three days after His death, Jesus body was missing. This again is basically an undisputed historical fact - the only question is what happened to His body. Skeptics and cynics have come up with all kinds of creative explanations as to what happened to Jesus' body, but all of them seem to require more faith than the simple explanation that Jesus was who He claimed to be - the Son of God who had come to reconcile a broken world back to God. Take the lives of the disciples for instance. Some people speculate that they stole the body and made all this up about Jesus... but you have to ask what would their motivation have been? Church history tells us that with the exception of John, every one of them ended up dying a martyr's death specifically because of what they believed about Jesus. All they had to do to for their lives to be spared was to deny Jesus… yet not one of them did. The point is this - no one will willingly die for what they know to be a lie.

To close, let me quote a great line from CS Lewis. He made a great point when it comes to answering the question of who Jesus is. In his famous book Mere Christianity, Lewis makes this statement, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."

I find Lewis' reasoning pretty sound. If you're going to be honest, you have three choices - Jesus was either a liar, lunatic, or else He is Lord. And if He is indeed who He said He is, that means a whole lot for our lives. If you're reading this as a seeker, I applaud the journey you're on - I've been there and I want to affirm that there is no greater search.

One of the greatest privileges I have is to help lead people to Jesus. As a church, our goal is for people to know Him, personally - as Savior, Lord, Friend, and Healer. That is why we exist, plain and simple to know Jesus and make Him known.

If you would like to talk to me about Jesus, or have any other questions or concerns, I would love to hear from you.

Brian McIntyre
Lead Pastor