Who is the real Jesus?

Traditional Christian teachings tell us that Jesus came to earth from heaven, born of a virgin, the Son of God, our Prince of Peace. Angels sang at His birth, and He came to bring glad tidings of great joy to all people. Good news, yes?

At Christmas we see Him as a babe in a manger. Good Friday, we see Him nailed to a Roman cross, crucified. And every Easter, we see Him rise victorious over death.

Most People are Aware of this Much.  

But there is so much more to His story. He is:

Emmanuel. Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Prince of Peace. I Am. The Alpha and Omega. Savior. Messiah. Redeemer. King of Kings. Lord of lords. Resurrection and the Life. Messiah…and much more.

Each Name tells of His character and His purpose and who He truly is. But is He who He claimed to be? If He is and we don’t believe Him, what does that mean our future?

What Jesus Claims About Himself

The religious leaders of the Jews didn’t recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah because they were looking for a military leader to free them from the oppression of Rome.

His closest disciples weren’t listening (or ignored His words) when He told them He was going to die and rise again. They were too busy arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom.

Some of the women who followed Him were paying attention to His words. One anointed Him in preparation for His burial. The women stayed with Him at the cross, watching Him die. They were the first ones to return to His tomb the day after Shabbat when He rose from the grave.

To Believe Or Not?

The people of Jesus’ day were fickle. Some believed He was their Messiah. After all, He’d fulfilled many of the prophecies and who else could raise the dead or heal the blind or cast out demons? But they didn’t really understand His mission. They couldn’t imagine that their Messiah could die. Especially if they believed He was God in flesh dwelling among them. How on earth could God die?

The leaders couldn’t accept Him because He broke their man-made traditions. He messed with their power and threatened their authority. He was a radical, calling them hypocrites and white-washed tombs. Can you imagine how they must have felt? Being called a brood of vipers didn’t set well.

He was a threat to them, so they plotted to kill Him. When they succeeded, they mocked Him. I wonder what they thought of Him when Jerusalem was sacked in 70 A.D. and they lost their power anyway.

Reinventing Jesus

Today, many people, even those claiming to be Christians, want to re-invent the Jesus of the Bible to suit their liking. They don’t like this radical King any more than the Pharisees did.

The new “Jesus” is a social reformer, someone who cares for the poor and needy, and tells us all to just love one another. He’s the kind and gentle teacher, not the radical Redeemer who calls us out on our sin.

No Atonement?

In my studies, I came across a rabbi who said, “I know the New Testament teaches that Jesus’ coming was to make atonement for man’s sin. But why did a man have to die for man’s sin? God could forgive men their sins simply by confessing them directly to Him. It is blasphemous to believe that a holy God would allow an innocent man to die for another man’s sin. We do live in an unredeemed world, but God is accessible to all men and they do not need an intermediary. All who believe in God and live righteously have a share in the Kingdom of God.”

Really? These words apparently came from a conservative rabbi and yet he believes that all we need to do to be forgiven by a Holy God (whom we have offended and broken faith with) is to confess directly to God. But even the Old Testament has taught from the beginning that the shedding of blood is necessary for God to forgive sins. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”

The New Testament tells us that without the shedding of blood there is NO forgiveness of sins. There is no forgiveness without Jesus penal substitutionary death on the cross. But if we refuse to see ourselves as having a need of a Savior, we aren’t going to want to think Jesus had to die for those sins. And if we don’t accept that teaching, then we can reinvent him into the image that is more palatable, yes?

Unpleasant Truth

It isn’t pleasant to think about Jesus’ tortured and bloodied body nailed to a cross. It’s far more pleasant to just see Jesus as a good teacher who came to show us a good way to live. To love our neighbors as ourselves and do unto others as we’d have them do to us. That’s good enough, isn’t it?

But Jesus didn’t come to earth to simply give us a new philosophy to live by. He came to radically change us, and He caused a shift in the universe when He died and rose again.

It is not a kindness to tell people that Christianity teaches us to just be nice to each other and do good works and one day we will live in heaven if we’re good enough. If we just confess our guilt without surrendering our will to God, without accepting His atoning sacrifice on our behalf, then confession doesn’t mean much.

Jesus Preached Repentance

Jesus came from heaven to earth to preach repentance because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. He came to fulfill prophesy given to Eve at the beginning of time when God said that her seed would crush the serpent’s head and the serpent (the devil) would strike her offspring’s heel. God was speaking of Jesus.

We’ve needed a Redeemer since that time, and if we think God is somehow cruel to want blood to pay for our sins (yes, we all have them), then we don’t understand a Holy God.

No one gets out of this life without having to face Almighty God. We can deny Him all we want on this earth, but death is the great equalizer and that is where we will meet Him. Of course, if we believe in Him before that day, which anyone can do if we but ask, our experience in His presence will be much different than it will if we continue to create Jesus in our own image.

He was made to be like us so that we could be like Him. He is the standard, and it’s not just a good person that He wants us to be. It’s a radically transformed life He wants to give us and to set us free from the sin in our hearts – even if we want to deny that it’s there. Anyone who looks at themselves honestly knows it is there.

And once we can finally face God honestly and read His word honestly and with humility and ask for His discernment and wisdom to understand His words, we will be a lot closer to realizing why Jesus came and why He had to die and why His resurrection can give us eternal life. But it starts with us seeking the real Jesus honestly.

Whoever seeks Him will find Him if they seek Him with all their heart.

~Selah