Who is Jesus?

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 4:14-30

TO CHEW ON: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind

To set at liberty those who are oppressed

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord….

Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing

- Luke 4:18-19,21

If you ask people who Jesus is (or was) you will get a variety of answers:
- a great teacher
- just one of many prophets
- a good moral example.

Here we find out what He thought of himself. The things He said He would do by claiming to be the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1,2 were only things that Israel’s promised Messiah could do. He clearly claimed to be that Messiah.

"Jesus rejected at Nazareth"

by Andre Bida - 1874

Of course His hearers, completely familiar with what He had read and savvy as to what His claims implied, were enraged. When He lumped them in with all the prophet-rejecters of the past, their wrath exploded. They dragged Jesus out of the synagogue, took Him to a hilltop, and intended to throw him to His death. But it wasn’t His time and He walked away.

The reaction of these people to Jesus’ claims about Himself show us that they knew exactly what He was saying. They viewed it as blasphemy.

People who refuse to accept Jesus’ claims as God, yet insist He was a noble character must not have read passages like this. For it’s clear that either Jesus was who He clamed to be or something far less honorable – a liar perhaps, or deluded, or mentally ill?

I believe He is who He claims to be. As such, I believe the things He said carry a lot of weight – like:
- how we come to God.
- the fate of those who believe in Him.
- the fate of those who don’t.

Who do you think Jesus was? Why do you believe the way you do? Has it made any difference in the way you live?

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me who Jesus is. And may it be more than just an intellectual knowing. Amen.

MORE:

C. S. Lewis’s take on ‘Who is Jesus?’

C. S. Lewis’s statement ‘refuted’ – are you swayed?

Phil Johnson lays out a systematic theology-type answer to ‘Who is Jesus?’

Ravi Zacharias: “Who is Jesus?”