We live life dealing with many questions that require our answer, however the most important question is one that some may never consider, or conclude that it is irrelevant. It is a question that Jesus posed to his disciples. “Who do you say that I am?” Our response to that question will not only impact how we live our life on earth, but also how we live life through eternity.
The disciples’ response to Jesus was that he was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, while most people saw Jesus as a prophet and some believed him to be a fraud. The disciples formed their response based on observing what Jesus said and did in their presence. We are not able to to do that, however we do form our opinion using what we can read of Jesus in the Gospels. We can also use what others say about their experience of Jesus. As we experience Jesus ourselves, we can grow in our own understanding of Jesus, so that we can also answer for ourselves the same question Jesus posed to his disciples.
The gospel writers portrayed different points of view of Jesus. For example each Gospel begins presenting a complementary view of Jesus. Matthew began with Jesus’ genealogy, demonstrating his Jewish heritage through King David, then he wrote of Jesus’ birth through Joseph’s, Mary’s husband’s, perspective. Mark didn’t refer to Jesus’ birth at all. Rather he began with Jesus’ herald, John the Baptist, who proclaimed and testified that Jesus was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Luke gave a different perspective, he combined the stories of John the Baptist’s birth with Jesus’ birth. The final gospel writer John took a completely different approach and introduced Jesus from a Kingdom of God perspective, revealing him as the one through whom all creation came into existence. Through the Gospels we get four different pictures of who Jesus was and is. He was both human and divine, but each one presents him as mankind’s savior through whom fear and death were defeated and the doorway to eternal life.
Since the first century countless writers, teachers and philosophers have expounded on who they think Jesus was. So many and so diverse are these opinions that we can become confused. However, in determining the truth on a matter there is wisdom in giving considerable weight to the eye-witness accounts that we have available and then go from there. So what is your response to who Jesus is and what path are you going to choose to arrive at that response?
David Freitag 