Who Is Jesus?

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to First Christian Church. I am Pastor Shane and I am so excited that we can gather this morning to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am also glad that you are here with us today as we are kicking off our new series Jesus 101. We are going to be working on building that foundation in and on Christ, and to start off we are refreshing our minds on who Jesus is.

This series will be looking at the W questions around Jesus. Who, what, when, where, and why. I am excited to get to tackle these questions and I think it will be a great refresh for some of us, and possibly a new understanding of it for others.

If we are asked the question today, who are you, what would our answer be? It can be a difficult question, and the answer is typically going to be a summary of our lives. Depending on who asks and where you are, your answer may look different. Growing up I could have been described as Tom and Anita’s son. Now there are many times when the answer is that I am Morgan’s husband or Tommy’s dad. Our identity is marked by all these different things.

That means when we ask this question about Jesus, who was he, there are a lot of different qualifiers for him. It isn’t just one thing. Just like our answer is more intricate and complicated than just one answer. I am more than the son, husband, dad, or grandchild of someone, there are parts of me that make up who I am. While there are intricacies to who we are, there is also one thing that could probably sum up a majority of who I am.

As we start this series today, we are asking this simple question, Who is Jesus? And today I am asking you the same.

Let’s dive in to the first characteristic of who Jesus is.

Would you join me in prayer first?

PRAY

FULLY MAN

The first characteristic of who Jesus is that I want us to see is that Jesus was fully man. The Son of God came to earth, and took on the form of man. He was in flesh, and not only was he in flesh, but he experienced life just as a man would. That is to say, he lived, experienced, and interacted with this world just as we would if we were alive at the same time with him.

During the month of December we typically look and reflect on the birth, or incarnation, of Jesus Christ. And we did that here at FC. That is significant. God the son was born. This may sound rudimentary, but this understanding is not a given in the world today. There are many that would say Jesus was not born of a human mother, or that he was simply a spirit that existed. But the Bible is clear that Jesus was born as a human.

Luke 2:6-7 says, “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

This are popular verses that are read at advent time. We are all probably familiar with Luke 2. Jesus was born from his mother Mary, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. While this was a peculiar place to put a newborn baby, it was further proof of the humanity of Jesus. Weird as it may be to think about, our Savior was a newborn baby at one time. At total dependency upon Mary and Joseph to provide care for him.

Just because Joseph and Mary were the earthly parents to Jesus, does not mean they were perfect parents. Luke 2 not only contains the story of the birth of Jesus, but also the only story we have of Jesus as a child. Luke 2:41-52 says this:

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

If you ever think you are not doing a great job as a parent, just remember that Joseph and Mary couldn’t find Jesus for 3 days. We see Jesus as a child here though, and verse 52 says that he increased in wisdom and stature and favor with both God and man. He was growing, maturing, and learning.

But this is not the only place in scripture that we see the human side of Jesus on display. One of my favorite passages of scripture is Matthew 4 and the temptation of Jesus. In verse 1-3 of this chapter we read:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Here we see the telling of the temptation of Jesus. Jesus faced temptation just like we do. He fasted 40 days and nights, and is met there by Satan himself. In this temptation, we not only see that Jesus faced the enemy just like every man and woman does, but Jesus faced hunger. He went 40 days without food, and knows what it means to be hungry. It may seem trivial, but it should encourage us to know that Jesus faced the same things we do. In fact I know some of you are hungry right now and thinking about lunch already.

We also know that Jesus knew what it was to be tired and thirsty. Look with me at what John 4:4-7 says:

“And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

After a long journey, Jesus was tired. He sat down beside the well and needed a drink. Again, this is a normal human thing to do. I think we all can see it clear on display that Jesus was fully man, experiencing life on earth as a human would.

FULLY GOD

Not only was Jesus fully man, but he was fully God. John gives us a clear explanation of this in John 1:1-5:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This passage sounds very familiar to the creation passages we read in Genesis 1. The tie back to the beginning is purposeful. John is painting the picture that Jesus has existed before time, and was an active agent in the creation of this world and everything. This idea is further reinforced by John stating that the word was not only with God, but was God. Jesus is God, come to earth.

We celebrate this beautiful union every advent season. Each year as we reflect on the birth of Jesus, we are celebrating that the light of the world came to this world, born as man but fully God as well. There is some mystery in it, but there is also hope and cause for rejoicing in it.

If we need any more evidence of Jesus claims to be God, one powerful one is also found in the book of John. John 8:58 says this:

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

The religious leaders, in this passage, are trying to both figure out who Jesus is and trying to catch him in a trap. They accuse him of being possessed by a demon, and really are trying to end his ministry. The leaders question him, asking if he is greater than Abraham. In verse 56 Jesus says that “Your Father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.” They are confused and say you aren’t that old how could you have seen Abraham, and then Jesus drops this truth bomb.

He is making it clear here, to use those two words “I am”. Jesus is making the claim that he is God. This calls back to Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” This is the passage that reveals the personal name of God. To make this claim, that you are God, and invoke this passage, would have been certain death for blasphemy, unless it is true. We see that the leaders pick up stones to kill Jesus with after he makes the claim, but Jesus is able to leave the temple unharmed.

This is the clearest and strongest evidence we see that Jesus is God. From His own mouth, while standing in the temple, Jesus makes it very clear who he is.

RABBI/TEACHER

Jesus being fully God and fully man gives us a picture of who he was on earth. We see him perform miracles, and we see him grow tired and thirst. He has a humanity that we can certainly connect with, but also a divine nature that gives proof to the claim that God has come to earth in flesh.

But we also see Jesus has a role to play while he is on earth. Many outside the fold of the church will claim Jesus was just a teacher, and they have a small part correct. Jesus was a teacher or Rabbi as he would have been referred to at the time. And he was not just known as a teacher to his disciples, but the community as a whole knew this.

In John 3 when we read the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus coming to speak with Jesus he says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” John 3:2. Nicodemus recognizes that there is something different about Jesus, he is not only a teacher but one that has been sent by God. Nicodemus, being a Pharisee, would probably have been the last to want to admit this. Their religious power would be undermined if they recognized this man from Galilee as a teacher sent by God, but it was clear in John 3 that God was working in the heart of Nicodemus. What was he working to show him though?

SAVIOR

Just as we mentioned in the beginning, there can be many answers to the question, who are you? Jesus was proof of that. We have just scratched the surface showing that he was fully man and fully God. We see that he is a teacher, but most importantly we must see that Jesus is Savior. God was stirring something in the heart of Nicodemus in John 3. Something had brought him to seek out Jesus that night and God used this interaction to give us the best answer to who Jesus is. After Nicodemus makes that statement about Jesus being a teacher sent from God, Jesus replies:

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus is our savior. And here we see who Jesus is. He has come to earth to save us, to offer us eternal life, but we must be born again. Jesus is fully God, fully man, a teacher sent from God, but ultimately he is our only hope for eternal life. John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. If you are asking today, who is Jesus? He is the way to eternal life. He is our only hope for salvation. He is God in flesh, who came to earth to die in our place. But he is clear, we have to be born again. We have to follow him as our savior, we have to lay down our pride, humble ourselves, and come to the cross knowing we are sinners, and believing that Jesus died for our sin.

Jesus came to this earth for that reason. To die for us. To be the sacrifice for our sin. To take our place, our shame, our guilt, and our punishment. So if you were to ask me, who is Jesus, I would tell you, he is my savior. He paid the debt for my sin, and when I realized that I could not save myself, that I was utterly hopeless to earn salvation, I surrendered my life to my savior. So, I ask you this morning, who is Jesus?