Who Is This Man Named Jesus

Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? This is the fundamental question which the Gospel of John poses for us. John develops his gospel to answer that question using compelling evidence and eye-witness testimony.

John’s style and focus is very different from the other three gospel accounts by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark presents a clear-cut account of the facts of Jesus’ life and ministry; his style is plain, direct, and literal. Matthew focuses on a systematic account of Jesus’ teaching. Luke describes Jesus as the friend of all. In contrast to these three, John’s gospel is more reflective, profound, and spiritual. Augustine of Hippo likens John to the eagle who can soar higher than any other bird, because John’s “spiritual understanding compared to the eagle, has elevated his preaching higher, and far more splendidly, than the other three” John had 70 years from Jesus’ death and resurrection to reflect upon what Jesus had said and done. He goes beyond the literal message and historical facts to help people understand the deeper spiritual meaning of Jesus himself, including His teaching, life, and miracles.John carefully selected seven statements and seven signs to answer the question, “Who is Jesus and how can we be certain that His claims are true?” These statements each begin with the declaration “I am:”

“I am the bread of life” (6:35, 41, 48-51)

“I am the light of the world” (8:12, 9:5)

“I am the door of the sheep” (10:7, 9)

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep” (10:11,14)

“I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6)

“I am the true vine” (15:1,5)

In the Bible, no other person but Jesus dared to speak in this manner, not even Moses or the prophets who spoke in the name of God. Jesus claims what only God himself can claim. He is the source of life itself, and He has power not only to create, but to sustain, and restore life as well. Jesus’ “I am” statements echo the very name which God revealed to Moses in the burning bush at the foot of Mount Horeb. “Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent Me to you,' and they ask me, `What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 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.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': this is My name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15)

Jesus Himself said He had come to “declare My Father’s name.” He said, in His great intercessory prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, “And I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved Me may be in them and I in them.” (John 17:26) What does that mean?

It means that when He fed the 5,000 (plus women and children) with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, He was declaring His Father’s name, (Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord our Provider). When He went about healing the sick and curing every disease He was declaring His Father’s name, (Jehovah-Raphe, the Lord our Healer). When He had a battle to fight in the wilderness temptation with Satan and defeated him with His Word, He was declaring His Father’s name (Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner). When He said, “My peace I leave you, not the peace the world gives, but My peace.” He was declaring His Father’s name (Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord our Peace). When He said “I will never leave you or forsake you, lo, I am with you always…” He was declaring His Father’s name (Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord Who is Ever Present).

Finally He bore our unrighteousness, our sins, our iniquities, our weaknesses, our faults and our utter failure to please God in Himself. When He received us into Himself in the Garden agony, when He took the insults, the shame, the beatings and execution of men and was nailed to a cross of crucifixion, when God Himself “laid bare His holy arm” and exacted holy justice and judgment on Him for it all, when finally He suffered an eternity in hell and whatever else it took to pay for sin, and cried out “IT IS FINISHED”….When He was buried in a borrowed tomb, and wonder of wonders, when He came out on the third day, Immortal, Incorruptible, Glorified, the Firstborn of many brethren….Finally He had declared His Father’s name Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness! And He is still declaring it with every day that passes in our lives! Hallelujah!

And now, “wherefore, God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a Name which is above every name: That at the name of JESUS, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth and things under the earth (that means you satan); and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) Thus the fulfillment of Psalm 138:2…He truly has magnified (made large) His Word (logos) above all names! His name is above cancer, diabetes, heart problems, problems with the lungs, kidneys, whatever ails you has to bow to the name of Jesus.

So when you breathe the name of Jesus you call upon your Provider, your Healer, your Battle-fighting, victory-getting God. You say “Jesus” and demons tremble because He is the One who is present with you. You rest your head on your pillow knowing that He is your Peace and you walk confidently knowing that He is all things to you, not because of works that you have done but by His grace, His mercy…He is your Jehovah Tsidkenu, your righteousness! He is Jesus, the One who bears the NAME that is ABOVE EVERY NAME and IN HIS NAME, you can be saved, you will speak with new tongues, you will cast out devils, you will lay hands on the sick and they will recover, you will raise the dead, you will finish your course and you will rise to glory! All in His wonderful and glorious name...Jesus! That makes me wanna shout, how bout y’all!

John also singles out seven signs (miracles) which Jesus performed because they reveal His glory and point to a deeper spiritual reality of who Jesus claims to be..“the Christ (the Anointed Messiah), the Son of God” (John 20:30).

Jesus performed His first sign (miracle) when He changed water into wine at a wedding feast (2:1-12).

With a word of command Jesus healed the son of a royal official (4:43-54).

Jesus healed a man who’d been paralyzed for 38 years (5:1-15).

Jesus multiplied seven loaves and fishes to feed the five thousand people who gathered to hear Him (6:1-15).

Jesus walked on water and calmed the waves to rescue His disciples caught in a life-threatening storm at sea (6:16-24).

Jesus healed a man born blind, giving him sight (9:1-12).

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after Lazarus was in the tomb for three days (11:1-44).

These signs reveal Jesus’ supernatural mastery over the created material world. They demonstrate that Jesus is master over nature, disease, sickness, and death. They show that He had power to create, restore, and make new again what has been broken, lost, or destroyed. These signs point to a power and a kingdom that is greater than the sum of all earthly powers and empires past and present. They point to God who is all-powerful and merciful, all-wise and loving, all-knowing and at the same time compassionate, merciful and patient...ever so patient. Slow to anger and quick to forgive. These signs not only reveal God’s presence, they demonstrate God’s power to heal, restore, and give life. Jesus came to restore a broken, sinful humanity and to raise it to everlasting life with God.

John concludes his description of the seven signs with the statement that “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). John’s whole purpose in writing his gospel account is to help us grow in faith and knowledge of who Jesus truly is, the Son of God who died for our sins and who rose victorious over death so that we might have abundant life and be united with Him and the Father forever.

We can exercise faith in Christ when we have an assurance that He exists, a correct idea of His character, and a knowledge that we are striving to live according to His will. Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It includes believing His teachings. It means believing that even though we do not understand all things, He does. Because He has experienced all our pains, afflictions, and infirmities (our ailments, our sicknesses, our diseases, our disorders, our afflictions, our frailties, our weaknesses, our murmuring). He knows! He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties. He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33) and prepared the way for us to receive eternal life. He is always ready to help us as we remember His plea: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not”.

Faith is much more than a passive belief. Faith is an action word. We express our faith through action, by the way we live. Faith in Jesus Christ can motivate us to follow His perfect example (John 14:12). Our faith can help us overcome temptation and every battle for bigger is He that is in us than he that is in the world. When times of trial come, faith can give us strength to press forward and face our hardships with courage. Even when the future seems uncertain, our faith in the Savior can give us peace (Romans 5:1). Faith is a gift from God, but we must nurture our faith to keep it strong. Faith is like a muscle. If exercised, it grows strong. If left immobile, it becomes weak. We build up our faith by praying in the Spirit. “But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit”. (Jude 1:20) We can nurture our faith by praying in the name of Jesus, thanking Him and praising Him for the things He has done and as we pray for the needs of others He draws us closer to Him. We will also be more open to the guiding of Holy Spirit.

“Be still and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10) As we sit still before God, we allow Him to shape us and mold us into His image. He will take your stony heart and replace it with one of flesh. He will put HIS heart in you and fill it with His love, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace! All the things that He is, He will give to you. Praise His holy name!

John had a prominent role in the life and ministry of Jesus. He was part of the inner circle of disciples (Mark 3:17; 5:37; 9:2; 14:33; Acts 1:13; Galatians 2:9) along with Peter and James who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on Mount Tabor with Moses and Elijah. Unlike the other disciples who fled when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, John follows Jesus and waits in the courtyard of Caiphas, the high priest who was to charge Jesus with blasphemy and insurrection. John was also with Jesus at the foot of the cross on Golgatha. As Jesus is dying on the cross, he entrusts His mother into John’s care and he takes her into his own home. John was the first apostle who witnessed Jesus’ empty tomb and who professed that Jesus had truly risen (John 20:2-10). He was present at the last appearance of Jesus before His departure to His Father in heaven. John states that he bore witness to what he had seen, heard, touched, and experienced firsthand in his encounter with Jesus (John 19:35; 21:24; 1 John 1:1-3). John’s relationship with Jesus was marked by a special friendship, familiarity, and intimacy not seen in the other disciples. In the Gospel of John he is described as the one whom Jesus loved, and the one who sat and leaned his head on Jesus’ breast (John 13:23-25; 19:26; 20:2; 21:20).

John was written to the church, both then and now, but I also believe it was written for unbelievers as well because the Gospel of John focuses more on the divinity of Jesus Christ than any of the other gospels. It is much different than the synoptic (having the same view) gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These gospels are closely related in material and their story telling even though their intended audiences are different. The Gospel of John focuses on signs and miracles and places unique significance on these and their connection with faith. John links faith with miracles more than all the other gospels combined.

If this gospel had a specific purpose statement it would be “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). The word “believe” appears over 100 times and ties in belief with having eternal life. The most famous or at least the most familiar verse in all the Bible may be John 3:16 where belief is open to anyone who chooses to believe and all those who believe can inherit eternal life. This gospel contains some of the most powerful verses in the Bible where belief is necessarily joined with a person receiving eternal life. (John 6:37, 39; 10:10:28-29).

This gospel begins before Genesis’ 1:1 “In the beginning.” John 1:1 starts out before the creation when there was only God and with God was the Word and the Word was God (1:1-2) and this Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh (Gen 1:14) but did not originate as mankind did…that is by flesh and blood (1:13). Some cults teach that man can become God but the Bible teaches that God became Man in the Person of Jesus Christ. The gospel is both apologetic and evangelistic. John writes with a sense of purpose and with intent in an effort to convince the reader that Jesus Christ is divine, that He is the incarnate God-Man, being both God and Man.

The Gospel of John has a large amount of material not found in the other gospels and is the only one that has the entire High Priestly Prayer along with Jesus’ extensive farewell message (chapters 14-17). This gospel portrays the Passion in its most intense portrayal. It is noteworthy that John’s gospel also happens to be one of the most theological in content in its description of Jesus and in His relationship with the Father. John almost seems intent on writing to convince the reader that Jesus Christ is divine, that He is the incarnate God-Man, and that He is both God and Man. As such, He is the only One who can take away the sins of humanity.

Conclusion

The gospel of John is my favorite because it elevates the divinity of Jesus Christ and that He is God that humbled Himself and descended to our level (became flesh). He was both human and divine…both Man and God. The truth of Jesus’s humanity is just as important to hold to as the truth of His deity. The apostle John teaches how denying that Jesus is man is of the spirit of the antichrist (1 John 4:2; 2 John 7). This God-Man was both 100% Man while still being fully 100% God. Jesus is the most important person who has ever lived since He is the Savior, God in human flesh. He is not half God and half man. He is fully divine and fully man. In other words, Jesus has two distinct natures: divine and human. Jesus is the Word who was God and was with God and was made flesh (John 1:1, 14). This means that in the single person of Jesus He has both a human and divine nature, God and man. The divine nature was not changed when the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14). Instead, the Word was joined with humanity (Colossians. 2:9). Jesus' divine nature was not altered. Also, Jesus is not merely a man who "had God within Him," nor is He a man who "manifested the God principle." He is God in flesh, second person of the Trinity. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus is the mirror image of God the Father. Jesus' two natures are not "mixed together", nor are they combined into a new God-man nature. They are separate yet act as a unit in the one person of Jesus. From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. ( John 1:16) And as I mentioned before..."For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9) The main difference is that this Man died for you. It is also essential to know that Christ does not have a sinful nature, and neither did he ever commit sin even though He was tempted in all ways (Hebrews 4:15). Thus, Jesus is fully and perfectly man and has also experienced the full range of human experience. We have a Savior who can truly identify with us because He is man and who can also truly help us in temptation because He has never sinned. That is an awesome truth to cherish and sets Christianity apart from all other religions. His life, being God, was infinitely worth more than any human life could be worth and since He is God and Man, His life was sufficient to take away every human sin that has ever occurred or will occur. This is conditioned on a person repenting (turning away from), seeing the sinfulness of their sin, seeing the need for a Savior, and then putting their trust in that Savior. My question for you today...have you?

If not pray this prayer with me...

“Father, I know that I have sinned and my sins have separated me from You. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life and turn toward You. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a life without sin and died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive today and sitting at the right of the Father, and I know He hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

In His love,

Elizabeth