Jesus

Who was Jesus? The Bible says He was the “Son of God” and “Son of Man” -- but what do those terms mean? The Bible also says he was a person – a real human being, not a myth, legend or fabrication. He was a human child who was born, breathed, and nursed. Like most of us, he matured within his family in a community – where he worshiped, learned a useful trade, and worked to support himself. In his life, Jesus lived and breathed, ate and drank, and had family, friends, and enemies – just like us – but that tells us very little about what He was like as a person.

As opposed to the mythical Greek and Roman gods, Jesus was a real person – not a myth. He was known by others in his lifetime – but can we know and appreciate Him like they did? How can we truly have a “personal relationship” with Him? What did He believe about Himself? What did He believe about His mission? What knowledge drove His extraordinary passion for us?

Some people may believe that Jesus knew that He was the “Son of God” from birth. Did He know his vision and mission from the beginning? Others may believe that he was blessed with extraordinary faith and gifted with insight that enabled him to perceive those things, trust God, and persevere. In the final analysis, these disputes aren’t important here. The scriptures teach that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).[1] Accordingly, in the final analysis, absolute knowledge and unshakable faith are the same thing insofar as our salvation is concerned.

Jesus was a first century Jew. To understand Him as a person, we must understand the culture and customs of the time and place where he lived. To understand what vision powered Jesus’ mission to the cross – and ultimately produced our salvation – we must understand the history, hopes, dreams, fears and frustrations of first century Israel. To understand Jesus’ mission, we must understand how His beliefs and actions were shaped by the history and expectations of His people. With that understanding, it becomes clear that Jesus was not a “victim of circumstances” – he wasn’t a good man caught unwittingly in the snares of evil. Instead, he consciously chose the path that led him to the cross – and died trusting that God would vindicate him and his followers.

How could Jesus – as a first century Jew – have made that decision? How could He trust God and deliberately submit to shame, humiliation, torture and death? Before you say, “That’s easy – He was the Son of God,” remember that Adam was also “the son of God” – and he failed. (Luke 3:38). Like Adam, Jesus was human, like all of us. He was tempted to give up hope, and he worried, suffered anxiety, and feared death just like we do.

We should remember His words to the disciples and His agonized prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane – shortly before He was arrested. He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mathew 26:38-39) Ultimately, we must recall His anguished cry from the cross: “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” (Mathew 27:45).

Despite His human weaknesses, Jesus persevered because He knew and believed His Father’s promises and trusted that they would be fulfilled – even after His death. Since then, billions – perhaps even trillions of Christians have trusted those same promises and followed Jesus’ example by submitting to God’s will in life and death.

So, I ask once again, what did Jesus believe and know that gave Him the confidence to die willingly on the cross? Understanding the answer begins with an appreciation that Jesus was, like all of us, a “child of his times” – and that His times were, like the world before World War II, headed directly into an unavoidable catastrophe.


[1] All scriptures cited in this book are from the New King James Translation of the Bible, available at https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/ See also The New Geneva Study Bible.