Who is Jesus?

July 25, 2018

Church Leaders

“So they were saying to Him, ‘Who are You?’ ” John 8:25

Every age, every generation, every person has to answer the question that was asked of Jesus by His generation and those of His day. Whether it was a pre-Christian era or a post-Christian nation like America, the question lingers, “Who is Jesus?”.

The Gospel of John gives us a picture of Christ and answers that question with such remarkable clarity. You have to go all the way to the end of the Gospel to find the thesis, to find the reason for the Gospel:

“. . . these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31

The purpose of the Gospel writer is to show the deity of Christ, His relationship to God, and His salvific power. Salvation, for John, comes only through Jesus Christ (John 1:1; 3:16; 8:58; 10:30; 20:31). In this Gospel, the Jewish leaders stand on the riverbank and call out to John and ask “Who are you?” (1:19). The baptizer knows exactly what they are asking and he says, “I am not the Christ,” (1:20). Later the Jews themselves will ask Jesus, “Who are You?” (8:25). Jesus’ response points to the cross and to the work that the Father sent Him to accomplish.

“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He . . .” John 8:28a

We live in a post-Christian society. If you never believed that America was a Christian nation, you certainly would agree that it had a Christian underpinning. The Founding Fathers, at least, had a Christian world view and operated with that view in mind. Today, cultural, academic, and social pressure have caused many institutions to compromise and jettison their belief or adherence to the Word of God. The secularization has been so effective that many churches and most seminaries have abandoned the authority of the Word of God. When that happens, Jesus becomes nebulous, at best, in man’s mind. I find that not only are people in the world confused about who Jesus is, but many in the church have an unbiblical view of Him.

There is no better place to start than with the apostle who was closest to Jesus, with the Gospel that apologetically sets forth His deity, and with the Christological certainty that records the words of Jesus:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6