Who is Jesus?

Who do you say I am?

Luke 9:18-20 (NKJV)

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

“Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

If you ask people in the street, “Who is Jesus Christ?”, you may get a variety of answers. Many will say they don’t know Him other than as a swear-word or as a curse. Some will say He was supposed to have been the Son of God, while others will say that He was the Son of God. A few will say He was a good man, a prophet, a preacher, or a healer. Very few will say He IS the Son of God who died for our sins. One or two may even say that He is their Saviour and Lord.

The real question is – who do YOU say He is? Is He another John the Baptist? Is He the reincarnation of Elijah or another of the old prophets? Is He God’s Messiah and, if so, what does that mean for you and me? Is He, as He claimed, the Son of God? Not just any old god, by the way, but the Son of the Lord God Almighty, our creator God. Yeshua Ha’Mashiach - Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. "Yeshua Ha’Mashiach" in English is Jesus the Messiah.

If He is NOT the Son of God, then we are indeed to be pitied more than any man (1 Corinthians 15:19 – “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” ) On the other hand – If He is indeed who He claims to be then we have to ask one or two other questions. As Jesus is who He claimed to be, then why do we treat Him the way we do? If He is the Son of God, where is our Holy fear and reverence for His Name? Where is our answer to His call on our lives?

Is He really only good enough for our Sundays and an hour or so in the week, or is He worthy of our attention 24/7/365? There really is more evidence for Him and the claims of His resurrection than there is evidence for Alexander the Great !! Secular historians of the time wrote extensively about Him. To say that He never really existed – you must be joking.

Therefore – who do you say He is? If He was only a good man, be it prophet or preacher, then He has no call upon you. But if He was who both He and his disciples said He was, then we all owe Him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. If He was who He says He was, then we owe Him our all. Not just 52 Sundays each year, if and when we feel like it, but every second of every hour of every day for the rest of our lives.

So – who DO you say He is?