WHO IS JESUS?
Below are excerpts from Basic Christianity by John Stott
HIS SELF-CENTERED TEACHING
"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty"
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"I am the light of the world. Whoever follow me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
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"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
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"I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die."
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:Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me."
HIS DIRECT CLAIMS
"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."
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"I and the Father are one."
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"I am in the Father and the Father is in me."
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"Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM!"
HIS INDIRECT CLAIMS
He claims to be able to forgive sins.
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He claims to be able to give life. "I am the bread of life." "I am the life." "I am the resurrection and the life."
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He taught the Truth. People said about him "Where did this man get these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? Isn't this the carpenter?" "How did this man get such learning without having been taught?" "No one ever spoke the way this man does." "His words had authority."
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He claims to judge the world. "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will gather before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."
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"Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven."
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HIS DRAMATIZED CLAIMS (Miracles)
Turning water into wine - the water was "for ceremonial washing", that is, it was for the old law. The wine represents Jesus' blood, the Good News that would replace the old law.
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Feeding 5000, feeding 4000 - represents His claim "I am the bread of life". That is, "I can satisfy the spiritual hunger you feel."
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Healing the blind - represents his statement "I am the light of the world."
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Raising Lazarus from the dead after four days - "I am the resurrection and the life."
WHAT CHRIST HIMSELF THOUGHT
When a woman was discovered in the act of adultery and dragged before Jesus to be judged, he said to her accusers "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first one to throw a stone at her." They all slip away, ashamed until there is no one else there to condemn the woman. He tells her "Neither do I condemn you, but go forth and sin no more."
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A while later, he challenges the Pharisees "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" No one can. "I always do what pleases Him," he said.
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He calls himself the Good Shepherd, come to find his lost sheep. He also says he is the doctor come to heal the sick (sinners), and that we are all in darkness, but he is "the light of the world."
WHAT CHRIST'S FRIENDS SAID
The disciples lived with Jesus for three years. They quarreled among themselves, but never with Jesus. As Jews, the disciples grew up understanding the Old Testament teachings that no one is without sin. But they readily say that Jesus was. However, they do not proclaim it, the allude to it as an afterthought.
Peter describes Jesus as "a lamb without blemish or defect" and says "he committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth."
John declares that we are all sinners, and if we say we have no sin, we make God a liar. But he goes on to say that in Christ, who came to take away our sins, there "is no sin."
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The author of the book of Hebrews agrees that Jesus was "tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin."
WHAT CHRIST'S ENEMIES CONCEDED
At least four times, the priests and Pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy, that is, claiming to be God.
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They were horrified by his evil associations, spending all his time with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners.
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They said his religion was frivolous. He did not fast and was a "glutton and drunkard" who came "eating and drinking".
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They were angry that he broke the Sabbath, healing the sick and allowing his disciples to pick and eat corn. Jesus clearly knew and obeyed the Law. He said that "man was not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made for man." Further, he himself was "Lord of the Sabbath".
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Pontius Pilate publicly washed his hands of the crucifixion and declared himself "innocent of this man's blood."
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King Herod could find no fault in him either.
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And Judas the traitor returned the 30 pieces of silver he had been paid to betray Jesus, saying "I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood."