By Kola Ajibola
Introduction
More than any other person ever lived on this planet earth; Jesus of Nazareth has been the marvel of men for twenty centuries. Many have held various (and as expected, often conflicting) doctrine on His personality.
Despite the fact that He lived as none before or since His day has ever lived, He has been mistaken for all different kinds of person. While He was on this planet earth, some people mistook Him for John the baptizer: some, Elijah: and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets (Matthew 16:14). Jews (most probably, Pharisees) said He has devil (John 8:52; 10:20). Nonetheless, His friends have loved Him and worshipped Him as the perfect sinless Son of God and Saviour of mankind from their sins. However, His enemies, unbelievers of varying degrees, have made countless but vain efforts to discredit Him. Above all, all of them have been forced to agree that Jesus of Nazareth was more than a man (John 10:21; Matthew 27:54).
If more than a man, was He more than Angel? Was He the Archangel Michael? Was He deity? Or, who is He? This is the major burden of this article. We will endeavour to cross examine what some religionists have coined as doctrine on the personality of Jesus of Nazareth vis-à-vis the teaching of the Bible. We will x-ray His person and put to test some of the popular opinions and views of people today about Jesus in the light of the Holy Bible, the only true Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3; Galatians 1:8-9; Jude 3; Revelation 22:18-19).
I. THE QUESTION: WHO IS JESUS?
On two different occasions, Jesus of Nazareth, who is Christ (Acts 2:36) asked two different groups a great question that cannot be ignored.
The first group consist His friends, otherwise called His disciples, the question was asked at the time when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples in an unequivocal term as He was praying alone (Luke 9:18): “Who do people say that the son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13, ASV). “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? (KJV). [See Mark 8:27-30]. Jesus later asked them the same question again but inquiring from them whom He was to them or whom do they took Him for? “He saith into them, but whom say ye that I am?” (Matthew16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20).
The second group came to Jesus on Tuesday prior to His crucifixion the following Friday. They engaged in a discussion with Jesus not to acquire knowledge or to have salvation for their souls but to “test” (ASV) or “tempt” (KJV) him (Matthew 22:35).
When Mark recorded that scene in his Gospel account, he first commented on an earlier argument Lord had with the Sadducees: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him …” (Mark 12:28). Matthew, in his own account made us to realize that “…when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together” (Matthew 22:34) and put one of them forward who was “an expert in the law” (Matthew 22:35b, NIV) to test (tempt) Jesus.
As the discussion progressed, Jesus asked: “What think ye of the Christ? Whose Son is he?” (Matthew 22:42). Their hypocrisy prevented them from comprehending Jesus’ nature and His mission, hence, their abysmal failure to answer this question asked by Him (Matthew 22:43-46).
These questions, that Jesus asked his disciples and Pharisees in those days are the ones that every rational, responsible, sensible, noble, sane person must answer. These questions raised issues bordering on Christ’s deity. Who is He? Is He just a Man? Or
This (that is, Jesus Christ’s deity) demands an explanation; especially at this time that many religious theorists have came out with all sorts of theories about the person of Jesus Christ. Apart from this, our attitude toward Jesus Christ will determine the eternal destiny of our soul.
II. WRONG ANSWERS TO THE GREAT QUESTION: “WHO IS JESUS?”
Going by the response of the disciples in Matthew Chapter 16; some Jews of their days mistook Jesus for John the Baptizer and some, Elijah; others, Jeremiah; or one of the prophets (vs. 14). Conversely, to the Pharisees, Christ is the Son of David (Matthew 22:42).
Just as people misconceived the personality of Jesus in those days, many have also today, took different and conflicting positions as regards Jesus personality. Let us consider some of these positions and juxtapose them with what the Holy Spirit revealed in the Bible. The only constraint to this is lack of space, but some that we are going to consider will be beneficial to our study.
III. WHAT DIFFERENT RELIGIONISTS TEACHES ABOUT CHRIST’S NATURE?
v WRONG ANSWERS TO THE GREAT QUESTION: “WHO IS JESUS?
1) Atheists: They believe that Jesus was just a man. They do credit Him with being an influential philosopher and a moral intellectual who became wiser with age. They do not believe Jesus was raised from the dead. On this position, Ferrell Jerkins quoted them in his book “Introduction to Christian Evidences” to have said that Jesus “is earth’s greatest Man, its greatest teacher, greatest philosopher, He has revealed God to us as no one else has.” (Lesson 29, pg. 111). They do not go beyond this point.
2) Christadelphian: This group teaches that Jesus did not exist in any personal way before His divine conception but is the literal “word of God” that became flesh. They said “He was created a special but mortal man. He received divine power at His baptism. He received divine power at His baptism which was withdrawn at the cross.” They also teach that, “Jesus ceased to exist during the time he was dead (because, man has no soul).” According to them, upon Jesus resurrection, He became the fullness of deity in bodily form thus completing a three step progression in nature (Hebrews 13:8). They do not believe Christ will ever be equal to God or truly divine since they believe Jesus is a created being just like man and the angels.
3) Jehovah’s Witnesses: They teach that Jesus was created by God just prior to creation. Jesus then created everything else by this position; they make Jesus to be inferior to the Father.
“Jesus the Christ, a created individual, is the second greatest personage of the universe.” (Make Sure of All Things, p. 207). In the same book, they said Jesus “was formed countless millenniums ago as the first and the only direct creation by his father, Jehovah, and because of his proved, faultless integrity, was appointed by Jehovah as his vindicator and the chief agent of life toward mankind” (ibid).
In addition to the above, they teach that “Jesus is the first and greatest creation of God.” According to them, Jesus is angel Michael, the
Further, in another publication of theirs, they said “At 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (RS), the command to Jesus Christ for the resurrection to begin is described as ‘the archangel’s call,’ and Jude 9 says that the archangel is Michael. Would it be appropriate to liken Jesus commanding call to that of someone lesser in authority? Reasonably, then, the archangel Michael is Jesus Christ.” (Reasoning from the Scripture, 1989 ed. p. 218).
In their attempts to deny the deity of Jesus, New World Translation of the Holy Scripture (NWT) inserted the world “other” before “things” in the rendition of Colossians 1:16, 17 to make the text read, “By His all OTHER things were created.” It must be pointed out here that the word “other” inserted throughout the next is not in the original Greek. Consider also the rendition of John 1:1 in NWT, Jesus was said to be “a god” which is a contradiction of Isaiah 44:6. How could Jesus be a god if none other could be formed? (Read Isaiah 43:10). How could Jesus be the Archangel Michael in the light of Daniel 10:13 which referred to Michael as “ONE of the foremost princes” which implies that he was equal to other angels? If Jesus Christ is Michael the
It is a pure doctrinal error to teach or believe that Jesus Christ is Archangel Michael. Archangel Michael is separate and apart from Jesus, the Christ who is “I AM” (John 8:58).
In all their literatures, they have always wanted to deny Jesus Christ his deity by being inconsistent in their translations. Few examples will suffice here:
- John 8:58: Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say unto you, before Abraham came to existence, I have been.”(NWT, Revised 1984, pg. 1341). The Greek word “ego eimi” that they translated in this passage as “I have been” was translated in the same New World Translation as “I am” in John 6:35, 6:41; 8:24; 13:19 and 15:5. Why the difference in this passage? If they should be consistent, then their error would be too glaring for “blind” to see, hence, their inconsistency of translating “ego eimi” as “I have been” to change the meaning of John 8:58 and “I am” in the same book.
- John 10:33 “…. Make thyself a god” (NWT). The Greek word “theōn” was translated by NWT as “a god” in John 10:33 was translated as “God” in Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27; John 14:1; 17:3; 1John 4:7; 4:12; 5:2; Revelation 14:7. Why the difference? If not for inconsistency and a day light robbery against the person of Jesus.
4) Mormon (The
5) Islam: Islamic religion teaches that Jesus is one of the prophets (messengers) of Allah. Nothing more, nothing less. Conversely, we noticed that in the Quran, no one else is called the Messiah or “His word” except Jesus.
“The Messiah Jesus …. was only a messenger of Allah, and His word …. and a spirit from Him … say not “Three–cease” … Allah is only one God. Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son….. Allah is sufficient as Defender” (Sura 4: 171 [Quran translated by Marmaduke Pickthall]).
The “word” (Arabic: Kalimet) has same connotation as in John 1:1 (Greek: Logos). From this quotation, Jesus’ deity and sonship is out rightly denied.
Another verse of Quran that is of interest is Sura 3:45. “...O Marry! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Marry...” Jesus Christ was hereto referred to as “a word from Him.” This term, was applied only to a Jesus Christ, no one else was ever referred to in the Quran.
It appears that there are sort of confusion in the mind of the speaker of Sura 5:116. It is very possible that some false Christian teachers might have been saying that Mary was God’s mother. This might have made one think that Christians believe in Father, Son and Mary, making three Gods.
“ and when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Marry! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? …” (Sura 5:116).
Alongside with this, Quran teaches that Allah had no son, he begat no one, no one begat Him. Hence; verse like this is found in the book: “The originator of the heavens and the earth! How can he have a child, when there is no for Him no consort, when He created all thing and is Aware of all things?” (Sura 6:102). “He … our Lord … hath taken neither wife nor Son” (Sura 72:3).
To Islamic adherents, it is too much for God to have a wife talk less of having a son. There is need to face a challenge here: Who is the wife of Satan? After all, we do refer to some people as offspring of Satan. Where is their mother? Who is the wife of Satan? Embarrassing or do you think of it as foolish? Well, we need not to be confused. The Bible phrase “Son of God” does not imply that God copulated with Mary (Luke 1:34–35; John 1:14, 18) just as Satan did not copulated with any to have sons and daughters! The Bible, which had been sealed more than 600 years before the emergence of Prophet Mohammed who propagated Islamic religion still says that Jesus is the Son of God. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him” (Matthew 17:5).
IV. THE CORRECT ANSWER TO THE GREAT QUESTION: WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is one of the three separate personal beings who are Divine. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal; and have always existed.
a) The Prophets said that Jesus was God:
Hundreds of year before Jesus was born, Isaiah said, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). This was fulfilled when Jesus was born (Matthew 1:22). Matthew gave the meaning of Immanuel as “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus was referred to as mighty God. Angel Gabriel said, Mary’s Son was to be called “the Son of the most high” (Luke 1:32). Micah said “His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” (Micah 5:2).
b) Jesus Himself claimed that He was God:
“But He answered them, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working! For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:17-18; emphasis, KSA).
Jews ought not to object to Jesus calling Himself son of God because they also called God their Father (John 8:41) and considered themselves as sons of God. But in this passage they did. Why? They objected because Jesus said “My Father” that is God is His “own Father,” which implied that he was “equal with God.” For this purpose, they made up their mind to stone Him to death. Why? They considered this as blasphemy. The Law of Moses prescribed stoning for seven (7) reasons. These are:
v Blasphemy – Leviticus 24:10 -16;
v Adultery, rape – Deuteronomy 22:21-24; Leviticus 20:10;
v False prophets – Deuteronomy 13:5–10;
v Rebellion son –Deuteronomy 21:18-21;
v Sacrificial children to idols- Leviticus 20:2-3, Deuteronomy 17:2-5,
v Sabbath breaking – Exodus 31:14 and Numbers 15:32 – 36.
v Familiar spirits – Leviticus 20:27.
Why are the Jews after His life? The Jews sought to kill Jesus Christ for blasphemy:
“We are not stoning you for any of these”, replies the Jews, “but for blasphemy, becomes you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10: 30-36).
The understanding of Jews was that Jesus was making Himself God when He called himself the Son of God. This claim, finally led Him to the cross where He died for the sins of the whole world (yours inclusive), even though He himself was sinless (Hebrews 4:15; 1Peter 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 3:16, 36) but God made it so, that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-8). When He was presented before the Jewish Council, He was commanded, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” After this question, flew in another one, of course the most important one – “Are you then the son of God?” Unequivocally, He answered “Yes, I am” (NASV) in order word, as put by NIV, “You are right in saying I am” (Luke 22: 66-71).
c) His Apostles proclaimed that He was God:
Those who were closed to Him said He was God, for they witnessed His miracles, they constantly listened to His teaching. They saw Him lived on earth. Few examples will suffice here:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-4, 14, KJV).
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (1 John 5:20-21, KJV).
"I and my Father are one" ( John 10:30) (John 17:21-23).
"The Father is in me and I in Him." (John 10:38).
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9).
John concludes his epistle (1 John 5:20) with the straightforward testimony: "And we know that the Son of God is come . . . this is the true God and eternal life."
Space will not permit to consider all Paul’s many references in his epistles. For the sake of this piece, we will have to content ourselves with a few of the more important.
(i) In Philippians 2:6-8, Paul portrays for us the wonderful self-humbling of Jesus how that “Being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation . . .” The word translated "form" here (Morphe), according to Allan Webb, “literally means ‘possessing the essential characteristics of.’” In essence, Paul says that Jesus, He who possessed those attributes and characteristics which make God, God, humbled Himself, took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man.
(ii) It is also evident from Paul’s writing that what is said of God is equally said of Jesus. For example; Paul speaks of the gospel as the gospel of God in Romans 1:1 and then in verse 16, as the gospel of Christ. In Colossians 2:13, he writes that forgiveness is from God but in chapter 3 verse 13, forgiveness is from Christ in order word it is from God for Christ's sake (Ephesians 4:32). He wrote that revelation is from Jesus Christ in Galatians 1:12 and it is from the Father in Galatians 1:16. In Romans 14:10-12, Paul said we will all one day stand before the judgment seat of God, and then later on he refers to it as the judgment seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:10. The church is referred to as the
(iii) Paul makes the direct statement in his letter to Timothy, “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16).
We are very optimistic that these verses and many others give overwhelming testimony to the fact of the deity of Christ and surely should allay the doubts of even the most ardent heretic. Peradventure we are yet not convinced that Jesus is God, then we should consider the testimony of the Father Himself, “Unto the Son he saith, ‘Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,.” (Hebrews 1:8).
d) His acceptance of Worship declared Him to be more than Angel and Man, Only God could Accept Worship: He is God!
Angels should not be worshipped, only God is to be worshipped – Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9. If Jesus were to be angel Michael, He would not have received worship from any being. Jesus, not only accepted worship from man (wise men, Matthew 2:11; lepers, Matthew 8:2; ruler, Matthew 9:18; His disciples, Matthew 14:33; Canaanite woman, Matthew 15:25; man born blind, John 9:38; after resurrection, Matthew 28:9, 17; after ascension, Luke 24:52) but He also received it from angels (Hebrews 1:6). Interestingly, all creation worships both Father and Lamb (Revelation 3:11-14).
e) Attributes Ascribed to Him proclaimed that He is God:
According to Colossians 2:9-10. “For in Him dwells all fullness of the Godhead bodily; …” “fullness” (pleroma) means the whole nature and attributes (Easton Bible Dictionary). Sir William Ramsay and Dr. James Moulton, both eminent Greek Scholars, agree with the above that this word would be better translated as "attribute." Again, we can have this verse as “In His body dwells every attribute of the Godhead” that is all that makes God, God resides in Jesus.
First that come to mind is there was His holiness or His self-affirming purity. Holiness is an attribute which only God can be said to possess and exhibit. Men from time to time have manifested a degree of personal purity but have failed in one time or the other, but not so with God. The holiness or purity of God springs from the essence or nature of God Himself. Isaiah gave us astounding words being chanted by the seraphim that surrounded the throne of Lord God in sixth chapter of his book as he wrote on a vision of the Lord God upon His throne: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” No earthly or created being could this be said of. Alas, New Testament writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit in their description of Him ascribe this attribute of holiness to the Lord Jesus Christ. "For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26, emphasis, KSA). "Thy holy child Jesus" (Acts 4:27, emphasis, KSA) was the reply of Peter in his address before the Sanhedrim, referring to our Lord as the holy child. For Jesus Christ to possess this attribute of holiness which can be resident in God alone and indeed is a part of the nature of God proved that Jesus Christ Himself is one with God.
Jesus has the attribute of omniscience. He is omnipotent "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," He said, and this statement was proved in the way He was able to raise the dead, cure the sick, heal the afflicted, quieten the elements, cast out demons, feed the multitudes and perform supernatural signs and wonders. In this demonstration of power Christ showed that He was God, for omnipotence is an attribute possessed by deity alone. He is omnipresent. Jesus certainly claimed this attribute of God when He said, “Wherever two or three of you are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of you.” (Matthew 18:20). And again, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus is sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Who else do you think is sinless except God? Interestingly, Jesus bitterest enemies had to confess and testify to His sinlessness. Soldiers sent out to arrest Him said upon returning empty-handed, "Never man spake like this man.” Judas who betrayed Him, later confessed, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood." Pilate who sentenced Him to death said, “I find no fault in this man.” The Roman centurion who supervised the crucifixion testified, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” The sinlessness and perfection of which is an attribute of God Himself is with Jesus, hence, the summary given by Apostle Peter in his epistle, "We are redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:19).
f) Miraculous Works Ascribed to Him says that He is God:
The various works which are ascribed to Him within scripture are further evidences that we have to come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is more than both man and angel, and that He is God!. Let us consider some examples of His miraculous works.
i) Jesus claimed the prerogative of being able to forgive sin. In Mark 2:5, Jesus said to a paralysed man, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Wait a minute, who but God Himself can possess such power? The very context of this chapter would seem to indicate that Jesus wrought this miracle of healing to demonstrate that He had the power to forgive the man's sins. What about the case of the woman taken in adultery? Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee, go thy way and sin no more.” (John 8:11).
ii) Jesus also claimed for Himself that He was going to be the Judge of men on the last day (John 5:25-29; Matthew 7:21-23; 25:31-46). To think or teach that Jesus is anything less than God such a claim or doctrine would be preposterous and without foundation.
iii) Jesus portrayed Himself as a giver of new law. Consider His Sermon on the Mount and see how recurrent this phrase: “Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, but I say unto you.” God who had originally given the Law to mankind surely is the only one who had the power and the right to revise, elaborate or expand. But here are we, Jesus doing it all! This actually identifies Jesus with God.
iv) One more point before we leave this, there is ever so much more which could and perhaps should be said upon this subject, we have testimony to the fact of His deity by the way in which our New Testament writers ascribe and apply to Jesus what the Old Testament writers had written concerning Jehovah. A few illustrations should suffice. We read in Isaiah 44:6, "…I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God." Similarly, in the Book of Revelation 1:17; 22:13 we find where John records these words of Jesus, "I am Alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Remember, that the one who had uttered these words back in Isaiah had also said, "Beside me there is no God." Hence for Jesus to have made such a claim is to have identified Himself as being God.
v) In addition to the above, consider Isaiah 43:11, “I, even I, am the Lord and beside me there is no Saviour.” The whole New Testament is filled with the message that Jesus Christ is our Saviour (Luke 19:10; John 10:9; Titus 1:4; 2:10; 3:6). There is no contradiction here, for Jesus Christ of the New Testament is one and the same with Jehovah of the Old! Please, compare the following verses; I am very sure that you will always come to the same conclusion: Isaiah 40:3 with Matthew 3:3; Malachi 3:1 with Mark 1:2; Psalm 24:10 with 1 Corinthians 2:8; Psalm 23 with John 10:11.
Conclusion:
In answering the great question: Who is Jesus? We have considered some wrong answers to the greatest question as taught by some religious groups. In our attempts to shed more light on this important topic, we have not failed to x-ray what the Bible teaches concerning Jesus Christ. Reasonably, one cannot reach any other conclusion other than the one reached above – that is by considering the overwhelming testimony of scripture, Jesus Christ was more than mere man. He was the God-man, God-incarnate. God-manifest in the flesh. We have His own testimony to this fact, the testimony of those who lived with Him and wrote about Him and the testimony of the attributes He possessed and the works He performed.
Are you part of those who give wrong answer to the question as enumerated above? We are pleading with you, kindly consider your position and have change of heart by accepting what the Holy Spirit has revealed concerning Jesus Christ. While perhaps we may not be able to understand and explain every aspect of this precious truth let us nevertheless, accept it, we beg you to cling to it and jealously contend for it against every onslaught of the Satan.
God loves you and Jesus loves you. Holy Spirit loves you. Remember, if you believe wrong God, you will end up in wrong heaven. You have been sufficiently informed by this piece of article to believe a true God. God will bless you. (Amen). The Holy Scriptures says, buy the truth and do not sell it (Proverbs 23:23).
Kola Ajibola,
No comments:
Post a Comment