According to Jesus, Who is Jesus?
According to Jesus, Who is Jesus?
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the LORD of hosts; ‘I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God.’
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not ….
John 8:56-58 ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.’
Then said the Jews unto him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’
Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.’”
Revelation 1:5-19:
5 And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. To Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
6 And has made us kings and priests to God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so; amen.
8 ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,’ says the Lord, ‘which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’
9 I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle which is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,’ and, ‘What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.’
12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the chest with a golden girdle.
14 His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And His feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And He had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shines in its strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, ‘Fear not; I am the first and the last.
18 I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen! And have the keys of hell and of death.
19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter…’”
First of all, who is Jesus? Throughout Scripture, Jesus is shown to be, and states of Himself, that He is the living God, the God which revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the eternal Creator and Sovereign, and the Redeemer of both Israel and the whole world. The above verses are few among many that show that Jesus Christ is The LORD, YHWH Who spoke to Moses, the everlasting God.
In the great “woes” of Matthew chapter 23, Jesus declares that He had sent the prophets and wise men and scribes to Israel, whom the nation at large and their leaders who led them astray, rejected, abused, and murdered. (vv 34-35) The LORD God sent the prophets, yet Jesus claims to have sent them.
In Chapter 24 of Matthew, where Jesus describes to His disciples when would be the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and what would be the sign of His return and the end of the world, He stated, “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (vv 30b-31)
In reference to “the Son of man” Who could come in the clouds of heaven, Jesus says that “He will send His angels…” We know that the angels are created by God for service to God, yet Jesus uses the possessive pronoun in reference to Himself as the possessor and authority over the angels, again demonstrating that He is God.
Once we understand that Jesus Christ is member of the triune God, the eternal Creator and Sustainer of the universe, acting in concert and full unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we can consider His message to the Jews during His earthly ministry, as well as His message to all non-Jews at that same time.
Jesus spent approximately three and a half years travelling about the Judeah and Galilee, calling men to God, teaching them the truth about God, and demonstrating His jurisdiction through miracles and knowledge that He could not have apart from God:
John 10:37-38 If I do not the works of my Father, believe Me not. But if I do, though you believe not Me, believe the works, that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’”
John 14:11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.’”
He gave them no room to repudiate His ministry or His message, by performing the works that no one else could do.[1] As with God’s interaction with Israel – and the pagan nations around them – left Israel no excuse to disbelieve Him, Jesus left no excuse, by His actions throughout the nation, for anyone to doubt anything that He had said. As Paul wrote, “…they were without excuse.” (Rom 1:20) He declared Himself to be eternal, the One from heaven, the commander of angels, the sender of prophets; Jesus Christ declared Himself to be God, and proved His words were true.
[1] Joh 10:25 Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.’”
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?’”
Joh 5:31 If I bear witness of myself, My witness is not true.’”
Joh 12:37 But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him:
Joh 12:38 …that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report?” and “to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”’”
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again,
Joh 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”’”
Joh 14:10 You do not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works.
Joh 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin; but now have they both seen and hated both Me and my Father.
Mt 11:20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
Mt 11:21 Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes!
Mt 11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
Mt 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Mt 11:24 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
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