Messiah, Son of God (John 17:3)
Who Jesus was is not simply a theological proposition to be proved or disproved. No, we are dealing here with the faith of untold numbers over the centuries. If Jesus is not what they have believed Him to be, then they have all been clinging to falsehood and fables, and are all lost. If Jesus was simply a man who lived two thousand years ago in Palestine, then the Christian church has been involved in the most reprehensible hoax in the history of the world.
How do the following texts get at the heart of the issue?
The reaction of the disciples as they witnessed the miracle of the calming of the storm (Matt. 8:23-27) should be ours, as well: "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" (vs. 27, NIV). The night of His arrest, the high priest put a direct question to Jesus and charged Him to answer under oath: "'Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.''Yes, it is as you say', Jesus replied" (Matt. 26:63, 64, NIV). And in Pilate's judgment hall, the governor had his own query: "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus' response was the same: "Yes, it is as you say" (Matt. 27:11, NIV).
By any measure, these were two extraordinary responses. If Jesus, only the son (as was believed) of a humble carpenter from Nazareth, could have the boldness to answer yes to Pilate's question about kingship, He obviously was thinking of realities that transcend this world. And that is what we saw in His response in the high priest's palace: "In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64, NIV).
Thus, the Gospels (and the rest of the New Testament) make it clear: In Jesus we have in human flesh the Son of the Living God, the One entitled to extend the exceptional invitation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28, NIV).
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