Question 47 – Who is Jesus and what was his mission?

In the preceding question we said that the historicity of Jesus is an unquestionable fact. However, not everyone denies his existence. Many people do not have a problem with Jesus' existence. They do however, often have a distorted view of who he considered himself to be. If we were to go onto the streets and ask random passers-by who they thought Jesus Christ was, with a great probability we would most-likely get answers of the following type from non-Christians:

• an influential teacher
• a good and charismatic man
• a man who lived a holy life
• a spiritual guru, the incarnation of an eastern master
• an excellent manipulator, illusionist, hypnotizer, etc.

Although the first three answers are true, they are not complete. According to the Bible, Jesus is much more than a teacher, a respectable/honourable preacher, a good man or possibly a prophet.

1) True Identity of Jesus Christ

We could write much about Jesus' identity. He was a human being, the son of his mother, a sibling, a Jew, a kind friend, a loving and caring person, a wise teacher, a charismatic leader, and last but not least, the influential founder of a new-thinking movement. If we were to stop here, however, Jesus would not be that unique. This world has known many people with such characteristics.

Allow me to state that no being that has ever walked this Earth can be compared with Jesus and his influence. According to the Bible, according to Jesus' own behaviour, and according to His own words, he was not just a human being. Jesus Christ was the long-awaited Messiah and Saviour who had been prophesied throughout the Old Testament. This Messiah, however was not, in spite of the expectation of the Jewish people, a great general and important political personality. Jesus Christ was God (part of the so-called Trinity) through whom the universe, the planets, life and all natural laws were created. The infinite, eternal, holy, and all-powerful God who because of his love for us decided to become a person/human and give up the privileges/prerogatives that he naturally had because of his title.

"...who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6-7)

People in some religions are outraged at the claim that the majestic and eternally powerful God could humble himself in such a way. After all he became poor, was despised and rejected by many, who most likely experienced sicknesses, pain, sadness and let us be honest, had to go to the toilet just like any other person. Such humiliation! Such love!

This is exactly what God decided to become because of you and me dear readers! The religious leaders of His day understood well/clearly His claims to deity. These claims were, for them, an unacceptable blasphemy and an offence which deserved only one punishment, death. Let us stop here for a moment and try to imagine it all. You have been given the death penalty. They have rejected you and constantly beat you. They are spit in your face and then lead you to a place where you are to die in one of the worst and most painful ways. At the same time, try to imagine that you possess unlimited power and in the blink of an eye you could at any time destroy these tormentors. Despite this fact, you go like a sheep to the slaughter. You do not resist and let evil do all that it wants.

Jesus knew what was awaiting him before all these events took place. He proclaimed, 

"For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. (John 10:17-18)

This is what our God is like! This is the Jesus Christ the Bible portrays. He is both man and God at the same time. He drives out demons, heals the sick, forgives sins, and gives love and hope. At the same time, He claims that after his death he will rise from the dead, will one day return to conclude human history, and raise all who have died – some to everlasting life with him, and others to judgement and everlasting punishment.

What are the other possibilities?

These bold claims and statements can be explained in four ways [3]:

Let us take a brief look at the possibilities presented.

A liar – One of the possibilities is that Jesus knowingly tried to present himself under a false identity. This theory is very appealing especially when we consider our everyday experience with untruthful and two-faced people (the world is full of them). All sorts of people try to deceive, defraud and manipulate others. Why should Jesus be the exception? Several answers come to mind immediately. Study Jesus' character. His teaching was about love, forgiveness, and hope. It was saturated in understanding and unspoken purity, which has inspired artists these twenty centuries. Really, is this the profile of a liar and deceiver? Add to this – if Jesus really lied, he would not have been a liar only. His teaching reached much further than the lies of today's confidence tricksters who want to steel "a bit of money" from you. If he had truly lied, he would have been the Devil himself in God's eyes because he was convincing others to rely on him concerning their eternal destiny. As well, he mush have been a bit crazy because it was on account of these conscious lies that he let himself be crucified (during which he behaved humbly, while experiencing great pain, and forgave his torturers etc).

Mentally deranged – Another alternative is the possibility is that he lied but did not realise it. In other words, he was mentally unstable and a schizophrenic. This possibility is, however, also unsustainable if we look at the depth, purity and perfection of his thoughts. In addition to this, we have no proof of any significant characteristics that would entitle us to come to such a diagnosis.

Psychologist Dr. Garry R. Collins who has pursued the study of human behaviour for decades has said the following concerning Jesus' psychological profile:

"All in all, I just don't see signs that Jesus was suffering from any known mental illness." [2]

Psychiatrist J. T. Fisher adds the following concerning Jesus' teaching:

"If you were to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene—if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage—if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount. And it would suffer immeasurably through comparison. For nearly two thousand years, the Christian world has been holding in its hands the complete answer to its restless and fruitless yearnings. Here…rests the blueprints for successful human life with optimum mental health and contentment." [4]

A legend – This hypothesis is the favourite one, especially of those who refuse the Biblical text as reliable and assign it the status of a fabrication and a fairytale. However as we have already shown, this theory is full of holes and on the basis of historical-critical analysis of the Biblical texts it does not stand. Someone may claim that a person named Jesus did exist but that his followers embellished the story of his life. Nevertheless, even this theory does not stand in light of the evidence. It is necessary to realise that almost all of the apostles, including innumerable followers of Christ, died violent (even by wild beasts) deaths for their conviction that they saw the risen Christ. Many of Jesus' opponents did not attack the miracles he performed, but they did question the source of His power. If everything had been made up, there would be nothing simpler than to point it out.

Lord, God – Another possibility, which Christians endorse, is to accept what Jesus said about himself. As I have studied Jesus' life, his influence, his statements/teachings and actions, the most likely possibility in my opinion is that he is Lord and God.

If you reject the possibility that He is God, you must endorse, either consciously or unconscioulsy, one of the other three possibilities stated above. Who is the Biblical Jesus according to you? Is he a liar, a lunatic, a legend, or God? Your answer will have far-reaching consequences.

One of the most well-known authorities in the area of defending Christianity, the brilliant and one-time sceptic professor at Cambridge University C. S. Lewis, who was gradually convinced by the evidence concerning Jesus Christ, proclaimed the following concerning this topic:

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." [5]

2) What was Jesus' mission?

It is one thing to understand and accept the reality of who Jesus is. A no less important and interesting question is, "Why did He come to the earth?" What was his intention and goal? What was his motivation for this God-man adventure? Imagine the following scene:

You are resting in your room when all at once you are disturbed by a frenzied squeaking and banging. A beautiful song-bird has just flown into your house. It came through a small, open window, but it cannot find its way out. It has tried with all its might to get out. It has flown into the window pane, got caught in the sheers and hit the light fixture. The more it tries to get out, the more it hurts itself and loses strength. You feel sorry for the bird. You know the way out. You even open another window so that it can get out more easily. You try to catch it, push it and chase it in the direction of the desired opening leading to freedom. However, the bird is stressed and considers you to be an enemy who wants to hurt it. You shout at it to say where it is supposed to fly, where the open window is, but it does not understand you… You give up and moan, If only I could become a bird for just a short time so that it could understand me. I could show it the way to freedom and it would not have to suffer like this and hurt itself.

Although this parable is certainly imperfect, we could in some way approach the important aspect of Jesus Christ's mission to draw near to us and in our language reveal God to us and bring Him near to us. However, His mission had more dimensions. It is possible to sum them up in the following roles.

Jesus as Prophet

In every way, God is greater than we are - His nature, majesty, and intentions. All that He is cannot be attained by us. We cannot fully understand Him. We cannot understand His language. Unless He speaks to us in an understandable and restricted language, we are destined to a never-ending search and lack of understanding. The good news of Christianity is, however, the reality that God speaks in an understandable way and becomes a "fragile bird" like the one in our parable. The author of the book to the Hebrews writes: 

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed as the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world." (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The apostle Paul then adds in the book to the Colossians:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." (Colossians 1:15)

Jesus himself said:

"Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father [God]'?" (John 14:9).

One of the main roles of Jesus Christ was to portray who God is and how we can know and understand him best. He could say to us, "I am loving, merciful, holy, forgiving; I am humble and I understand you." It would be an important statement that we could accept by faith. If, however, we could know this God in the context of our daily cares and in his reactions to us in specific situations, our understanding would be at a completely different level. This is exactly what Jesus did. His whole life, each word, each reaction, and each one of his movements shouted out to the world who God is.

Jesus as Saviour

Another very significant aspect of Jesus' life is his role of propitiatory sacrifice for our trespasses and rebellion against God. God became both our judge and at the same time the One who justifies us. You can imagine it in practice with the help of a simple illustration. Imagine you are standing in a courtroom before the judge who has no other option than to give a righteous/just/fair sentence for your trespasses and offences. This sentence will mean a charge of a great financial cost to you and leave you in debt. The judge gives his sentence. You have nothing in your defence. Suddenly, this same judge stands up, takes off his robes, and places the whole amount that you owe on the table, paying everything for you. You are the judge's son/daughter…

Jesus' death was not an accident. It was not a sacrifice because of circumstances, malicious Jews, nor anyone else. Jesus knew about all he would have to go through long before he came as a defenceless child. Centuries before his birth, texts from the Old Testament prophesied many of the details of his death, how he would suffer, and what his death would bring/give us. These are the words that Isaiah the prophet wrote (and can be proved) several centuries before Jesus' birth:

"Behold, my servant shall act wisely, he shall be high and lifted up, and he shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you – his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind – so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had not form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief, when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring: he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12)

"Gain righteousness for many" This is how we could sum up Christ's saving mission. All of us are unrighteous. No one can stand before God according to his measurements, no matter how respectable and good we are considered to be. There is only One who is righteous – God himself. By his death and sacrifice however, he does something unexpected – he gives his own life to those who consider it worth it. Christians, who deep down in their hearts believe Jesus' message and give their lives to him, are not perfect or "holy" in the sense of having their own perfection. However, the righteousness of God's Son, Jesus Christ has been credited/accounted to them. The apostle Paul expressed it in the following words:

"...by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." (Colossians 2:14)

The voluntary death of Jesus has for a person (who believes in him and repents of his sin) far-reaching effects/impact that can be summed up in the following ways:

• full forgiveness of the sinner from the punishment of all his/her transgressions
• freedom from the power of sin
• he/she becomes God's child
• he/she gains eternal life with God
• he/she is given the Holy Spirit who will lead and change him/her
• he/she is freed from the power of darkness etc.

Jesus Christ is therefore, the only mediator between God and mankind. No other can provide fallen mankind direct and free access to God and cleanse him/her of his/her transgressions. God offers this salvation(deliverance) at absolutely no cost (to us). This is a question of grace to which we can add nothing – only accept it by faith.

Jesus as King

Jesus' mission did not finish at his death. An important aspect of his service was something unprecedented. He rose from the dead. He was resurrected with a physical body of a completely new quality and after a short time of ministry among his friends, he decided to finish his earthly pilgrimage. Once again, he entered into his glory, into the presence of his Father. Here, he takes on the role of our mediator, advocate, and high priest. However, there is still more for him to do. After his resurrection, Jesus established his church through which he calls the lost world to himself. At the appointed time he will come for his bride (called the church) and to bring the final judgement of all people. This time however, he will not come as a slave in the form of a poor, fragile child. This time he will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will have an army of angels at his side and will be seen in the fullness of his glory.

Jesus as a perfect person

Finally, Jesus not only shows that he is God at the same time, but he also gives us the example of perfect humanity which we are to imitate. This example is a goal for us. At the same time however, I add that this is, practically taken, unreachable for us. God has taken this fact into account even though we are challenged and encouraged to move toward this perfect example to the greatest extent possible.

At this point, I would like to mention one more important note. Many religions, sects, and other groups expect the coming of a particular "messiah". Satan knows this and therefore puts this teaching into false philosophies and religions. He tries to imitate the true Messiah and convince humanity that this "messiah" is the true Jesus who came to establish peace, order, and his government in the form of a physical person (who can even perform miracles), or alternatively, he has already come into the world "invisibly" by coming into our hearts. The true coming of Christ, however, will not be by any inner experience nor by the entrance of a new charismatic leader. He will not come in secret or appear to only a chosen group of people. His return will be clearly seen by the whole world and by every inhabitant on the Earth – no one will overlook him. Jesus said the following concerning this:

"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." (Matthew 24:23-27)

Let us let Jesus speak about himself at the conclusion of this question:

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

"I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:9)

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26)

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Summation

Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and was the image of the living God who decided to lay down his life for those who had rebelled against him. He came to give his life, true freedom and hope to those who take his mission seriously and turn from their evil ways, and accept him as God and Lord of their lives.