Who was Jesus? Was he a divine being? Was he God? Was he a man simply representing God? Or was he a fraud, an impostor seeking some glorious claim to fame? This is a brief study to answer these questions.
The acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is, ultimately, a question of faith. Today, it is faith in the historical record that provides the information of Jesus and his work. Is there adequate evidence of the truthfulness of the New Testament? Can we trust its claims?
THE PROPHECIES HE FULFILLED
Let us first consider some prophecies in the Old Testament. These prophecies spoke much about the coming of a Messiah. We will see how Jesus fulfilled them in every detail. This is important because the Old Testament was finished, recorded and in existence when Jesus was here.
Seven hundred years before Christ was born, it was prophesied that he would be born in Bethlehem (Mic.5:2); that he would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14); that he would be called out of Egypt (Hos.l:l); that he would be despised and rejected (Isa. 53:3); that he would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12); that he would suffer, be rejected, and slain (Isa. 53); that he would be given vinegar to drink in his suffering (Psa. 69:21); that his garments would be parted (Psa. 22:18); that he would make his grave with the rich (Isa. 53:9); and that he would be resurrected from the dead (Psa. 16:8-11).
Remember, these were documented statements recorded hundreds of years before Jesus' birth. Also remember that these are just a few of the prophecies regarding Christ. Consider the impossibility of picking an individual at birth and manipulating all these circumstances to accomplish an apparent fulfillment of prophecy. A family with the right ancestry would have to be willing to have a baby conceived before marriage, and have him born in Bethlehem, be willing to take him to Egypt for a while, bring him back to the city of Nazareth, have him grow up doing nothing but nice things yet make sure people despised and rejected him. Wow!! Talk about manipulation! But we're not through. Someone would have to agree to betray him for thirty pieces of silver. The Roman government would have to agree to crucify him with a couple of thieves. Someone would have to give him vinegar, make sure his garments were parted and sold, and find a rich man willing to provide a burial place. And then there is the echo of the empty tomb. His body would have to have been stolen from a guarded and sealed tomb and hid in such a way as to never be found.
THE CREDIBILITY OF HIS DISCIPLES
No, I'll take the New Testament account. I just don't believe that much manipulation could have taken place, over that long a time, involving that many people, without a mishap.
If all that is not enough, think of the credibility of the men who were with Jesus, his disciples. They were good and moral in every way. Not the kind of men who would plot and put together a lie, especially when it meant they would die horrendous deaths to perpetuate this lie. From the best historical sources found, all of Jesus' apostles except John died violent deaths because of their faith and allegiance to Jesus Christ. Matthew was slain with a sword, James was beheaded, James (the Lord's brother) was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and beaten with clubs, Philip was hanged, Bartholomew was flayed alive, Andrew was martyred on a cross, Thomas killed with a lance, Thaddeaus was shot with arrows, Simmon Zelotes was crucified, Peter crucified head down, Matthias was stoned and Paul was beheaded. Would these and many more suffer so much for a cause they knew to be false?
THE ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE
Another point to consider is if the gospel accounts were fiction, they had to originate in one of two ways; independently or in cooperation with one another. It is impossible that their accounts were arrived at independently because the agreements are too consistent. It would be absurd to think that four men could write four accounts of something that never existed independently of one another and yet make their stories agree to the extent these do.
Consider also the apparent discrepancies (such as Matt. 8:5-13 with Luke 7:1-10), of their accounts. If mere men were writing separate accounts about Jesus life, his teaching, and death, and only doing it to perpetuate a lie, they would have made sure that every detail was described exactly the same to avoid any kind of criticism. If they were not made up independently of one another, and there was no collaboration, then the only choice we have is to accept them as true accounts of facts that actually occurred.
What facts do these accounts teach about Jesus? Matthew and Luke give us a detailed account of Jesus' virgin birth, showing clearly His divinity, yet showing us His humanity as well. Matthew 1:23, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." This is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy found in Isa. 7:14. Note the meaning given to the word "Emmanuel ... God with us!"
Luke's account of the birth of Jesus is more detailed. (Lk.1:26-35) The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, telling her that she had found favor with God and that she would conceive and bring forth a son that she was to name Jesus. In verse 32 Gabriel said, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." Mary wanted to know how such a thing could happen since she had not been with a man. Gabriel said in verse 35, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." If there is any credibility to the scriptures, surely we can see from these few verses the divine nature of Jesus as well as the human nature. He was born of a human, Mary. Yet, as we read of his conception, we clearly see that he was the divine Son of God. We might also add that Jesus was divine from the very beginning. Notice Mary was told, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
So as Matthew and Luke began their narrative of Jesus and his work, they made it very plain that though he had come in the flesh, he was holy, divine, the Son of God. John, however, uses another approach in explaining Jesus. Instead of giving us an account of his birth, he explains his pre-existence, showing us that he existed as deity before his birth. Since he was a divine entity before his birth, he was a divine entity after his birth.
John begins his gospel account by declaring that Jesus was in the beginning, that he came from God, and that he was God. (Jno.1:1-2) The title that John used here was "Word". The Word was in the beginning. The Word was with God. The Word was God. John is telling us that the Word was deity and had the nature of God. This is a tremendous and wonderful title given to Jesus. The words we speak are a most important expression of our character. Christ is the supreme expression of God's character. He is much more than the mere actions of God. His whole personality and life are the perfect expression of what God is and does. As John says in John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father hath declared him." Jesus coming in the flesh has expressed plainly to human senses the nature and the will of God whom no man hath seen or known adequately. Jesus was such an adequate manifestation of God that he could say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (Jno. 14:9), and again, "I and my father are one." (Jno. 10:30).
THE MIRACLES HE PERFORMED
When Jesus asked his disciples who they understood him to be, Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Jesus told Peter, "flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but his Father in heaven." God had revealed the person of Christ through Jesus' words and works. Look at Jno. 5:36, "I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." Also in Jno. 3:34-35 we read, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand." Again, God was in Christ revealing himself and reconciling the world unto himself.
When John was in prison, and about to be executed he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he was the messiah to come or if they were to look for another. Jesus sent them back and said tell John what you see and hear, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. (Mt.11:1-5)
Consider Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews. When he came to Jesus he recognized Jesus to be a teacher who had come from God because of the miracles he did. Nicodemus rightly said, "for no man can do these miracles except God be with him." The miracles and wonders that Jesus performed were to clearly show that he was of God, from God, in fact, was God for all intent and purpose.
When Peter preached to the Jews on Pentecost he said, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." (Acts 2:22)
When he preached to the Gentiles in Acts 10 he declared that, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." The miracles and works that Jesus did were signs to show that he was the Son of God. But they were not signs just for the people who lived then. They were for all men of all ages. John stated, "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book: But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:30-31).
Consider His miracles: The sick that he healed, the blind he restored, the lame he cured, the lepers he cleansed, calming the wind and sea, raising the dead, especially Lazarus. Consider John 11:3 when Jesus heard of his sickness. Jesus said to his disciples, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." Of course the greatest sign was Christ's own resurrection from the dead. Jesus said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19). In John 10:18 Jesus said he had power to lay down his life and had power to take it up again.
Not only did he have the power to raise his own life, but he has the power to raise all the dead at the last day. "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
Jesus Christ is the Son of God! He declared it! God confirmed it! His works prove it! His followers preached it! His enemies admitted it! Many witnesses testified to it, even in the face of death! But most of all, an empty tomb settles it!