Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

“Who do the people say that the Son of man is?”

“Who do you say that I am?”

These two questions were recorded in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 16. Jesus is travelling with His disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi, has been ministering to great crowds and performing many miracles of healing and deliverance. He is gaining a popular following and has been attracting the attention of the leaders of the Jewish religious sects of that time, the Pharisees and Sadducees. People are starting to wonder who this person really is.

In response to Jesus’ first question “Who do the people say that the Son of man is?” the disciples respond – “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Mt 16:14). The people recognised that Jesus was a person of great importance, but looked back to personages that they knew either from the recent past, or from scriptural references.

It is widely accepted by Christians and non-Christians alike that Jesus was a real, historical personage, not a fictional character. His baptism by John the Baptist and His crucifixion are documented in accounts by noted historians of the time including Josephus and Tacitus.

Then, as now, the Jews were awaiting the return of Elijah, whose coming would herald the “Mashiach” or Messiah – not the Messiah as we think of in Christian terms, but an outstanding human who would lead Israel into a nation of unity and the world as a whole into a time of unprecedented peace. In Judaism there is only one God, not the triune God of Christianity.

In Islam, Jesus is regarded as a prophet of Allah. He is deemed to be human, not the Son of God. According to Islamic teaching the crucifixion of Jesus did not actually take place, hence there was no resurrection, although they deem that those who witnessed the crucifixion may have been deceived into thinking it had occurred. Muslims are awaiting the coming of the Mahdi, who will redeem the world and usher in a period of peace. They believe that Jesus Christ will return and assist the Mahdi to establish righteousness before returning to God with the faithful. (Note that there is variation in specific doctrines between Islamic sects – these details are given as an overview only.)

Hindus may acknowledge that Jesus existed, and to some He may be a God amongst other gods, as Hindus believe in a multiplicity of incarnations of the one god.

Buddhists believe that Jesus was fully human but have been known to acknowledge Him as a great philosophical teacher.

Those of the Baha’i faith acknowledge the existence, crucifixion and resurrection (in spiritual terms) of Jesus, but view His incarnation as one of a number of progressively enlightening incarnations of the one god, which also include Budda, Abraham, Zoroaster and Krishna.

This is the briefest of overviews of the way that some of the world’s religions view Jesus, and if interested, the reader is invited to delve more deeply into the great quantity of source material available online for a more detailed study, as there are many variations of these views within religions.

Nowadays, if you walked along the street and asked a sample of people “Who is Jesus?” you would no doubt receive a myriad of replies. In some countries you might be taking your life or liberty in your hands to do so. Some people would tell you there is no god. Some would describe Jesus in the derogatory term of “an imaginary friend in the sky”. Some use His name as a curse word. Some do not see Jesus as a way to God, preferring to seek spiritual meaning in angels, crystals, folklore or a range of new age practices which often blend elements of different religions, witchcraft and religious mysticism.

Was Jesus a deluded man? Was He a prophet? Was He the Son of God?

Who is Jesus? What do you say?

(to be continued).