Is Jesus a real Person? Who was He?
Although few people would deny that Jesus existed, many would deny that He is the Person that He is portrayed as.
Jesus claimed to be God in human form. In John’s Gospel there are some direct statements of this:
- John 8:58: "Very truly, I tell you," Jesus replied, "before Abraham was born, I am."
- John 10:30: "I and the Father are one."
In other Gospels, Jesus takes on Himself authority which would only be the prerogative of God:
- Forgiving Sins: Jesus repeatedly forgives sins (e.g., Mark 2:5-12, Luke 7:48). In Jewish tradition, forgiveness of sins was understood to be God's prerogative.
- Claiming Authority over the Sabbath: "The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28, Matthew 12:8, Luke 6:5).
- Receiving Worship: Jesus accepts worship from individuals (e.g., Matthew 14:33 after walking on water, John 9:38 after healing the blind man).
- Using "Amen, Amen" (Truly, Truly):
- He taught with authority which was comparable with the authority of the Scripture ( You have heard… but I tell you this… ).
- Referring to God as "My Father" in a Unique Way: e.g., John 5:17-18, where his calling God "his own Father" leads to accusations of making himself equal with God.
- Promising to Send the Holy Spirit: e.g., John 14:16-17, 16:7-15
Jesus also claimed to be the only way of coming to God the Father
- John 14:2 “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
- John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Christianity makes profound claims, unique amongst other religions, spiritualities and faiths.
These are great claims and require great justification. However, such great justification exists.
If the claims are true then they cannot be ignored. If it is not then the quest would have to continue to find a different path.
The fact that Christian believers widely viewed Jesus as God and worthy of worship is clearly expressed in the letters of St. Paul which are dated to about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is despite some arguments that it took a long time for Jesus to “become God”. How that, highly counter-cultural, situation came to happen is likely to be the result of Divine revelation which was sufficient to convince the believers that it was true.
The following pages point to some of the evidence that Jesus really is the One who He is portrayed to be.