Who Jesus Is Matters

After Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, He taught the people and preached the Gospel in the temple.  What I find compelling is how the way Jesus evangelised is quite different to many modern methods and approaches.  Never in the Gospel accounts did Jesus employ a formula to salvation.  Everyone who heard Jesus was confronted by who Jesus claimed to be and whether they believed Him or not.

I was struck how the major emphasis of the gospel can be the process of how people can obtain salvation rather than primarily focusing on who Jesus is.  There is a way Christians can share the gospel as a checklist for people to tick while the identity of Jesus as the Son of God is glossed over.  The question Jesus posed to Peter is a central tenet of the Gospel:  "Who do you say that I am?"  People had many opinions and theories about who Jesus was, and the scriptures reveal He is the Christ, the Son of God.  Jesus is the promised Messiah who did many signs and wonders confirming His claim to be Emmanuel, God with us.

One thing the priests, scribes, Pharisees and people noticed was how Jesus spoke with the authority of God like no one before Him.  The greatest prophets of God in Israel prefaced statements with, "Thus saith the LORD..." but the phrase was never uttered by Jesus:  He did not speak for God but spoke as God.  When He quoted the Law of Moses He said, "It has been written...but I say unto you..."  Before Jesus healed a paralysed man He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."  The scribes took umbrage at that statement and judged Jesus as a blasphemer because they knew only God can forgive sins.  Jesus knew their thoughts and addressed them directly and said in Mark 2:9-12, "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"

The Gospel is the good news of who Jesus is, the promised Messiah God has sent to seek and save the lost.  Belief in Jesus Christ as God is central to the Gospel as seen in Phillip's interaction with the Ethiopian eunuch.  This foreign dignitary was confused about how to understand and interpret a passage from Isaiah 53.  Acts 8:35-37 reads, "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" ³⁷ Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."  The interaction of Paul and Silas with the Philippian jailer is a good example of the fundamental simplicity of the gospel.  The jailer ,who was about to commit suicide, was greatly shaken.  He fell down before Paul and Silas and cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  Acts 16:31 says, "So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."  This is the gospel Jesus preached.

Belief in Jesus Christ results in being born again, our souls miraculously regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  It is true we are to repent of our sins, deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Jesus.  We are called to abide in Christ, bear much fruit, be baptised in water, make disciples of Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, to obey Jesus and love one another as He loves us.  But all these pursuits are pointless and impossible unless we have done the very first thing:  to believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who became a sacrifice for sinners on Calvary and rose from the dead in glory.  Our salvation is by faith in Christ alone as Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Who do you say Jesus is?