People have always been confused about Jesus. Even while Jesus was in the flesh, here on earth, people misunderstood who He was. Jesus once asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Their response was, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” It is sad that all these years later Jesus still has a mistaken identity.
Some Believe Jesus Is a Myth
There are those who claim that Jesus was simply a mythological person. That this is a mistaken view of Christ is made clear from many facts. First, Jesus does not fit the description of a myth. Mythological beings are usually revealed as having some sort of exaggerated bodily form. This is not the case with Jesus. He is revealed to us as a person with the same physical characteristics as the rest of us. Also, mythological persons almost always defy chronology and topology. In other words, they are not limited to specific dates or places in history, but instead span generations of time and are believed to have lived in many different places at the same time. Such doesn’t fit the description of our Lord. Jesus was born at a specific time and in a specific place. He is a man of history, born in Bethlehem during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and at a time when Herod was king and Pilate was governor of Judea. We have historical references to Jesus as a real person in each century going back to when he was born. There is as much reason for us to believe in Jesus as a historical person as there is for us to believe in George Washington. This is why all writers, enemies and friends, Jewish, Romans, and Greeks, treat Jesus as a historical person.
Some Believe Jesus Was Just a Man
Many credit Jesus with being nothing more than a man. Jesus was indeed a man, but He was more than that—He was God manifested in the flesh. We may not be able to completely comprehend the nature of Christ while He was here on earth, but our faith in the written Word of God demands a belief in both the humanity and deity of Christ. That Jesus was God in the flesh is established by several Biblical facts.
- Jesus is called God (John 1:1; Acts 20:28; Titus 2:13; Hebrew 1:8).
- Angels were commanded to worship Christ (Hebrews 1:5-6).
- Jesus claimed equality with the Father (John 5:17-18).
- Jesus is called Yahweh in Old Testament passages (Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:1-3; Joel 2:32 and Romans 10:11-13; Isaiah 8:13-14 and 1 Peter 2:8).
To claim that Jesus was nothing more than a man here on earth is to misidentify the Christ. Jesus never stopped being God. He never gave up his deity. Perhaps, Jesus did not always choose to use His divine attributes when He was on earth, but He always had them at His disposal. Thus, Jesus could walk on water, change water into wine, and even calm a raging storm by merely speaking to the sea.
Some Believe Jesus and the Father Are the Same Person
Saying that Jesus is deity does not mean that He and the Father are the same person. They are clearly two different individuals. How do we know this? First, it is said in John 1:1 that the Word (Christ before His incarnation – John 1:14) was with God. I can be with my wife, but it would be improper to say that I am with myself. The language of John 1:1 clearly shows that two persons are under consideration in the text.
Second, we have biblical texts that show Jesus and the Father in different places at the same time. For example, when Jesus was baptized on earth the Father spoke from heaven (Matthew 3:16-17). Furthermore, in John 17 we find Jesus praying to the Father. Was Jesus praying to Himself?
Yes, the Father and the Son are one (John 17:22), but that does not mean that they are the same being. Jesus prayed for His disciples that they might be one just like He was one with the Father (John 17:2-21). If Jesus and the Father are one person, then Jesus was praying for all of his disciples to be one person. Who could believe such a ridiculous conclusion? The Father and the Son are one in that they share perfect unity. That is what Jesus was praying for on behalf of His disciples in John 17.
Who is Jesus? He is no myth! Jesus was a real person who had a beginning and an end from a physical standpoint. However, Jesus was never just an ordinary man. He is the Son of God, as even the demons recognized (Mark 5:7). Jesus was God manifested in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). He was a prophet, but not an ordinary prophet. He was the greatest prophet of all times (Hebrews 1:1-14). Let’s never deny the true identity of Christ. To do so is to be numbered with the thousands of people who are wrong about who Jesus is.