Who is Jesus?

I was reminded once again of a regrettable trend in the contemporary church. Of course I am generalizing when I talk about “the church,” but unfortunately from observation and experience it seems to me that this “thing” is fairly standard, regardless of denominational background or theological bent (I am limiting this, however, to the American church, though perhaps it extends beyond that).

It comes down to this: the church seems to do a decent job of teaching what Jesus DID, but does a horrible job of communicating WHO Jesus is.

Who is Jesus? Anyone who has been exposed to church would of course answer: “the Son of God.” They would be right (Hallelujah!), but simply giving a “right answer” is not what I’m talking about, what we need, or what God desires.

Who is Jesus? What is his character, what did he care about, how did he relate/interact with people?

It matters.

Walking with Jesus defined what it would later mean to live life as a Christian—to live for Jesus—for the disciples. Of course they often didn’t understand everything at the time, but Jesus promised them that everything they had learned and experienced would be made clear through the Holy Spirit after Jesus left and the Spirit came (John 14:26). 1 John 4 says that we “have confidence on the day of judgment because in this world we are like him” (v17 NIV). How can we be “like him” if we do not know what he was like?

Consider Matthew 8 where, after coming down from the sermon on the mount, a leprous man comes amidst the crowd and kneels down at Jesus’ feet (dangerous!). What is Jesus’ reaction? He reaches out and touches the unclean man who had, because of the law, been w/out physical contact from others since he showed signs of the disease. Then Jesus heals him.

First, spend time thinking about what Jesus did. It’s amazing! But don’t stop there.

What does this say about WHO Jesus is? That he would touch the man?

When we begin to understand Who Jesus is, it changes for us what it means for us to be Like him, and our eyes are opened a little more to be able to see the world through the eyes of Jesus.