Who is Jesus?
Question 3001
This is perhaps the most important question any person can ask. It is the question Jesus Himself put to His disciples at Caesarea Philippi: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Your answer to this question determines your eternal destiny. It is not enough to know about Jesus; you must know who He truly is. Throughout history, people have offered many answers: a good teacher, a moral example, a prophet, a revolutionary, a myth. But Scripture presents us with a far more staggering claim. Jesus is none other than God Himself, come in human flesh to rescue a fallen world.
The Eternal Son of God
Jesus did not begin to exist when He was born in Bethlehem. John’s Gospel opens with this declaration: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). The “Word” (λόγος, logos) is Jesus, as John makes clear in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Before creation, before time itself began, Jesus existed eternally as the second Person of the Trinity.
This is not a later invention of the Church. Jesus Himself made this claim. In John 8:58, He declared to the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” The reaction tells us exactly how they understood this statement: they picked up stones to throw at Him for blasphemy. Jesus was claiming the divine name, the ἐγώ εἰμί (egō eimi), echoing God’s revelation of Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus was not merely claiming to have existed before Abraham; He was claiming to be the eternal, self-existent God.
Paul affirms this in Colossians 1:15-17: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Jesus is not a created being; He is the Creator. Everything that exists was made by Him and for Him, and He sustains the entire universe moment by moment.
The Promised Messiah
The Old Testament is filled with prophecies pointing forward to One who would come to deliver God’s people. Jesus is the fulfilment of all these promises. He is the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). He is the prophet like Moses whom God would raise up (Deuteronomy 18:15). He is the Son of David who would reign on an eternal throne (2 Samuel 7:12-13). He is the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, who would be pierced for our transgressions. He is the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 who receives dominion and glory and a kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
The Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach), “Messiah,” means “anointed one,” translated into Greek as Χριστός (Christos), from which we get “Christ.” When we say “Jesus Christ,” we are declaring “Jesus the Messiah,” Jesus the Anointed One. He is the One Israel had been waiting for, the One to whom all the Law and the Prophets pointed. As Jesus Himself said on the road to Emmaus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Fully God and Fully Man
One of the most remarkable truths about Jesus is that He is both fully divine and fully human. He did not cease to be God when He became man. Nor was His humanity merely an appearance. In Jesus, two complete natures are united in one Person. This is what theologians call the hypostatic union, which we will examine more fully in a later question.
As God, Jesus possesses all the divine attributes. He is omniscient, knowing all things, including the thoughts of people’s hearts (John 2:24-25). He is omnipotent, commanding the wind and waves, raising the dead, healing every disease. He is worthy of worship, receiving the adoration of angels and humans alike (Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:12-13). He forgives sins, something only God can do (Mark 2:5-7). He is the “exact imprint” of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3).
As man, Jesus experienced genuine human life. He grew tired and slept (Mark 4:38). He experienced hunger (Matthew 4:2) and thirst (John 19:28). He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus (John 11:35). He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He suffered real pain on the cross and died a real death. His humanity was not a costume; it was and remains genuine. Even now, risen and glorified, Jesus retains His human nature. There is a Man at the right hand of God the Father.
Saviour and Lord
Jesus came with a mission: “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). His name, יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua) in Hebrew, means “the LORD saves.” The angel announced to Joseph, “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). This is the heart of who Jesus is. He is the Saviour, the one and only way of salvation. “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
He saves us by His death and resurrection. On the cross, Jesus bore the penalty for human sin. He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). His resurrection on the third day declared Him to be the Son of God in power (Romans 1:4) and guarantees the resurrection of all who trust in Him.
But Jesus is not only Saviour; He is also Lord. Thomas, seeing the risen Jesus, fell down and declared, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Jesus did not correct him; He accepted this worship as His due. Paul declares that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). To believe in Jesus means to receive Him not only as the one who saves you from sin but as the one who has rightful authority over your entire life.
The Coming King
Jesus came the first time in humility, born in a stable, living as a servant, dying on a cross. But He is coming again in glory. The angels at His ascension declared, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). He will return visibly, bodily, gloriously. He will judge the living and the dead. He will establish His kingdom on earth and reign from David’s throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6). And then, after the final judgment, He will reign for ever and ever in the new heavens and new earth.
This is the Jesus of Scripture. Not merely a good teacher, but God in the flesh. Not merely an example to follow, but the Saviour who died in your place. Not merely a figure from history, but the coming King before whom every knee will bow.
Now, so what?
Who is Jesus? He is the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, who has existed from all eternity. He is the promised Messiah, the fulfilment of every Old Testament prophecy. He is fully God and fully man, possessing two complete natures in one Person. He is the Saviour who died for sinners and rose again. He is the Lord who demands and deserves our total allegiance. He is the coming King who will return to establish His kingdom. The question now is: Who do you say He is? Your eternal destiny hangs on the answer. Nothing more important than that.
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'” Matthew 16:16
