Who is Jesus?

by Luke Robertshaw

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The identity of this man Jesus is absolutely central to the Christian beliefs. Christians believe He was God himself visiting our planet in human form - 'God in Skin'. If this is not true then Christianity looses its validity, but if it is true, then the implications for the whole human race are huge.

There is no real question about whether Jesus existed since He is the most well documented historical character in ancient history. He was a real man, but the real issue is, 'Who was Jesus?' Was He God or was He just a good bloke, a great moral teacher, a prophet, or something else?

A good place to start is to find out who Jesus himself claimed to be. If He never made any claims to be God, then that's the end of the story. However, in the historical accounts of his life, Jesus clearly made claims to be God.

The Claims of Jesus

Jesus' teachings are unique in that they are centred on himself. Most other religious leaders point away from themselves towards God, but Jesus pointed to God by pointing to himself. He claimed to be able to satisfy the longing and thirst within the human heart as well as to give life after death to those who know him. Jesus also claimed that He was the only way to God and that anyone who had seen Him had seen God. So his teaching was centred on himself.

Jesus made some indirect claims to being God, such as claiming to forgive sins (for which he was accused of blasphemy) and the judge of the whole world. He also made some more direct claims. When Jesus was on trial He was asked the question, "Are you the Christ, the son of the living God?" he replied, "I am." After hearing this, the priest tore his clothes and said, "Why do we need any more witnesses? You heard the blasphemy!" This was because by claiming to be the Christ, Jesus was claiming to be God. (Blasphemy in their eyes) It was for this that he was put to death. On another occasion Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father, for which of these do you stone me?", "We are not stoning you for any of these", replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere human being, claim to be God".

If a man is claiming to be God then there are three possibilities for his identity. Firstly, he has completely lost his marbles and is deluded into thinking he is God when he isn't. Secondly, he is a liar and knows that he isn't God, but is tricking many people into believing that he is. Thirdly, he is God. Interestingly this doesn't leave open the possibility that Jesus was just a good bloke or a great teacher or a prophet from God. The Author C. S. Lewis put it like this:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher, he'd either be a lunatic - on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg - or else he'd be the devil from hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse... But don't let us come up with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He hasn't left that open to us. He didn't intend to."

Evidence to support Jesus' claims

1. What he taught

The teaching of Jesus is widely acknowledged to be the greatest ever to have fallen from the lips of a human being. Take, for example, the sermon he made on the mount. "Love your neighbour as yourself". "It someone hits you on one cheek, turn the other cheek". "Love you enemies". "Do good to those who hate you". "Do to others what you would like them to do to you". Jesus' teaching has been the foundation of our entire western civilisation. Many of our laws in this country were based originally on the teaching of Jesus. We're making progress in virtually every field of science and technology, we travel faster and we know more. Yet in 2000 years no one has ever improved on the teaching of Jesus. They're the greatest words ever spoken. In fact, they're the kind of words you would expect God to speak. Is it possible that those were spoken by someone who was mad, or by someone who was evil?

2. What he did

Jesus was able to perform extraordinary miracles. These went far beyond reading people's minds to complete eradication of leprosy from a man and raising one of his friends from the dead (who had been dead in a tomb for four days). He did however make it clear that the best healing anyone could experience is complete forgiveness of sin.

3. His character

Many people have said some good things, but their character just doesn't match up. Recently the former Prime Minister, John Major, admitted that he had been having an affair with a member of his cabinet while preaching a message of 'Back to Basics' family values. So how does Jesus' character stand up? The character of Jesus has impressed millions of people who wouldn't call themselves Christians. Bernard Levin, perhaps the greatest columnist of our generation wrote an article once saying:

"For the fourteenth thousandth time, I am not a Christian!" - But he went on to say this:

"Is not the nature of Christ in the words of the New Testament, enough to pierce to the soul anyone with a soul to be pierced? He still looms over the world, his message still clear, his pity still infinite, his consolation still effective, his words still full of glory, wisdom and love."

Jesus was the supreme example of unselfishness, but never self-pity, of humility, but not weakness, of joy, but never at another's expense, of kindness, but not indulgence. And of course, the real test of a person's character comes when they're under pressure. When Jesus was suffering, being tortured, he turned to the people who were torturing him and said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing". His character was such that his enemies could find no fault in him. His friends said about him, "He's without sin". Could that really have been somebody who was mentally unbalanced, or evil?

4. His resurrection from the dead

The resurrection is very important in identifying who Jesus was. If Jesus did not come back to life then we may be left wondering whether he has really accomplished his mission. However, there is evidence to suggest that the resurrection is fact rather than just a nice story. There are four main pieces of evidence:

i) Empty tomb

It's clear from historical accounts that Jesus' body was gone from his tomb on the third day. So why was he gone? People have come up with different theories for his absence from the tomb, but none of these explanations have been satisfactory. The most popular arguments are as follows.

Jesus survived crucifixion and escaped from the tomb. The problem with this is that Jesus had undergone a Roman flogging which was enough to kill many men. He'd undergone crucifixion and crucifixion was a means of killing people. He'd been put in a tomb with a stone that weighed one and a half tonnes put in front of it. Furthermore one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. We know now that this is good medical evidence of death. That is the separation of the clot from the serum. But John, when he wrote this, didn't know that. He was just recording the facts of what happened. But now we know that this is powerful evidence that Jesus was in fact dead.

The disciples stole the body and started rumours about a resurrection. Leaving aside the fact that the tomb was guarded, this theory is psychologically improbable because here was a group of depressed, disillusioned people and it needed something extraordinary to transform them. Think about how much they had to suffer for the fact that they were proclaiming that Jesus was alive. A scientist at Cambridge University became a Christian because he said he could not believe that those disciples would have been willing to be tortured and die for something they knew was not true.

The Authorities stole the body. What was their motive for stealing the body? Neither the Romans, nor the Jews, would have been happy with the talk of Jesus coming back to life. All they had to do when the rumour started that Jesus was risen from the dead was to say, "No he's not!" and produce the body. But they never did, they couldn't.

Thieves stole the body. Again this doesn't work because there was only one valuable thing in that tomb and that was the grave clothes. The interesting thing is that when Peter and John ran to the tomb and looked in they saw that the tomb was not empty. The grave clothes were still there. The grave clothes had literally collapsed and the headpiece had been folded up and put in a separate part. When they saw this they believed.

So that's the first piece of evidence, his absence from the tomb.

ii) Eyewitness accounts

Jesus appeared to more than 500 people over a six week period after his death. Some people have suggested that the disciples were hallucinating, but it's highly unlikely that so many people would experience the same hallucination at the same time in the same place!

iii) Immediate effect on Jesus' followers

Here was this group of people discouraged, depressed, disillusioned - and suddenly they were out there preaching on the streets saying, "Jesus is risen from the dead". The birth and growth of the Christian Church started with a handful of uneducated fishermen and tax collectors. Within a period of 300 years it had spread to the whole of the known world! It's the story of a peaceful revolution that has no parallel in the history of the world. Could any other event apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ account for that?

iv) Effect down the ages

Countless millions of people through the ages have experienced the risen Jesus Christ. This includes people of every colour, tribe, race, continent, nationality, economic, social and intellectual background. They have had the same experience - the risen Jesus Christ.

Wilson Carlisle, the founder of the Church Army, was preaching at Hyde Park Corner, London, and he was saying, "Jesus is alive today!" There was a heckler at the back shouting, "How do you know he's alive today?" He replied, "Well, I was talking to him for half an hour this morning!" That is the ultimate proof, millions of people around the world who are experiencing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

So, was Jesus who he said he was or was he a liar or a lunatic? After considering his teaching, works, character and resurrection he certainly does not seem to be mad or evil, but God himself, as he claimed. C. S. Lewis put it like this:

"We are faced then with a frightening alternative. The man we are talking about was (and is) just what he said or else a lunatic or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that he was neither a lunatic, nor a fiend; Consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was and is God. God who has landed on this enemy occupied world in human form."

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