Who Do You Say That Jesus Is?

There is an old story about a man telling his friends about his father. He describes him warmly, an older gentleman, a good fisherman, somebody who loves getting out on the water. Then one day at work, word spreads through the building that the governor has arrived. His friends look up, and the older man walking through the door, the one who just came to see his son, is the governor. The son had not lied about his father. He had just left out who he actually was.

We do that with Jesus more often than we realize. We describe him as a good teacher, a kind man, someone who did some remarkable things two thousand years ago, and we leave out the part that actually matters most. He is not only a historical figure worth admiring. He is Lord.

He Claimed More Than a Good Teacher Would Claim

In Mark chapter 2, some friends carried a paralyzed man to Jesus, but they couldn’t get him through the crowd. So, they tore open the roof and lowered him down. Everyone expected Jesus to heal him immediately. Instead, Jesus looked at him and said, “Son, your sins be forgiven you.” The religious leaders in the room were furious, not because it sounded unkind, but because they understood exactly what Jesus was claiming. Only God can forgive sin. Despite their objections, Jesus healed the man anyway, proving that He had the authority to do both. Forgiving a soul and healing a body come from the same Greek word "Sozo" which means to save and heal. Its the same anointing.

Later in that same chapter, Jesus calls himself Lord of the Sabbath, the day the law itself belonged to. And in John's gospel he says plainly, I am the way, the truth, and the life. A teacher points you toward the way. Jesus declared about Himself "I am the way". A good teacher does not talk like that. Only God does.

He Was Not a Fairy Tale

Notice something about how the Gospels open. They do not begin with "Once upon a time". There is no imaginary kingdom, no imaginary ruler. Jesus was born in a real town called Bethlehem, raised in a real town called Nazareth, and crucified just outside a real city called Jerusalem, a city that still stands today. He lived alongside real historical rulers whose names still show up in secular history books, Caesar Augustus, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas.

The Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16, “We did not follow cunningly devised fables when we revealed to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Similarly, Luke opens his gospel in Chapter 2:2, stating, “Even as they handed them to us, who were the first eyewitnesses and ministers of the word," so that Theophilus might know the certainty of what he had been told, gathered directly from those who witnessed it.

Here are the details that convince me more than any other. People don’t go to their deaths defending a story they invented. Almost every one of the Apostles died a martyr’s death for insisting that what they had witnessed was true. Hebrews chapter 11 describes believers who were sawn in two, thrown to lions, and burned rather than deny their testimony. No one would do that to protect a lie they had concocted themselves.

Information Is Not the Same as Confession

Jesus once asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" The answers came easily. Some said a prophet, some said Elijah, some said John the Baptist come back. It is always easier to hide behind what other people believe than to answer for yourself. Then He asked a second question that could not be outsourced to the crowd. "Who do YOU say that I am?"

Peter answered, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Not a repeated Sunday school answer. His own confession. That is still the question underneath every argument about faith anyone will ever have with you. Jesus is not asking for an argument in His defense. He is asking for you.

If someone challenges why you believe what you believe, you do not need to win a debate about historical evidence, even though the evidence holds up. Tell them what Jesus has actually done in your life. That is not a lesser answer, it is the strongest one you have. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Not argued into it. Believed and confessed into it.

If you have never really answered that question for yourself, only inherited it from your parents or your church, this might be the week to actually settle it. The same idea, that faith has to become truly yours and not just something you were handed, runs through what it means when faith is not meant to need an audience to be real, and through defending what you believe without needing to win the argument.

Get your free copy of Dr. Vorce's book "Presence Driven" today at jonathanvorce.com.

Remember..."The Word Will Work, If You Work the Word."