Who Is Jesus?

Last time we said that the Bible points all the way to one person. In this lesson we meet him: Jesus.

Many people have heard of Jesus: some say he was a good teacher in history, others that he founded a religion. Those statements are not wrong, but what the Bible says about him is far bigger—too big to simply hear and move on.

John’s Gospel begins like this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (John 1:1, 14) and goes on: “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:1, 14) That is, the invisible God himself became a man and walked into human life. Earlier we read, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18); the Bible’s answer is that in Jesus, people have seen him.

He did not do this to show how great he was. The Bible says he “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,” (Philippians 2:5-8) and was “becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8) God became man and went to the very lowest place—why? Lesson 6 will talk about that.

Once Jesus asked his followers who they said he was. Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) Everyone who reads the Gospels seriously has to face this question sooner or later. This lesson does not ask you to answer it, only to think about it.