Jesus – Who he is

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord

What does it mean to say that we believe in Jesus? Many people will not know what we mean. More will have to be said in order for others to appreciate what we think about Jesus. They may even ask us to explain who we think he is, especially if we are excited about him. The compilers of the Creed list some of the details that the Bible mentions concerning Jesus. We may find it helpful to be ready to use what it says when we wish to explain who Jesus is.

 

Yet maybe we should be surprised at the second statement of the Creed. The first statement refers to God as almighty and the creator of all things. What else is it going to say about God? The creed could have continued with a list of divine attributes and given an explanation of each. But it is possible that the creed is making another point. By turning to speak about Jesus, it is telling us that, if we really want to know about God, we have to discover who Jesus is. After all, he came to reveal God to us.

 

The divine person about whom most is said in the Creed is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God. The description about him can be divided into three parts: (1) who he is, (2) his humiliation and (3) his exaltation. Regarding who he is, four details are mentioned about him. We are told that he has a human name – Jesus; we are told about his role – Christ; we are told about his relationship to the Father – his only Son; and we are told about his relationship to us – our Lord. So we can think about those four details briefly.

 

His name Jesus

The word ‘Jesus’ is the English rendering of the Greek word that is a translation of his Hebrew name. In Hebrew, the name is Yeshua or Joshua. We know that others would have been called by the same name because it was the name of one of the heroes of Israel in the Old Testament – Joshua, the successor of Moses and the leader who took them into the Promised Land and guided them in their battles with nations already living there.

 

As far as Jesus himself was concerned, the name was not chosen for him by Joseph and Mary. Instead, each of them was informed separately by an angel to call him by this name. So the name was chosen by God. The significance of this divinely chosen name is in its meaning – he would be a deliverer, a saviour. 

 

Included in the name is a reference to God because it means ‘Yahweh the Saviour’ or ‘Jehovah the Saviour’. When people met the Old Testament hero with that name, they would have recognised that the name pointed to the God who had given great victories to the hero. But when they met Jesus and heard him teach about himself and his intended activities, they would have recognised that the name described himself. Although it was the name of a man, it was the name of a man who was also God. 

 

When his name was predicted by the angel to Joseph, he was told what the coming child would do – he would save his people from their sins. The announcement did not say how he would do so, but the angel did affirm two things. One is that Jesus had a people and the other is that he would be successful in his deliverance of them. We know that more details were needed in order to explain who they were and also in what way they would be rescued. 

 

Yet we can see that the name Jesus says a lot about him. Some of the matters that are connected to him are mentioned later in the Creed. Other matters, such as his teachings and miracles and experiences on earth, are recorded in the Gospels. But his God-given name told people, if they chose to enquire about him, that he would be a divine deliverer of a specific people.

 

His role – the Christ

No doubt, many who have heard of Jesus Christ assume that the word ‘Christ’ is his surname. If they think in that way, they are wrong. His surname would have been ‘ben Joseph’. The word ‘Christ’ describes the role that Jesus would fulfil. It too is the English rendering of a Greek translation of a Hebrew word. The Hebrew word is ‘Messiah’ and it means ‘anointed one’.

 

Many predictions are made about the Messiah in the Old Testament. His coming had been predicted from the beginning, even in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had sinned against God. Adam’s original sin had been very serious because he represented all other humans and his action brought himself and them into the place of being under divine wrath, subject to the infliction of endless punishment. Yet even at that time God promised that a Deliverer would come, descended from Eve, who would defeat the devil who had tempted Adam and Eve and in doing so would suffer to some extent, described as his heel being bruised as he crushed the head of the devil.

 

Later on, the identity of the Messiah was narrowed down from the seed of the woman to being of the seed of Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob and great-grandson Judah. From within the tribe of Judah, he would be a descendant of the royal line of David. Those details can be seen in the genealogy of Jesus given at the start of the Gospel of Matthew, which genealogy closes by saying that Jesus was the Christ.

 

In the Old Testament, three types of persons were anointed with oil at their installation to their roles. They were prophets, priests and kings. The anointing indicated that they were to be regarded as special people in Israel. In an ideal situation, each of them would have served God in their specific role, but sadly many who filled those positions were ungodly in character. Nevertheless, the three anointed roles pointed to the activities that the Messiah would engage in. As prophet, he would teach people by word and example; as priest, he would intercede for people and offer a sacrifice for sins; and as king he would govern and protect people. It is not difficult to go through the four Gospels and see where Jesus did so.

 

Jesus the Messiah was not anointed with oil in an official way in the manner of those who had been prophets, priests and kings. Instead, he was anointed in reality with what those anointing with oil had pointed to. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. While Jesus was given the Holy Spirit from the commencement of his life, he also received the Holy Spirit in a special way at his baptism to equip him for his three years of public ministry in Israel. Jesus, although the Son of God, did everything through the power of the Spirit, as was predicted of the Messiah by the Old Testament prophets.

 

The Creed does not indicate that Jesus has ceased to be the Messiah when his earthly journey was over. Rather, he still is the Messiah and continues his roles of prophet, priest and king of his people from his exalted position in heaven. He still teaches, he still intercedes and helps, and he still rules, and fulfils those roles through the ongoing work of the Spirit in his people.

 

The Son of God – his relationship with the Father

There are many things in life that are difficult to understand. Many a person finds mathematics a puzzle; others find economics beyond them; many find it very difficult to understand the sciences. Yet in each of those areas, there are some people who can explain them because they have grasped what they are about. But there are some teachings in Christianity that are so profound that even the greatest theologians recognise that attempting to explain them leads to them to the edge of their competence. One of those teachings, as we noted when speaking about the Father, is the Trinity.

 

The only source of information about the Trinity is the Bible and we should be thankful for what we are told about the three persons. Jesus, says the Bible, is the eternal Son of the Father, which means that it is a relationship without a beginning. The Father obviously has other sons because he is the Father of his people, those who have trusted in Jesus through the gospel, and have been brought into his family. But Jesus is the only eternal Son who was always the delight of the Father and who always delighted in the Father. This eternal relationship was an intimate one in which they shared their delight in the fulfilment of the eternal plan which would be worked out in the creation that they would bring into existence. The eternal Son came into the world to perform the will of his Father and he spoke about it in his prayer to the Father recorded in John 17. He often spoke to his disciples about his eternal relationship with his Father and how he taught them what he had heard from his Father.

 

On two occasions, the Father stated that Jesus was his beloved Son. One was at the baptism of Jesus when he commenced his public ministry. The second was on the Mount of Transfiguration when in a wonderful manner the glory of the Son was revealed, and the three disciples heard the Father say to them that Jesus was his beloved Son and that they should listen to what he was teaching them about the cross. Whatever else they needed to realise, the divine person of Jesus was not detached from his death; in fact, that death was central to the mission of the Father and the Son.

 

Our Lord – his relationship with us

The Creed enables those who recite it to say something about themselves when they confess who Jesus is. They say something about themselves that is true of all of them, even if that something is not always as good as it could be. When they say that he is Lord, they are confessing that they are his servants.

 

Being a servant of Jesus has its benefits as well as its responsibilities. A simple yet profound way of illustrating the benefits of being the servants of such a Lord is to consider the way that many of the New Testament letters begin. Many of them speak of the grace and peace that can be given to the recipients of those letters, and those blessings come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly, many of the benedictions that are mentioned in those letters highlight spiritual benefits that come from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

As far as responsibilities are concerned, those who confess his Lordship with their tongues reveal it in their lives by their obedience. In a wonderful way, although he is the Lord, he is also the example of their service. One of the occasions when he showed this was in the Upper Room on the evening of his arrest when he washed the feet of the disciples. We can summarise his example as humble service, and that is the way that they should serve him.

 

Of course, their dedication to him will flow out of gratitude to him for him, the eternal Son, coming into the world as the promised Messiah, and of him dealing with them as their prophet, priest and king. They gladly confess that Jesus is their Lord and they do so with God-given knowledge of who he is and what he did, does and will yet do for them as the Lord of his people.

 

In addition to saying something about themselves, speaking of Jesus as Lord says a great deal about him. They recognise that he has all authority in heaven and on earth, as he stated about himself in the Great Commission recorded at the close of the Gospel of Matthew. The extent of his lordship extends everywhere geographically, over all creation whether it is visible or invisible. This means that he is the Lord of providence, the head over all things for his body, the church, arranging the events of history for the benefit of his kingdom and causing it to grow through conversions from the kingdom of darkness. He has done this down the centuries since his ascension to heaven, the occasion where according to Paul in Philippians 2:9-11 Jesus was recognised as Lord and given that title. 

 

His people therefore love to confess that he is Lord. In the days of the early church, a common test of loyalty for the subjects of the Roman Empire was for them to affirm that ‘Caesar is Lord’. Failure to do so could mean death. That defining phrase is now only a slogan of history and a relic of an empire that has long gone. In contrast, the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ continues to say a great deal, and it will do so forever. Today, as it has always done, it informs others that believers in Jesus are aware that the greatest of politicians, the mightiest of generals, the strongest of nations, the heads of religions and whoever else or whatever else is regarded as very powerful are not the ones with ultimate authority. That place belongs alone to the One who was given the name above every name, the Lord Jesus Christ.