Who Is Jesus?

The Apostles’ Creed, which summarizes the core beliefs of the Christian faith, first appeared in the year 390. It was originally attributed to the twelve apostles, but it evolved from various creedal statements and baptismal interrogations from the early church. It tells us:

Jesus was the only Son of God, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

It answers our question, who is Jesus? During my time in the ministry, my congregations recited the Apostles’ Creed weekly. I always feared they were saying the words without considering their meaning. That is easy to do. The real question is, who is Jesus to you? That takes us to our scripture reading, Mark 4:35-41.

According to the text, Jesus and the disciples are on the Sea of Galilee. They were sailing from Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes. That Sea of Galilee was infamous for sudden storms and that is exactly what happened. Without warning a storm hits, and the boat begins to fill with water. The disciples begin to panic, fearing they are going to die. However, Jesus was fast asleep. The disciples wake Jesus, and he is surprised by their emotional state. He reprimands them for their lack of faith and calms the storm. The story tells us Jesus had authority over nature. As a matter of fact, Jesus had authority over all creation. That was more than the disciples expected. They had been traveling with Jesus, and they thought they knew him, but their understanding of him was incomplete. You can know someone and not completely understand them. Shocked, the disciples asked a question the world has been trying to answer for generations, “who is this?” In other words, they asked the question, “who is Jesus?” The answer you receive will depend on the person or group you ask. Let me give you a few examples.

If you would have asked Jesus’ cynical narrow-minded generation, who is Jesus, they would have given you some basic information about him. Jesus was a carpenter, the son of Mary and Joseph. However, some questioned if Joseph was his father. Some would have not even answered the question, who is Jesus, at all, because he came from Nazareth. Many looked down on that community. Even one of his own disciples, Nathaniel, before following Jesus, looked down on Nazareth. (John 1:46) If you asked Jesus’ cynical narrow-minded generation, who is Jesus, their answers would have been incomplete.

If you ask other major world religions the question, who is Jesus, they will admit Jesus was one of the most influential people in the history of the world. Hindus generally view Jesus with respect and see him as a spiritual teacher or a manifestation of God. Some Buddhist scholars are emphasizing the similarities between the lives and teachings of Buddha and Jesus. Did you know in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam, Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times? His generous ways caught the eye of Allah, who selected him to be a divine messenger. The Jewish world sees Jesus as an example on how to live. Other major world religions value Jesus, but their answers are incomplete.

If you ask more contemporary world religions, who is Jesus, they will admit Jesus is significant. For example, you can find the teachings of Jesus in earliest writings of Scientology. The Bahai Faith, which tries to find the balance of all world religions, values Jesus. They admit “Jesus is who he says he is.” In the world today there are approximately 100,000 people following a religion called Rael. It is a UFO religion, which believes the world was created by a species of humanoid extraterrestrials. They believe that Jesus was a hybrid mixing extraterrestrials and humans. Many contemporary religions value Jesus but their answers are incomplete. Even atheists, who do not believe in the existence of God, recognize the historical Jesus, who is a moral example and teacher. So, let me ask you the question one more time, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you?

When I was in seminary, I had a friend named Mike. He was a wild guy with long red hair and a big heart. He was from the Illinois side of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area. We lived in the same apartment complex, so we would ride to school together. As we traveled those few miles, we talked and shared our stories. Of all the stories Mike told me, this is the one I remember.

He freely admitted, he was a non-believer during college. The last thing he worried about was Jesus. That all changed one Friday night. He was out drinking with his friends. Completely drunk, he decided to drive home. The expected happened, and Mike got into an accident. He was told later he was cut out of his car by the jaws of life and taken to the local hospital. In the emergency room, he was in an unconscious state, yet he could hear his mother talking to the doctor. She began sobbing when the doctor told her, it didn’t look good. Mike didn’t want to die, so he made a deal with God. If God would save him, then he would serve God the rest of his life. Every time Mike told me that story, he pulled his shirt open to show me the large ugly scars on his chest from the accident. Mike survived and he kept his word. He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. In time, he heard God calling him into the ministry and enrolled in seminary. The last time I heard from Mike, he was serving a church in Illinois. Ask Mike the question, who is Jesus, and he will give you the best answer. Jesus is his Lord and Savior. That is Mike’s story.

What is your story? Everyone’s story is different. It really doesn’t matter if your story includes sex, drugs and rock and roll, or if your story includes a loving family and a faithful, patient Sunday school teacher. It does not matter how you came to know Jesus. The only thing that matters is you came to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For once you do, you will know the benefits of the Christian faith. You will have a closer relationship with God, know your sins are forgiven, have a purpose for living, and have the promise of eternal life. I have known those things for many years. It all goes back to our question, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? It is a question everyone must answer. Sometime later, Jesus, himself, gave the disciples the answer, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6) How do you answer the question, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you?