Who is Jesus?

Peter writes;

So, who is this Jesus?

Well let me put it like this,…. I’m definitely not a gambling man but if I were I think I’d safely stake a few quid on the fact that not many of us celebrate or even know the birthdays of people like Nelson Mandela, Neil Armstrong or Winston Churchill, yet over 2000 years after the birth of a baby in a smelly stable inside a cave, in a little known town called Bethlehem lying at the Eastern edge of the mighty Roman Empire, millions of people all over the world continue to commemorate His birth every year and this is what we call Christmas. The time when Jesus was born.

Jesus Christ is the greatest man in history. (His name, by the way, Jesus is his first name but the name Christ wasn’t his family name as we understand it but it comes from the Greek word Christos meaning anointed one, or special one)

Jesus is the greatest man in history, yet he was born into poverty, he and his parents had very little money and very few possessions. He was born into obscurity, neither he or his parents were famous nor did they know any one of influence or power, and as a youngster he was taken as a refugee into Egypt. He received no formal education, and as a young man worked as a carpenter and a labourer, and he never wrote a book or song.

Jesus formally preached and ministered for only three years, He never once spoke to flatter or impress the authorities and totally refused to compromise His message. He was eventually executed by crucifixion (that is having 6" nails driven through your hands (wrists) and feet onto a wooden cross which was then erected upright, and there you would be left to die) He was just 33 years old.

In those three years of public work, without traveling far, he made blind people see, dumb people speak, and the deaf to hear. he healed lepers and lame people, he raised the dead back to life he fed thousands of hungry people with just a few loaves and fishes. He instantly calmed rough storms at sea and even walked on water dispelling the fears of some really terrified fishermen.

Nobody ever spoke as Jesus did. He spoke with authority, real authority. He gave to the world the highest moral standard, preaching only what he himself practiced.

Jesus said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you."Luke 6:27 and "turn the other cheek." Luke 6:29

Jesus gave dignity to women and respect to the disabled, he gave significance to children, credibility to the family and status to each individual. Jesus has made a permanent impact upon our society in terms of education, literature, art, music, architecture, culture and even our democratic freedoms.

Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him to the authorities realised his error and just before he committed suicide cried “I have betrayed innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4

Jesus had to endure six trials, two before the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Now Pilate, through powerful argument from the Jewish leaders, who themselves felt threatened by Jesus, ordered Jesus' crucifixion, said at both trials “I find no fault in him”. John 19:4. Pilate, as Governor, certainly had a choice but chose the easy way out for himself.

Well it was impossible to fault Jesus. He never turned his back on God, he was never separated from God, he always did what God asked him to do. He was “God appearing to us in the flesh, as a real human being”. 1 John 4:2

Stripped naked, severely beaten, humiliated and already very close to death, he was spat at, insulted and abused as he was forced to carry his own wooden cross beam through the streets of Jerusalem, until he collapsed. A visitor to Jerusalem called Simon from Cyrene was then forced to help. Simon then carried the beam out through the city gates, up the hill to the place called Calvary, where Jesus was crucified.

As he hung there, for over six hours before he died, Jesus voluntarily carried all of those things which we are and do that separates us from God on his own shoulders. We all fall short of what God wants for us but through Jesus we can start again. The Bible says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. John 3:16. This is also known as the GOOD NEWS of Jesus.

Three days, after he died, the tomb where Jesus was laid was empty - he had risen from the dead... he was alive and over an extended period Jesus showed Himself to many people proving conclusively that he had conquered death. He changed our lives, forever, giving peace and hope to the world.

Jesus claimed several times during his ministry to be the Son of God yet no-one listened or understood. CS Lewis, a well respected Christian writer,(respected by both Christians and non-Christians) wrote in his book “Mere Christianity” “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 said he was a poached egg- or else he’d be the devil of hell. You must make your own 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 patronizing nonsense about being a great human teacher. He hasn’t left that open to us. He didn’t intend to”.

Jesus Christ came to earth with a mission. He came not to call the righteous, but imperfect people like you and me to himself. He was more than a great example to us, he was more than the supreme teacher, he accomplished far more than just performing miracles. The Bible states “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”. 1 John 4:14 Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me” John 14:6. That means we need to follow and do the things that Jesus asks us to do.

Millions have followed Jesus and continue to follow him as they build a real and tangible relationship with him because they know that he loves them deeply and with a passion. Civilisations and nations have been changed as people have come to know God. Most important of all is that he transforms individuals. He gives a new life.

Jesus can bring people into an everlasting relationship with God. Instead of the punishment we deserve, through our acceptance of Jesus in our lives he gives us forgive­ness, he can reserve a place in heaven for us. When we turn our back on all those things that separate us from God and trust Jesus, he forgives us, and makes everything new. He becomes our constant companion and even helps us in all those decisions that we have to make in our lives.

For two thousand years Jesus Christ has been such a real friend to individuals all over the world. He can be all this for you today. Now! So, I wonder? will you ask him to be your Lord and Saviour? If you do he will be with you now, and forever.

CS Lewis again says “We are faced with the 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 or a fiend; and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely as it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was and is God. God has landed on this enemy occupied world in human form.”

Jesus was never just a make believe story for children to be rolled out at Christmas or Easter, he is real, as real as Nelson Mandela is, or Neil Armstrong or Winston Churchill ever was, and you know that Jesus was never so much as WAS but IS. Meaning that He is alive today living and breathing with us and within us. Now that’s a prize well worth buying a ticket for!

My own life has been permanently and positively affected when Jesus tapped me on the shoulder just seven years ago and asked me to follow him. Being a Christian and proclaiming my faith is not always easy but it is really the best thing that has ever happened to me. I just had to accept his nudging and give it a chance.