The Person of Christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Person of Christ - Essay Example a. Christ’s Deity There are many passages in the Bible that confirm that Jesus is divine. Here are a few examples:- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God†¦And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth 2 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known3. Thomas answered him, â€Å"My Lord and my God!†4 Even though scripture clearly states the deity of Christ, these scriptures are often challenged. For instance there are those that believe that Jesus never called himself God and any verse that suggests so was written by His disciples in order to deify the man that significantly impacted their lives. There are some who believe that Jesus was only a great teacher of morality which would at best place him at per with other religious leaders.5 This notwithstanding, Jesus’ own underst anding of his deity can be seen in six primary ways. First is that he taught with divine authority 6 The difference with Jesus and the other religious teachers of his time like the Pharisees and Sadducees is that they had no authority when they presented their teaching. They derived their authority from earlier authorities.7 In fact, even Moses and all other prophets of the Old Testament sis not speak with their own authority but with the authority of the Lord. Jesus however, interprets the Old Testament thus: You have heard it said†¦but I say†¦8 it is this same authority that Jesus used to affirm himself as Lord and Judge who will reward the righteous and judge the wicked. The second view of Christ’s deity is his relationship with God the father. We see Jesus as a young boy seated in the temple discussing scripture with the teachers of the law. His parents went over looking for him and when they finally found him, his answer to their question on why he wandered fro m them was, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?9(Luke 2:49) Jesus referred to God as His father in many other places in scripture and this assertion may be considered a radical assertion but it is also a good proof of his deity. In fact, such an assertion was not a very common thing in Jewish literature and it made him unique from other Jewish leaders both past and present. The third illustration is the phrase â€Å"son of man† which Jesus used over and over again to refer to himself. Even though the phrase might simply mean a son of a human being, Bible scholars believe he was using it in reference to the son of man described in Daniel 7 who was to be a ruler of the whole world. 10 There are many instances in Scripture in which Jesus affirmed himself as the messianic son of man. For instance, he stated that he had authority to forgive sin and he even did what was considered by experts of the law as work on the Sabbath by healing the paralytic man. Fourthly, Jesus taught many things that emphasised on his real identity. He taught about the kingdom of God in which he was a son. He taught on how he was around even before Abraham was. His emphasis on his identity can easily be seen in the question he asked