Jesus Christ is arguably the most world-changing figure in the entirety of human history. Author Paul Little writes: Jesus has been the subject of more literature, art and music than any other person. I would like to acknowledge my friend and fellow science educator, Mark Ritter, for sharing his perspectives with me in this discussion. So why does Jesus seem to have a permanent place in contemporary culture? Why does he seem as relevant today as he was two thousand years ago? Why is he still the topic of so many on-going conversations? Why hasn’t he faded into the past as many other great figures in history have? In spite of his unique status, Jesus is often lumped into the same group of great moral teachers as Buddha, Confucius, Gandhi, Mohammed and others. How do you see him? You might have gotten some of your ideas about Jesus from childhood Sunday school stories, or from one of the plethora of “Jesus” films. Perhaps the idea of him as a great teacher sounds good, and doesn’t offend anyone. But is that all he was? Most of what …show more content…
So, Jesus spoke and claimed God’s sacred name, the name of the Great “I am”, the eternal ultimate reality, personified in God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and in Jesus Christ. The Jews threaten to stone Him again after he says this, and once again, he doesn’t deny the implications. In John chapter 11, verse 25, he says, Here Jesus is claiming to be able to save his followers from death, forever. Over and over again Jesus points people to himself, unlike Buddha, for example, who said, In the book of Luke, chapter 5, verse 18 through 26, we read about a paralyzed man being lowered through an opening in the tile roof of the home where Jesus was teaching, and Jesus said to him, Thus, he backs up his claim to have God’s authority to forgive sins by performing an observable
How would you personally answer Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” Describe your own beliefs about Jesus.
Jesus is not a mere man. He is so much more than a man; we can see
John focuses on the profound meaning of the life of Jesus, whom he saw as the
In today's world, it is very easy to allow our perception of Jesus to be skewed by our ideology, attempting to define Him in light of our preconceived views. As a Christian whose political views generally lean to the conservative side, I still must recognize that both conservativism and liberalism are man-made philosophies, both having their respective limitations in regards to biblical truth. As Christian sociologist Tony Campolo astutely points out:
Thesis: the historical Jesus was a Galilean man who who lived during the first Century A.D. and gained fame through chicanery and tricks, which ensured him as the basis of modern day Christianity.
Wright, N. T. Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters. New York: HarperOne, 2011. Print.
A recurring title for Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is the Son of God, which is evident in the centurion quote seen in Mark 15:39 “…when the centurion…saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’.” This scripture reference is subtitled as the Death of Jesus, which portrays Him as the Suffering Messiah for He died and came back to life. Through his pain and suffering, it was the centrepiece of God’s loving plan to save all people. The Son of God relates to Mark’s Gospel as it frequently shows the divinity and Messianic Suffering Jesus went through for the followers of the Kingdom of God.
He is God incarnate who became flesh to take away the sins of the world. He was a poor servant, an obedient child who grew up with wisdom and understanding and became man so that the Word became flesh to dwell among humanity (Weaver, 2014). For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus’ ministry was to preach and teach about the Kingdom Of Heaven and these teachings are the revelations that mankind are to live by in order to get into Heaven and find salvation (DiVincenzo, 2015). The teaching about the Kingdom was for God to restore his creation into the right relationship with himself (DiVincenzo, 2015). This was established so that he and his people can be together in peace, justice, and truth (DiVincenzo, 2015). This identity of Jesus and the work that he did on earth is important to the Christian worldview because it shows that God fulfilled his promise of the Messiah to save the world and it also fulfilled the scripture of the one that was to come. This is an essential element to the beliefs as a
Professor Valerie Felicity Frizzle, or The Friz, has a very unique way of teaching her class science concepts. Every lesson begins about the same, we usually listen to Mr. Frizzle talk about a topic or do our own research. Then she eventually will get bored and wants to show us “a closer look.” We have been on many
The author of this book, Lee Strobel, struggled for almost two years, sometimes jumping from one issue or topic to another and then back again, investigating the facts of Jesus for himself. He traces his journey from skepticism to faith.
As Towns states in John: Believe and Live, “He (Jesus) claimed to be equal to God as well as claimed the deity He so rightly held.” Jesus is the “self-existent one,” God in the flesh; the God-Man. Leon Morris explained that when Jesus said “I Am” he was confirming His messiahship. These are confirmed to be “solemn words of deity, as stated by Ed Hindson. No other could claim such and not be reckoned by God. Each time Jesus spoke these words it was with the full authority from and with God. Jesus “knew that God the Father had placed the power over all things into His hands” (Jn. 13:3). Jesus knew that He would return to His home in Heaven with the Father, but He had to deliver His message on earth first before His work was finished. Having expressed this on numerous occasions, Jesus tells the disciples “unless you believe that I Am, you will die in your sins” (Jn.8:24) If they fail to believe that He is God incarnate they will not see Him for their eternal life. Today this same statement holds true: one must see Jesus as one with the Father and believe that through Him they will have life everlasting. Otherwise they will die in their sins as Morris says: “that must clearly be a dreadful
Numerous philosophers have left their mark on the world. Using their words and writings to voice their thoughts, these philosophers have set standards of our society today. One thousand and seven hundred years ago the worlds most well known and famous philosopher Socrates had his teaching dictated by his pupil Plato. These two philosophers directly impacted and changed the world forever by teaching western philosophy and ethics. Socrates proved a universal moral standard and encouraged people to uphold ethical standards in their lives. Socrates and Plato were only two of the many philosophers that would leave their impact on the world. Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) is the most known philosopher in the western world. Jesus Christ, the Son of God was born of a virgin mother in Galilee in the first century.
We will never be able to fully understand Jesus (John 21:25). When you study his deity, you will have a better understanding about who he is, and be more open to a revelation about the life he lived and the impact it has on people today. Learning more about Jesus will help you grow as a Christian by helping you understand what it means to be “Christ-like.”When you truly fall in love with him and begin to understand everything he stood for it gives us hope for tomorrow, inspiration
Throughout the text, Jesus claims to be God multiple times. This is seen in John 14:8-11, summarized to “The Father and I are one.” John 8:58 also contains one of these claims, “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’” Another is seen in Matt 26:63-66, “But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, ‘I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right had of the power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?’ They said in reply, ‘He deserves to die.’” When a man claims to be God, there are only three things that he could be: a liar, a lunatic, or he could truly be God. It can be determined that Jesus was not a lunatic, as He was wise, debated well and spoke clearly, told insightful parables, and obtained many followers. In the same way, it is determined that He was not a liar as He acted only with integrity and ultimately died because of a statement that He could have retracted when He realized how the situation would end, if it was false. This leaves only the option that Jesus was truly God, and
Jesus. I look at Jesus now as more of a people person, someone who relates to the