”When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.“ Matthew 16:13-20 KJV
From our previous exposition, we discovered who Jesus is according to the scriptures. We also went on to explore witnesses of Him according to some of His apostles. Today we will delve further by understanding e testimony of Jesus Christ base on those who experienced Him firsthand.
The Testimony of Jesus
This leaves us with one last person to examine and that is Jesus Himself. Our description of Jesus would be incomplete if we did not examine at least a few things that Jesus said about His true identity. Here are three things He said about Himself to three individuals:
1. The Samaritan Woman
In a conversation with a woman while travelling Jesus answers her question about who is the true Messiah.
25The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
– John 4:25-26
Jesus describes Himself as the savior spoken of by the Jews.
2. Peter the Apostle
We have looked at Peter’s declaration earlier in this chapter but this time let us focus on Jesus’ response to what Peter says.
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
– Matthew 16:15-17
Note that Jesus confirms what Peter says about Him and even goes on to reveal how Peter has come to this realization.
3. To the Apostles
After His resurrection and appearance to over 500 disciples, Jesus gives His Apostles (and future disciples) their mission.
18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:18-20
Note that in this passage Jesus claims exclusive divine authority over all. These are only a few of the things that are recorded concerning Jesus, but from these we see some of the things the Bible teaches about Him:
- A true historical figure
- The Jewish Messiah
- The Son of God
- The Lord God Himself
- Resurrected from the dead
- An eternal being
- The agent of Creation
- The head of the church
- The supreme authority in heaven and earth
I could go on and on about what the Bible actually says concerning Jesus but I will close this with a quote from the gospel of John who faced the similar dilemma of trying to list all the things he actually heard and saw Jesus do. Faced with the mountain of information before him John writes in the 20th and 21st chapters of his gospel record:
”And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.“
John 20:30-31 KJV
”And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.“
John 21:25 KJV
I pray that you find a revelation of who Jesus is for yourself. May you discover who He is to you, who you are in Him and how to be in tune and always in His presence all the days of your life.
Shalom. Rev. Ron
Virtuous Living 