Who is Jesus? – Part Three

So far in this series, we have considered the claims made by John the Apostle and John the Baptist about the Person and work of Jesus. The beloved Apostle John has declared Jesus to be the Eternal Son of God who took on flesh and tabernacled among men. The Baptizer assertively called all men to “Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” Thereby announcing Jesus to be the Final, Complete and Sinless Substitute who alone can remove the sins of fallen men.

As we continue to work our way through the early pages of John’s Gospel account, I would have us notice the claims made by the first few followers of Jesus and who they documented Jesus to be.

Standing along the shores of the Jordan River, dozens (if not hundreds) of people watched as John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and publicly declared Him to be the very Son of God (John 1:34). Having both seen Jesus pointed out and having heard the Baptizer’s bold claims about Him, two men from among the crowd began to follow Jesus. According to John 1:39 these two individuals spend an entire day with Jesus listening and learning from Him.

After hours of sitting at Jesus’ feet and discovering who He truly is, one of the men, Andrew, filled with joy and amazement, leaves to tell others about this wonderful Man he has encountered. The very first person Andrew finds is his brother Simon (Peter) and excitedly says to him, “we have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41). The word Messiah (or Christ) means, “the anointed one” or the “chosen one.” Andrew is the first person on the pages of Scripture to unambiguously claim Jesus is Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. Make no mistake friends, this is a big deal.

Understand, the Jewish nation had been praying for, and longing for this promised Messiah to come for centuries. One of the primary contentions between Jesus and the religious leaders of Judaism was their refusal to acknowledge Jesus as their promised Messiah. Nationally, Israel’s expectation of Messiah was completely skewed. They were looking for a political or military figure to free them from Roman occupation and reestablish the nation of Israel as a world power. However, those first followers were right, Jesus was in fact Israel’s Messiah even though, generally, Israel rejected Him.

Contrary to their distorted expectations, Jesus was the Spirit-anointed Son of God sent to deliver God’s people. Yet Messiah didn’t come to deliver them from Roman rule, but from a greater enemy – the enemy of sin. Christ came, not to free Israel from Gentile power, but to free all God’s chosen people from the power of sin and death. Jesus came, not to break the shackles of Rome, but to break us free from the bondage of sin. This was the appointed task of the Messiah, and it is exactly what Jesus has done for His people. Andrew was right, he had found the Christ of God.

Have you? Have you found the Christ? Have you recognized Jesus as your Messiah? Has He freed you from the bondage of your sin? If not, I urge you to trust in Him today. He alone is the Holy Spirit-anointed Son of God who can take away your sin.

Let me remind you again, as John nears the end of His inspired account of the life and times of Jesus the Messiah, he tells us exactly why he had written what he did. Please take note of John’s purpose statement, your very soul depends upon it … “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). I have written these things, John might say – so you could know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is who He claimed to be. And … He is who we claim Him to be!

John could write with confidence about who Jesus was because He had been eye-witness to countless miracles and signs that Jesus performed. But more than that, John’s own life had been miraculously changed by the Messiah. It began that day (mentioned above) when John the Baptist pointed at Jesus and said behold the Lamb of God. You see, the second person that began to follow Jesus that day, besides Andrew – was John. Who would become known as the beloved Apostle and would write the very Gospel record that we have been discussing. John also spent the day with Jesus and it changed him forever.

And dear reader, if you will spend some time with Jesus, and recognize Him for who He is … it will change you forever!

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