Who did Jesus say he was?

Who is Yeshua (Jesus)?

"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US.”

Matthew 1:23

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."  C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

The question of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) identity is one of the crucial core understandings of the purpose God has for all people - Jews and Gentiles.

Let us look at who Yeshua (Jesus) said he was.

He said he was Humble and Gentle

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. Matthew 11:29

He said he was the Door of the Sheepfold

So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8"All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:7-9

He said he was the Good Shepherd

"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

John 10:11

He said he was the Light of the World

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12

He said he was the Bread of God that came from heaven

“For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:33

He said he was the Vine.

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

He said he was the way and the truth and the life.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

John 14:6 a

He said he was the Resurrection and the Life

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

John 11:25

He said he was the Messiah

The 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He.”

John 4:25-28

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 14:60-62

He said he was sent by God to save the world.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-19

He said he was the Lord

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for 14 If I then, your so I am. Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

John 13:13-14

He said he was the Son of God

And they all said, "Are You the Son of God, then?" And He said to them, "Yes, I am.”

Luke 22:70

He said he had the same authority to give life as the Father had.

Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

John 5:25-26

do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?

John 10:36

He said he existed before his birth.

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. John 8:56-59

He said he was the only way to the Father

No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

He said he and the Father were one

He said he came forth from the Father

"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” John 16:28

"I and the Father are one."

John 10:30

He said that he perfectly represented the Father so that when you saw Jesus you saw the Father.

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

John 14:8-10

Living in the Name of God

LIVING IN THE NAME OF GOD

Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

The Name of God is Holy.

Leviticus 22:32 (Amplified Bible)

Neither shall you profane My holy name [applying it to an idol, or treating it with irreverence or contempt or as a byword]; but I will be hallowed among the Israelites. I am the Lord, Who consecrates and makes you holy,

This in itself makes it something that is not to be used vainly. Holiness means that something is set apart. It is pure, undefiled by outside contaminations. If one will not take the name of the Lord in vain they must not use it in any way that will detract from its holiness.

In a very practical way we can determine if we are using the name of the Lord wrongly in the way that we join it to other things. This will take the form of personal evaluation of at least three areas:

1. Purpose of use

2. Effect of use

3. Integrity of use.  

PURPOSE IN THE USE OF GOD'S NAME

Purpose of use is an internal thing. It has to do with what the person who is using the name intends to do with it. It is not always able to be discerned through externals. However many times it can be.

Exodus 20:7

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Any use of the name which is not obviously in the purposes God outlines in His word is not in the proper purpose.

For example when a person uses the name of God or Jesus as a swear word the purpose is meant to defile the name. It is a profane use and therefore a vain use. Vain here means in a blasphemous and slanderous manner.

Leviticus 24:11

The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses.

Invoking the name of God for Him to act in a way not in line with His character is also a wrong purpose. Asking God to damn someone to hell for instance is a vain use of His name. It is not God's desire to place anyone in eternal perdition. It is wrong therefore to invoke any curse in God's name.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

THE EFFECT OF THE NAME OF GOD

When we are speaking of using God's name in vain as far as effect we mean that though we use it in a proper manner it has no effect. A biblical example of this is found in the seven sons of Sceva who sought to cast out devils using the name of Jesus.

Acts 19:13-16

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." ¹⁴Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" ¹⁶And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Their purpose was proper and their form of using the name was correct as well.

God desires for devils to be cast out in the name of Jesus. He wants the power of darkness to be overcome.

In this way the Jewish men were had the right desire for the possessed man and were acting in accordance with God's revealed will.

What was the problem? It is twofold.

First and foremost if we are using the name of the Lord for any proper purpose, we must have first established a relationship with him by faith.

Second of all if we expect for things to happen when we use the name of God we must have specific faith for that moment.

James 1:5-7 

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James says that when we ask of God any specific request we must do so in faith with NOTHING doubting. The one who is doubts is double minded and will not receive anything from the Lord.

It is here that the seven men, regardless of their intentions for good, failed.

Without a proper relationship of faith with the Lord in the first place there is no way to have faith for specific things.

In this way their use of the name of the Lord was vain. They sought to use it like a magic formula.

They like many today think that it is a "principle" that will work no matter how far from the Lord they are. These men were not believers. They thought they could take what they wanted from the Christian faith while keeping their allegiance to Judaism. They were unconverted.

They used the name of Jesus but without personal faith. it is here that we have a little lesson in faith. Far too often people think that faith is believing that God can do something. If this were the case we certainly would have faith here. These men thought something would happen. They thought that the name was all that was needed but they had faith that it could do the work.

Faith is when we have committed our way to God.

It is not an intellectual consent to believe that He can do something.

It is faith in Him.

This requires a commitment of life. These Jewish believers had no faith in this way. Therefore when they took the name of Jesus they did so vainly. Vain here means to no effect.

Another vain use of the name of God is described by Jesus as being "Meaningless Repetition"

Matthew 6:6-8 

"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. ⁷ "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

This is perhaps as contemporary as we can get. With the advent of transcendental meditation the chanting of the names of various gods is now avant-garde.

This concept is not unfamiliar to many religions. It is the idea that by chanting the name of a deity it will respond by blessing you.

What a revelation it was when all of the people who had been told that T.M. was a non‑religious form of meditation when they found out that they were chanting the names of hindu gods.

Jesus said this kind of repetition in prayer was a sign of paganism. He told us that our prayers were not to be in the form of repetition. They are to be as we would talk to a kind father. We don't need to call him an hundred times to get his attention.

THE INTEGRITY OF GOD'S NAME

The Concept of the Name:

In the West the concept of the name has been all but lost. It is an ancient idea with very little of today's pragmatic emphasis. The name was considered to be of upmost importance. What you named a child reflected things about his birth situation (i.e. Benjamin who was named Benommi ‑ son of my sorrows by his mother: Moses ‑ from the water ‑ because he was taken from the river), his character (i.e. Jacob which means, one who takes away what is rightfully another’s, which he did most of his life, Joshua ‑ savior ‑ who was a savior and leader to his people), or even his destiny (i.e. Abraham ‑ father of a multitude ‑ which was to be his destiny).     

A name represented the integrity of a man. Though it is greatly weakened we carry some of that concept into our culture. A man or a woman has a good name or a bad name depending on his family and his own character.

Proverbs 22:1 

A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

For the Hebrew a "good" name (i.e. an honorable name) was worth more than money. If a son was evil and his father righteous it would mar his "good" name. The son would even be stripped of his inheritance and disowned if they marred the name of a good man by acting in an evil way.

This is our third consideration in dealing with the concept of taking the Lord's name in vain. We take the Lord's name in vain when our association with it brings dishonor to it.

We retain some sense of this use of the Name when we sign our names on a contract to make it binding. When we use a name this way we reflect the ancient thought that anything our name is put on bears our reputation.

The name represents us.

It is in this light that we understand the deeper meaning of not taking the Lord's name in vain.

His name is his integrity.

Things done in His name are a reflection on it. That which he puts his name on should bear that same integrity.

As God’s people He has placed upon us His name.

2 Chronicles 7:14 

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

That we bear God’s name with honor and bring honor to it is our responsibility.

Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

It is in this light that Colossians tells us that whatever we do we are to do it in the "Name" of Jesus.

It is here that perhaps many Christian people take the name of the Lord in vain.

They may not curse or swear with it and yet they may live lifestyles that are inconsistent with Jesus’ lifestyle. This goes even beyond the externals. If we are to not bear it in vain then we are to judge every action, every thought and every motivation by placing His name on it and see whether it fits.

What a revelation this was for me as a young person. I had been seeking to find how we were to be guided in some ethical areas that for most were gray. I was searching for a principle of discernment by which I could determine my behavior.

I found it in this passage which said to me every act and thought of my life was to be worthy to place the name of Jesus on.

I suddenly found convictions about things that I had always taken for granted were not wrong ‑ They might in fact not be wrong in the sense that most take that term. They were gray or perhaps amoral to many, yet suddenly I found that they were not worthy of the name of Jesus. They may not have been sin but they were not God's highest.

I believe that we often fail in the Lord's work because of not taking seriously this commandment to do all in the name of Jesus. If we take it seriously, it is no longer, “what is the minimum requirement of righteousness,” but rather all of my life falls under the test of "can I place the name of Jesus on this and still feel that I am honoring Him?"

I found immediately that many things I did could not pass that test.

If I am to not take the name of the Lord in vain it is not just a static keeping of the words out of our mouth.

It must be that when God puts his name on us as our Father and us as his adopted children we honor it by our lives.

Hopefully this awesome thought will not bring us to condemnation but rather inspire us.

The desire to honor the good name of earthly fathers and mothers has inspired some men and women to want to keep their good name into the next generation. So should our hearts be filed with the desire to bring glory to our perfect Heavenly Father - to honor His name in our generation as well as the next.  

Or Maybe They Were Drunk.....

Esther 1 :4-8
For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7 Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. 8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

I find that in our present generation we tend to look for reasons behind human behaviour that are based on pain. I have often seen that Christian Counselors almost always want to present a model of behaviour which leads to self pity by linking present behaviour to some tragic event in the past. This gives the person a sense that he or she is really a victim of other's behaviour toward them.

I see that God's Word actually says just the opposite. It teaches us that no matter what others have done to us we are still responsible for our behaviour.

The most important issue for this particular debate is that no matter how you explain behaviour every behaviour has consequences. This is one central message of the scripture.

In my last post I gave one possible scenario to explain Xerxes and Vashti's marital disharmony but there is actually a clearer interpretation in the Bible - - maybe they were drunk....


Esther1:10
On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.

It is clear that Xerxes was drunk. It is likely Vashti was as well.

Esther1:9
Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

Like many uncomfortable or politically incorrect topics, substance abuse, especially alcohol abuse, is almost never preached about today. Yet alcohol abuse is one of the most devastating acts of our society.

I have seen its effect up close and very personal.

Some of my closest friends have died or had their children killed by those who chose to drink and drive. In the emergency ward where I worked I have watched their broken families hold their dead children in such grief I shall never forget it.

I have seen the devastation of moments of inhibition in sexual encounters under the influence that left both the men and women full of regret for their actions. Add to that the unwanted pregnancies which led to choices that should have never had to have been made, sexually transmitted dieseases that have even killed or the loss of self worth to the point of suicide. All this directly linked to a choice to get drunk.

I have watched the terrible curse of alcholism take away a person's life one little bit at a time until they are homeless or, if they are of means, disconnected from everyone in their lives.

Just a small look at history without the deception of images that show beautiful people having so much fun drinking to their hearts content should convince anyone of the rightness of not ever using alcohol.

A person will never regret the effect alcohol of on their lives if they never drink.

It is a defendable position that has no ambiguity.

To say that I could be a social drinker leaves me open to the deception we all face when engaging in a potentially addicitve act.

We cannot trust ourselves.

We do not know what our genetics hold, though we most likely can see it clearly in the lives of those who have drank in our historical family.

We do not know when a slip might occur that leads us to drunkness.

We do not know if we will take one too many drinks to ease the pain of those past hurts the counselors like to call attention to and begin a pattern of life that will ensure we inflict those same hurts on others.

Finally we cannot know the effect of our drinking on others. So many have left a commitment to abstinence through the example of other Christians that are friends or heroes.

Xerxes might have never acted as he did if he were not under the influence.....

The resulting devastation would have never occurred. 

It might not be that they were working out some deep problem in their marriage. They might have just been drunk. 

Ephesians 5:18



Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,