The Person of Jesus Christ

divinity

• the divine aspect of Jesus - the part of Jesus that is God

repent

• to turn your life in a new direction, away from your past life

forgive

• to let go of past anger and move on in life

liberator

• someone who frees a person/group of people

overview

• Jesus is, of course, what makes Christianity distinctive. Jesus took aspects of the Jewish faith and made them his own, attracting followers and starting a movement that soon afterwards began to be known as a separate religion

• these followers spoke of the teachings and actions of Jesus but also that his crucifixion by the Romans was not the end of his life, but that he rose from the dead and continued to appear to his followers

• as Christianity spread, the nature of Jesus was explored, challenged and defined carefully. by the year 451, Jesus was acknowledged by mainstream Christianity as full God and fully human. this made Jesus different to other inspiring preachers and different to other prophets

• Jesus’ teachings are perhaps summed up in the way he turned the society he lived in upside down: he spoke of a God of love, not punishment, and a God who welcomes everyone, even outcasts

• in some ways, it could be argued that Jesus was more of a prophet than anything else, but he was certainly a teacher and some might argue a teacher of wisdom. his work with outcasts and the poor makes some consider him a liberator

• in modern theology, the quest for the historical Jesus was very important during the 20th century. this quest aimed to find out who the Jesus of history was and how similar he was to the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels

• this quest also asked questions about who Jesus thought he was and whether he thought his relationship with God was similar to, or different from, other people’s

Jesus the Son of God

• the phrase ‘son of God’ meant different things to Jews and Gentiles at the time of Jesus

• for Jews, it tended to mean someone specially chosen by God, perhaps with angelic or supernatural aspects

• for Gentiles, it was a way of saying someone was divine

• for Jesus to be known as son of God in the NT was a way of saying all of this at once to both audiences

• the special nature of his conception and birth seem to show Jesus as being very literally the son of God

• at his baptism and transfiguration, God specifically calls Jesus his son, but Jesus does not seem to use the title of himself

• some think that this was because the idea of him being divine was written into the texts later, whereas others think that this is because Jesus did not want to attract unnecessary attention from the religious authorities

Jesus’ knowledge of God

• Jesus calls God ‘Abba’ or Dad but spends time in prayer

• it seems from some of the Gospel accounts that he did not see himself as equal to God

• in John’s gospel, there are a number of sayings of Jesus that being ‘I am’, written in Greek in the same way that the Greek version of the OT referred to the unspoken name of God

• this seems to be a clear indication that Jesus was referring to himself as God, although some point out that John’s gospel was written a long time after the others and so the point may have been John’s own addition to the Jesus story to match the theology of early Christianity, rather than reflecting historical truth

miracles

• Jesus’ miracles seem to suggest that he had God’s power in a special way

• the NT talks of miracles as works of power and great wonder

• John’s gospel uses the word for a ‘sign’ to describe the miracles, suggesting that these are signs that point to Jesus’ divinity

• magicians were commonplace at the time of Jesus and some think that on their own miracles do not specifically show Jesus to be divine

• unlike the magicians, however, Jesus did not perform miracles as tricks to make people believe - after his miracles he often asked people not to talk about what had happened

• also, miracles such as the calming of the sea showed Jesus performing actions that only God was thought to be able to do, which points further to Jesus’ divinity

resurrection

• Jesus’ resurrection was enough proof for the disciples of the truth behind Jesus’ message and authority that they began a new religious movement

• the Gospels make an effort to show Jesus as having really died and really been buried (for example, the spear piercing his side and blood flowing out), only for that tomb to be found empty with the grave clothes discarded

• Paul’s letters, written before the Gospels, speak of Jesus’ appearances to his followers but not the empty tomb, making some thinkers suggest that the resurrection should not be taken literally

• however, the literal truth of the resurrection event is central to Christian belief

• the emphasis is that Jesus, as God, raised himself from the dead to show that, for humans, death is not the end

• it is the ultimate sign for Christians that Jesus came to earth both as human and divine: he died but broke through that barrier and therefore is a special intermediary between God and humans; he knows what it is to be human but also shows that God is completely in control

• as Paul said in 1 Corinthians: ‘if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’

key texts

• in Mark 6, Jesus walks on water - a miracle story that helps the disciples to understand what they had previously witnessed when he fed the 5000

• when Jesus identifies himself to the disciples he uses the special ‘I am’ phrase to help them understand: Jesus’ power comes from his identity as God

• in John 9, Jesus first performs a miracle, healing a blind man

• this convinces the man that Jesus’ power comes from God, but the authorities do not accept this

• Jesus uses this event to explain to the authorities that it is not physical blindness that he is here to heal, but spiritual blindness - the blindness that makes them not realise who they are dealing with

Jesus as a teacher of wisdom

• Jesus’ sayings were often similar to those in the book of Proverbs, one of the examples of wisdom literature (books that ted to be a series of challenging statements that teach about God and life) in the OT, and his one-liners gave insight and were memorable to those who heard them

• Jesus’ parables were stories that we designed to catch the attention of his contemporaries and to think differently about the world around them

• in Christianity, Jesus’ wisdom comes from the fact that he is God as well as humans. his experience of the world is completely different to ours

• some argue that encounters with heaven such as his baptism or transfiguration might have given him the wisdom that he communicated in his teaching, but for others, this direct access to God would be more of a sign that he was not human, simply divine

• Jesus, in challenging the Judaism of his day, wanted people to take responsibility for their actions but to get their priorities right: for example, he said that the Sabbath was made for humans, not the other way around - the Sabbath Law needed to be kept in perspective

• religion and morality help humans get to God - purity is about what is on the inside, not what rituals are being followed

teachings on repentance and forgiveness, inner purity and morality

• a theme is Jesus’ teachings was repentance and forgiveness

• Jesus praised the repentance of Zacchaeus the tax collector or those of his disciples who left behind old lives to follow him

• indeed, Jesus taught that people should not forgive an action just once or just seven times, but seventy seven times - a light-hearted way of telling people that forgiveness should be a constant thing, not a one-off event

• the prayer Jesus left the Church, the ‘Our Father’, places forgiveness at the centre of daily prayer for the Christian when it says, ‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’

Matthew 5:17-48

• towards the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount

• it is a series of teachings of Jesus, apparently given while he was on a mountain, surrounded by crowds

• some think it is similar in content and approach to wisdom literature

• the moral teachings put the accountability onto the believer, not onto religious practices

• it is important to seek inner purity and to have correct moral motivation

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about the law

meaning: Jesus has come to fulfil the law, not to replace it. Christians need to be more faithful than the teachers of the law

interpretation: Christians must pick and choose their interpretation of the law and all people are responsible for moral decisions, not just the teachers of the law

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about anger

meaning: whoever is angry needs to make peace with their brother as being angry is as bad as murder that it can lead to

interpretation: Christians might strive for harmony in all aspects of their lives - and repent to bring about that harmony

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about adultery

meaning: whoever thinks lustfully about a woman has committed adultery in his heart - it is better to cut off parts of your body that cause you to sin than for your whole body to go to hell

interpretation: the Christian must be pure in their thoughts, as well as their deeds - both are as important as the other

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about divorce

meaning: divorce, which used to be allowed for many reasons, is now to be very rare

interpretation: the Christian way does not have easy ways out of difficult situations

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about vows

meaning: do not swear by oaths - just let Yes mean Yes and No mean No

interpretation: there should be no hidden agenda for the Christian; personal integrity is key

Matthew 5:17-48 - teaching about revenge and enemies

meaning: turn the other cheek - go the extra mile - love your enemies

interpretation: Christians must always strive to be the ‘bigger people’ in a situation

Luke 15:11-32

• know as the parable of the prodigal/lost son

• a man’s younger son asks for his inheritance early (essentially telling his father that he wishes he were dead), wastes the money and then comes to the realisation that he had done wrong and decides to return to his father, Jesus shows through the story the process of realising you have done wrong, turning your life around (repentance) and being forgiven

• while the focus is on the sinner, the younger son, it is clear that God’s forgiveness is total: the father runs and embraces his son even before the son has apologised

• the idea seems to be that nothing is bad enough for God to not forgive if a person repents

• the wisdom that Jesus is teaching in this passage seems to be that God’s love and forgiveness is huge, but humans need to remember that they are responsible for their actions and need to repent

Jesus as a liberator

• Luke’s birth stories about Jesus suggest that he would have a special relationship with the poor and marginalised

• in these stories the baby Jesus was placed in a feeding trough as a crib and his first visitors were the semi-outcast shepherds

• in Matthew’s gospel, the wise men make King Herod feel challenged by a potential threat to his power

• religion and politics were closely linked in first century Israel and there are overlaps between those in political authority and those in religious authority

challenge to political authority

Jesus clashed with the politicians of his day on many occasions

• he talked about the Kingdom of God - a political statement because it suggested that authority was going to be taken away from those with earthly authority

• he made tax collectors, who represented the government, turn away from their former lifestyles and follow him

• in the last week of his life, he:

  • publicly entered Jerusalem on a peaceful donkey, not a military horse, suggesting he would bring about peace where the government could not

  • turned over the tables in the temple, objecting to the fact it had lost its religious focus

  • was crucified by the Roman government as a trouble-maker

challenge to religious authority

• Jesus was accused of not following the strict laws relating to the Sabbath, but he said that following the laws needed to be kept in perspective

• Jesus was criticised for eating with outcasts, but he said that he was here to help those people who needed him most

• Jesus was said not to respect the purification laws, but he pointed out that following rules is not the same as worshipping God properly

• the religious authorities objected to Jesus forgiving sins because only God could forgive sins

Jesus the liberator

• Jesus certainly inspired those who are seen as the underdogs of society

• the liberation he brought seems to have been less about upsetting and reforming the authorities and more about preparing people for the new kingdom - the one where God is in charge

• the liberation Jesus brought was liberation from spiritual states as much as physical states and applied to all sectors of society, including those from other countries

mark 5:25-34 the woman with the flow of blood

• outline: the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years would have been an outcast from society because she could not have taken part on synagogue worship as the blood would have made her ritually unclean according to the law

• analysis: her faith causes her healing

• how this is liberation: her interaction with Jesus makes her liberated from the spiritual aspects of her illness - from being an outcast

luke 10:25-37 the parable of the good samaritan

• outline: before the famous parable, Jesus encourages the teacher of the law to follow the law in the scriptures

• analysis: the samaritans were not trusted by Jews because of historic issues. they were seen as traitors who had let down the Jewish people

• how is this liberation: not only does the samaritan set an example of how to be a neighbour but the parable teaches that people must be neighbours to everyone, whoever they are. Jesus teaches that all are equal and so all people are liberated by him

was Jesus only a teacher of wisdom?

• much of Jesus’ ministry was made up of him teaching, through sayings, through parables and through the example of miracles. some suggest that his main aim was to purify Judaism, rather than to start a new religious movement: he seemed to expect the new Kingdom to come quickly and most of his work was with the Jewish people around him, rather than the Gentiles as well

• some modern scholars have tried to strip away the elements of the Gospel that are likely to have sprung up after the time of Jesus and, in removing the supernatural elements, we are left with a teacher of wisdom. some people find it difficult to accept that Jesus was divine, especially as there is little evidence that Jesus taught this about himself

• Jesus’ teaching was certainly authentic - it engaged people on a new level and made people think about the situation that they lived in, but some would argue that this does not mean he was ‘only’ a teacher of wisdom: they would say that it is the whole picture - the miracle worker who rose from the dead - that gave Jesus particular authority

• Jesus also started new systems that would last beyond his time on earth, such as the Eucharist, and he saw himself as having followers who would carry on his work. he also taught his followers how to pray, suggesting that they would need to be in it for the long haul

was Jesus more than a political liberator?

there is certainly a great deal of material that suggests that Jesus’ challenges to the authorities of his time were significant. Jesus thought that people had got too bogged down with following the letter of the law, rather than trying to understand the thinking behind it. he came as a champion of all people into a country occupied by the Romans. however, there are several arguments that suggested that political liberation was not the prime focus for Jesus

• Jesus told his followers to pay taxes and Paul also echoed this view that Christians need to be lawful citizens

• Jesus escaped when he realised that people would try to make him king by force (John 6)

• he did not resist arrest by the guards when he could have done - and he stopped his followers from using violence

• he seems not to have agreed with the political views of the zealots who wanted to overthrow the Romans - for example, he rode into Jerusalem not on a military horse, but on a donkey

• he seems mainly concerned with inner purity rather than outward shows of force

• Jesus said that he had not come to abolish the law or the prophets (the Jewish tradition), but to fulfil them. he was trying to develop people’s understanding, not replace it

• the emphasis on the marginalised is particularly evident in Luke’s gospel and some scholars think that this was editing done by Luke to make Jesus more relevant for his particular audience

was Jesus’ relationship with God very special or truly unique?

• Jesus was known to speak with authority and he certainly had at least a special relationship with God, giving him the confidence to teach within the context of his time

• as a teacher of wisdom, prophet and liberator, he sits in the tradition of many OT figures who had special relationships with God

• Jesus modelled an excellent religious lifestyle, taking time to pray, always remembering God was at the centre of the decisions people make and perhaps understanding that religion needs to be reinterpreted for each new situation

• as a miracle worker, he was certainly special, even raising people from the dead; but even in the OT there are examples of people being brought back to life

• however, it seems from the Gospels that there was more to Jesus than this. his miraculous birth, surrounded by unusual visitors, a moment of religious experience at his baptism and then again at his transfiguration and his resurrection from death by crucifixion all seem to suggest that Jesus was more than just another prophet

• Jesus seemed to embody both the Jewish and Gentile understandings of what it means to be a son of God

• in the modern quest for the historical Jesus, even where many of the stories might be understood as inventions by the Gospel writers, there remains a basic tradition of Jesus being a miracle worker and inspirational teacher

• the resurrection, however, is a key moment that changes our understanding of everything that has gone before

did Jesus think he was divine?

• it is difficult to understand how Jesus could have been completely human. from our perspective, it seems that if he was aware of being one then he could not have been aware of being the other. many Christians would explain this by suggesting that the nature of knowledge is different for God than it is for us

• Christians believe that Jesus did not just exist when he was born, but that he is an eternal part of the Trinity - God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus, therefore, existed before the universe was created

• in John 8, Jesus states clearly that he existed before Abraham, once more using the special ‘I am’ phrase

• even as a child, Jesus showed wisdom beyond his years when, having been lost by his parents, he said to them, ‘didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’

• Jesus certainly experienced emotions and had moments where he felt abandoned by God. he was also very aware of his mission from God to intervene in the world in a unique way

• it may be that this sense of mission helped him to focus more on his human nature while he was on earth. at the very least, this shows immense trust in God, but perhaps this was a trust founded in the knowledge that everything was part of a plan for the salvation of the world that had been in place since the Fall