Introduction
Jesus was the famous human being who lived in this universe. Many Christians confront the question of whether he was actually a real person or not. In my opinion, I suppose that there is a possibility of Christians loosing Jesus because Jesus is blight on the tainted history that they have.
Jesus emphasized on sin that was original and the notion that someone else could pay for the sins of another person. Although Jesus had no external beauty that could make people desire Him, His personality drew people closer to him because he had a great character. Jesus was faultless and via studying the type of a person that he was, we are able to shape our lives to be like Him.
One of the features that we observe via the limited accounts of Jesus that we have is that Jesus was concerned about other people’s needs. Besides, He noticed the needs of others before the people in need could ask for His help and He was ever prepared to assist regardless of whether He was tired or not. Therefore, this essay will examine the type of a person that Jesus was.
The obedient nature of Jesus
The most imperative quality that Jesus demonstrated was obedience to the Father who was in heaven. This obedience was because of the love for God and for humankind. Jesus demonstrated obedience in all His daily missions including the day that John the Baptist baptized Him. When Jesus discussed with John the Baptist about His baptism, John hesitated. This was because John knew that baptism was for remission of sins yet Jesus life was sinless.
Nevertheless, Jesus explained to John the Baptist that baptism was Gods commandment and he ought to respect it. Although it was not necessary for John the Baptist to baptize Jesus, Jesus decided to be exceptional and obeyed all the commandments even the commandments that were for the people who were wrong.
For instance, In the book of Mathew chapter three verse thirteen to fifteen (Mathew 3: 13-15), Jesus went to river Jordan to be baptized by John but John tried to make Jesus change His mind by telling Him that he was the one to be baptized by Him and not the other way round. Nonetheless, Jesus told John to let it be that way because that was God’s expectation (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
According to Mark chapter one verse nine (Mark 1: 9), Jesus was baptized by John in river Jordan after he arrived from Nazareth which was in Galilee. Besides, in the book of Luke chapter three verse twenty one (Luke 3:21), Jesus was baptized after everyone was baptized (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). This further portrayed the obedience of Jesus because He did not segregate himself but followed the law, which required that people received the sacrament of baptism.
Satan, who tried to lead Jesus into sin, successfully ending His mission before it even began, tested the extent of Jesus’ obedience after His baptism. Without victory, Satan ridiculed Jesus to turn stones into bread because Jesus was hungry.
Besides, Satan attempted to convince Him to jump from the top of the temple and authorize the angels to save Him to prove that he was the son of God. Finally, Satan offered to give Jesus supremacy and magnificence if He worshiped Him instead of God. On the contrary, Jesus refused Satan’s request and commanded him to depart because no rewards or honors could wave Jesus form his principle.
For example, in the book of Mathew chapter four verse one to eleven (Mathew 4: 1-11), Jesus told Satan that human beings could not leave by bread alone but by every word that came from the mouth of God. This imply that Jesus obeyed the word of God and did not value earthly materials. Additionally, Jesus told Satan that He should not put the Lord into test because God deserved worship, respect and not challenge.
Finally, Jesus told Satan to worship God alone and serve Him (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). According to the book of Luke chapter four verse one to thirteen (Luke 4:1-13), Jesus did not fall into the temptation of Satan because He obeyed God so much that he could not accept the request of Satan. As a result, He told Satan that He ought to obey God and serve Him.
Jesus as compassionate
In the gospel, some parents brought their children to Jesus when it was late and Jesus was tired. As a result, the apostles of Jesus ordered the parents to go away but Jesus asked His disciples to allow the children to be with Him despite the fact that He was exhausted. This was because Jesus wanted the children to have some time with him so that He could teach them how to be good Christians because it was easier for children to learn and understand when they were still young.
Additionally, throughout the ministry of Jesus, He conversed about children and cautioned people to take care of them spiritually and physically. For instance, in the book of Mathew chapter nineteen verse thirteen to fifteen (Mathew 19: 13-15), Jesus told His disciples to let the children be with him because heavenly kingdom belonged to children like them and as a consequence, He blessed them and went away (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
Besides, in the book of Mark chapter ten verse thirteen to sixteen (Mark 10:13-16), Jesus told His disciples who were trying to chase the children away that whoever did not receive Gods kingdom like the little children will not enter in to it (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Finally, Jesus love for the children is also found in Luke chapter eighteen verse fifteen to sixteen ( Luke 18: 15-16) where Jesus stopped his disciples from chasing the children away.
Jesus grieved when King Herod’s servants beheaded John the Baptist. As a result, he went to a lonely place but his followers went after Him. Although Jesus was grieving, he became compassionate and healed the sick. Eventually, Jesus’ disciples wanted to chase the people away because food was unavailable but Jesus fed them through a miracle before they left. It was after everyone’s problem received attention that Jesus went in a lonely place to pray.
Additionally, In the book of Mathew chapter, fourteen verse thirteen to twenty four (Mathew 14:13-24), Jesus fed people with five loaves of bread and two fish yet the disciples wanted to chase them away. This show that Jesus had love and concern about other people (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Additionally, in the book of mark chapter six verse fourteen to forty four (Mark 6:14-44), Jesus taught both the people who were following Him and the disciples yet He was grieving.
This portray that Jesus always put other people before Him and therefore, He had selfless love for human beings (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Finally, Jesus set an example of Love because he did not turn away the people who required Him in His greatest time of sadness.
Additionally, Jesus had a nature that was compassionate because He healed the sick, fed the hungry and preached to everyone. For instance, in the book of Mathew chapter five verse one to eleven (Mathew 5:1-11), Jesus preached about happiness because love prevail through happiness.
Moreover, He preached that happy people were those who had a desire of doing what God wanted because God would satisfy their needs. This mean that people should love one another because love is the greatest commandment and that is the reason why Jesus loved humankind and urged people to love each other (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
Furthermore, in the book of John chapter nine verse one to twelve (John 9:1-12), Jesus healed a man who was born blind. Although the disciples of Jesus were trying to blame other people for the man’s blindness, Jesus did not side up with them because He believed that the man’s blindness had no connection with someone else and as a result, he healed the man.
The miracle show that Jesus love for humankind was genuine and he did not try to find any excuse for whatever he did if it was for the benefit of other people (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Finally, in the book of John chapter six verse one to fourteen (John 6:1-14), Jesus created sufficient food to feed the hungry people and this portray His love and concern because He did not want the people to go away on empty stomachs.
Furthermore, in the gospel of John chapter two verse one to eleven (John 2:1-11), Jesus changed water in to wine and all the people drank with happiness. This further show Jesus loves for humankind because He wanted every person at the wedding to be happy regardless of the situation that wanted to pave way for sadness (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
Intimate nature of Jesus
Jesus demonstrated intimacy with both His followers and God (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). To begin with, He spent a lot of time with people teaching them and helping them to focus on the kingdom of God. For example, in the book of Mathew chapter five verse forty three to forty eight (Mathew 5: 43-48), Jesus told the people to love their enemies and pray for them so that they could become the children of their Father in heaven.
Additionally, in the book of mark chapter four verse one to twenty (Mark 4: 1-20), Jesus preached to the people about the parable of the planter and urged them to focus on the kingdom of God by being like the seeds planted in the good soil because those people heard the word of God, accepted it and produced good fruits. Finally, in the book of Luke chapter twelve verse thirty two to thirty four (Luke 12: 32-34), Jesus urged the people to keep their treasures in heaven because their hearts would always be where their treasure was.
On the other hand, Jesus was also intimate to His Father in Heaven because He always prayed to him, listened to him, obeyed Him and was concerned about God’s reputation (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). For example, in the book of Mathew chapter twenty one verse twelve to seventeen (Mathew 21: 12-17), Jesus drove people away from the temple because they were buying and selling.
This show that Jesus knew His father was not happy with what was happening in the temple because the temple was a place of worship and not a business place (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Additionally, in the book of Mark chapter fourteen verse thirty two to forty one (Mark 14: 32-41), Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane where He prayed. This show that Jesus trusted that God could take the cup of suffering away from Him.
Finally, Jesus was intimate with God because he accepted Gods wish of dying for the sins of men and taking all their pains. For instance, He went to Gethsemane garden where He experienced the pain of sin because He took the sins of all the people who lived or were to live in this universe (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). This was so painful but because of His intimacy with God and humankind, He accepted to go through it and as a result, God sent His angels to sustain Him.
Jesus as God
John’s gospel attempts to demonstrate that Jesus was God. Certain verses of the book of John indicate that Jesus resided in heaven before coming to earth and He eventually went back to heaven where he was before. For example in John chapter one verse one to seventeen (John 1:1-17), it is written that in the beginning there was a word and the word was God and it was a source of light. Besides, God sent John to inform people about the light (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
This verse show that Jesus was God and he existed since the time of creation. Finally, the resurrection of Jesus clearly provides evidence that Jesus went back to heaven where He existed before (John 20: 1-7).
On the other hand, if Jesus was the Messiah, His earthly experience could be different from other people. Therefore, our capability to identify with His temptations and righteous life is under a compromise. As a result, the notion that Jesus was God is not consistent.
For example, in the book of John chapter eleven verse twenty eight to thirty seven (John 11: 28-37), Jesus wept when He heard that Lazarus was dead (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). This show that Jesus was human and that was the reason why He cried because grieving is a normal human response to death. Additionally, In John chapter four verse one to twenty (John 4: 1-20), Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a cup of water.
This portray the human nature of Jesus because just like any other person, he felt thirsty and for that reason, He asked for a cup of water to drink (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). On the contrary, Jesus was Lord because of a variety of incidences. To begin with, in the gospel of John chapter five verse one to fifteen (John 5:1-15), Jesus healed a man who had been sick for thirty eight years and this show that Jesus was God because He had power to heal.
Additionally, Jesus performed so many miracles that show He was God and not Human. For example, He walked on top of the water (John 6: 16-20), He healed a blind man (John 9: 1-12), He brought Lazarus to life (John 11: 38-44) and He appeared to Mary, His disciples and Thomas after His resurrection (John 20: 1-29).
The gospel of John vividly demonstrates that Jesus was the son of God. Besides, it is clearly stated in the book of John chapter twenty verse thirty one (John 20: 31) that the gospel was written so that people could believe that Jesus was the messiah and the son of God and people had life because of the faith in Him. Therefore, the suffering of Jesus was for the glory so that people could believe and have faith in Him because he was truly the son of God.
Finally, there are many signs in the book of John that portray Jesus as God. For example, in the miracle where Jesus healed the son of the royal official of Capernaum (John 4:43-54), Jesus rebuked the man because he was seeking miracle and He told the people that unless they saw miracles, they would never believe.
Jesus anticipated that people would comprehend that the miracles demonstrated His close relationship with the father (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Additionally, Jesus’ intimate relationship with God was also stunning when Jesus healed a man crippled for thirty eight years at the pool of Bethzatha (John 5:1-21).
Since Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath day, Jews started to prosecute Him but Jesus told them to relate that miracle with the relationship that he had with God. For instance, Jesus said that His father always worked and he too had to work (John5:17). Additionally, He told them that the Son could not do anything on His own and He only did what the father did (John 5:19). Furthermore, when Jesus raised Lazarus from death (John 11:1-44), He declared himself as resurrection and life (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
From that declaration, Mary affirmed that Jesus was truly the son of God and she replied to Jesus that she believed that He was the Messiah and the Son of God who was to come in the universe (John 11:27). Finally, after Jesus fed five thousand people (John 6: 1-14), He rebuked the people who had wrong motives towards Him (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). For instance, He told the people that they were looking for Him because they ate and had all that they wanted and not because they understood the miracle (John 6: 26).
Jesus as the Greatest and the highest
According to the gospel of John, Jesus was the most powerful person and had authority from His father in heaven. For instance, when Jesus raised Lazarus, His power and authority from God was evident through His prayer. Besides, in the book of John chapter eleven verse forty one to forty two (John 11:41-42), Jesus told his father in heaven that He knew He always listened to Him, but He was saying that for those people who were present so that they could believe that He was sent by the Father (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
This shows that Jesus had authority from God and He was close to His Father because His Father granted His request. Besides, Jesus had a habit of listening and honoring Gods voice because He heard his heavenly Father and His Heavenly Father heard him too (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
Additionally, John portrays Jesus as a living word in the way He preached and accomplished His mission in the world (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). For instance, in the book of John chapter three, Jesus lectured Nicodemus about being born again and in John chapter four He explained to the Samaritan woman the importance of worship and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Beside, in John chapter five, He disclosed about the significance of the Sabbath and in John chapter six, He elaborated about His being the heavenly bread. From the above chapters, it is evident that Jesus attached importance to the word that He preached as well as the word of God (O’Day & Peterson, 2008).
In the Gospel of John, Jesus knew the heart of every person and for that reason, He knew who to trust and who not to put His trust on. For example, in the book of John chapter two verse twenty three to twenty five (John 2:23-25), Jesus was in Jerusalem where the Passover festival was held and many people believed in Him because of the miracles that He had been performing.
On the contrary, Jesus did not trust them because He knew them and He did not require any person to tell Him about them because He knew what was in their hearts (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). This shows that Jesus had power from God to know that which mortal men could know.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Jesus is perceived as God who is the Greatest and highest. Besides, He is obedient, compassionate and intimate. As a result, we should emulate the example of Jesus if we want to enter in to the kingdom of God.
To begin with, Jesus is God because He existed during the creation time, He came to earth and went back to heaven after the resurrection and He is with God waiting to come back again to judge people (O’Day & Peterson, 2008). Besides, Jesus is the highest because through Him God achieved His purpose for humankind and people were able to receive salvation. Additionally, Jesus is obedient because He obeyed Gods commandments while He was on this earth and He accepted to die for the sins of man.
Moreover, Jesus is compassionate because He loved both the children and other people because he preached the good news to them and he gave them His blessings. Finally, Jesus is intimate because He spent most of His time preaching and urging people to turn away from sins. Additionally, He is intimate with God because He always prayed to Him while asking for His guidance and protection.
Reference
O’Day, G., & Peterson, D. (2008). The Access Bible: A resource for Beginning Bible Students, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha. New York: Oxford University Press.