Jesus of the Bible – Part 1
There are many different views of Jesus. Every book, every scholar, every television show, every movie, even every website seems to paint a different picture of the Jesus. The only portrait of his life and work which can be in any way considered authentic is that given by divine inspiration in the Bible. Let's look only at the Bible and not what men and women think about the Bible. Let's look first at the gospels which detail all the important events in His life, as well as his birth and the events leading up to it.
John goes farther back than any of the gospels and proclaims Jesus to be God made flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-14).
Luke said that many had made an effort to tell us about Jesus by the time he wrote his gospel. (Luke 1:1-4). The Lord apparently inspired only four accounts. Luke was one of those as were Matthew, Mark, and John. Each takes his own special approach as dictated by the Holy Spirit. Luke says that the record he is about to give comes from eyewitnesses. He does not claim to be such but says that he has accurately traced the events from the first and is writing to Theophilus, literally a lover of God, in order that he may have a record that is certain. Mark was probably not an eyewitness either, but Mathew and John were witnesses to Jesus baptism and ministery and John was likely a disciple of John the baptist giving him an even longer aquaintance with Jesus. Like any major event there were already inacurate oral traditions being spread. Some of those traditions continue into our own time and ought to be rejected because they have no basis in fact. Much of Luke's record deals with the fulfilment prophecy and presents Jesus as the Son of God and man, as can be seen in his genealogy (Luke 3:23-38). Only by strictly adhering to the written record will we every be able to know Jesus as he really was.
Matthew shows Jesus to be the promised Messiah, seed of Abraham, and son of David (Matthew 1:1-17). He also deals with prophecy fulfilled.
Mark begins with the prophecy concerning John the baptizer and continues with the baptism of Jesus by John and the beginning of Jesus ministry (Mark 1:1-11). Therefore, we will join this gospel later in our current study.
Let us look again at the gospel of John. Paul backs up John's statement that Jesus is God (Philippians 2:5-11), and at least three times declares Jesus to be the creator (Ephesians 3:9; Colossian 1:12-17; Hebrew 1:1-2). The apostle John's record of the ministry of John the baptist and Jesus, which are summed up in the first fourteen verses of this gospel, also prove the assertion that Jesus is God in the flesh and the Savior of man (John 20:30-31).
This brings us to the birth of John the baptizer and Jesus which we shall view from the gospels in Jesus of the Bible – Part 2
Copyright 2004 by Wesley N. Dawson
