Who Is the Jesus We Know?
Who is Jesus? Is Jesus the Messiah foretold in by the prophets and alluded to by the psalmists? Is Jesus the Galilean rabbi who ministered powerfully to the poor and the sick in signs and wonders to show that he was the Son of God?Who is Jesus in the New Testament Church empowered by the Holy Spirit? How do they know Jesus in His spiritual presence, rather than in the physical way they had known before?
And who is Jesus, the exalted risen Saviour who is found by the side of the throne of God in heaven?
We will discover who Jesus is in these various perspectives as we let the Scriptures tell the story of Who Is the Jesus We Know.
This is according to the Revised Common Lectionary readings for May 8 which are followed by a broad range of churches and chapels. This article is based on The Living Word verse by verse study for May 8.
• Watch this week’s 12-min video which concisely weaves the story through shortened excerpts of the readings and narrative.
We will set the scene with some verses from possibly the best known of all the Psalms, Psalm 23, which talks about the Lord who is the Good Shepherd. This is a name which later Jesus memorably applied to Himself.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,
3 He refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23
In John 10:11-15 Jesus has already taught that He is the good Shepherd.
“I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep… I know My sheep and My sheep know Me – just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
John 10:11, 14-15
The next reading points out that Jesus gave this teaching in the temple courts during the winter festival of Hanukkah.
He returns to His theme of sheep and shepherd, as He is asked who He is.
Some in the crowd are asking, or perhaps challenging, Him to define who He is, trying to trap him into saying something for which he could be arrested.
He replies that His sheep — people whose hearts belong to Him — are the ones He knows, the ones who have recognised who He is.
Let’s hear this in the words of John 10 from verse 22:
22-23 Then came the Festival of Dedication {Hanukkah] at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.
24 The Jews who were there gathered around Him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25-26 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify about Me, but you do not believe because you are not My sheep.
27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10:22-30
Now the story moves forward to the time following Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Holy Spirit has been given at Pentecost, and a church of several thousand people has suddenly come into being. They are disciples of Jesus, and they must learn to live for Jesus and minister for Jesus, celebrating the presence of Jesus as they meet together. The 12 apostles have the task of teaching them, encouraging them, and above all equipping them to live this new life.
It’s a new life which will be centred on knowing Jesus, but now He is among them as they gather as a spiritual presence rather than the physical person as before.
Peter has been appointed by Jesus as the leader of this group.
He has made the most mistakes — and in a way, this gives him the greatest depth of experience.
This next reading takes us out of Jerusalem to the coastal region 50 miles away. A community of followers of the Way has grown up there, and the story focuses on one of them, Tabitha, who has become ill and died – the implication is that this was in an untimely way. Peter was also in that area and not far away, and they sent for him to come immediately.
Acts 9 takes up the story:
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.
37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room.
38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.
42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
Acts 9:36-43
You can imagine what was the mood of the believers in Joppa and especially the friends of Tabitha! How do you suppose the praise and thanksgiving and the excitement was mirrored in heaven?
We may think of heaven as distant, separated and unaware of the ups and downs of our lives. But there is no distance in the Spirit. Heaven is separate in the sense of being holy and the dwelling place of God and his heavenly entourage. But the Holy Spirit is active on the Earth. There is a spiritual connection between what we experience, and what is being initiated by heaven. And we can be sure that that there was an outpouring of heavenly joy at this miracle, which brought glory to God — as well as a further lease of life for Tabitha.
In this next Bible passage, we have a window into heaven where there is high praise being offered to God, with some special guests present. This is a crowd made up of people from every nation on Earth, who are praising God for their deliverance having suffered for their faith. Jesus is central in this picture, but this time He is also receiving the praise in front of the Father’s throne — specially honoured as the sacrificial Lamb as well as being the esteemed Shepherd of these most faithful and tested believers.
John recounts the vision he was given, in the words of Revelation 7:
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11-12 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying:
“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.”
16 “ ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.
17 “For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their Shepherd; ‘He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ ”
Revelation 7:9-17
So who is Jesus to us?
Jesus was present with the Father from the earliest time, the Creation. He was present throughout the unfolding Old Testament narrative, although unseen and unknown – except in the vision of certain prophets like Isaiah who foretold His coming to earth as Messiah, the specially anointed one of God (for which the Greek-derived word is Christ) to live as part of humanity.
He was known — both in great popularity and in bitter hatred — during His time on earth. In this episode we see Him ‘up close and personal’ as He is answers questions in the temple courts.
But the takeaway for us, is how Jesus is just as real now by His presence in the church, invited by today’s disciples who by faith discern how He wishes to minister. All of us who have believed Him and received Him into our hearts are His priests, as Peter reminds us:
You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
And when we, like Peter, are channels of Him working through us, this is that shared priesthood working to bless others, who may or may not be believers.
This is the same Jesus who is exalted to the highest place in Heaven by the Father’s side. But He reminds us that there is no distance in the Spirit!
He ministers now through ordinary people like us. Through prayerful discernment and exercising faith, we become aware of what He is calling us to say or do — and so we bring the presence of Jesus in our own communities of faith, whether large or small.
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(Scriptures are NIV 2008 – may permission)