Who Is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

Luke 9:18 – Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, “who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 – They answered, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.”

These were the same reports that were perplexing Herod back in Luke 9:7. Perplexing because Herod was the one responsible for John the Baptist’s death. Was John or a prophet of old risen? Had Elijah come back? If these were the reports associated with Jesus would it be time to face judgment?

Do we face similar perplexity when dealing with the identity of Jesus? Do dramatic global events like pandemic, climate, and political events cause us perplexity because a sense of impending judgment is looming and we, like Herod, have unforgiven sin in our lives? Are the popular crowd reports of global events accurate or should we be looking for another source of information?

Had Herod known Jesus, he would have discovered that Jesus was greater than John the Baptist, Elijah, and the prophets. He would have discovered that Jesus had not come to condemn him but to save him. He would have discovered forgiveness and peace.

Let us not follow crowd-sourced information regarding Jesus and the world, but spend time in our Bibles and in prayer and we will find out who Jesus really is. We will find forgiveness for our sins. We will find peace that passes understanding. We will not fear when the hour of His judgment comes. We will be able to answer as Peter did in Luke 9:20 – that Jesus is “The Christ of God.” We will know beyond all doubt that Jesus suffered for our sins, was rejected by the church of His day, placed on the cross to die, and raised to life the third day (Luke 9:22).

We will find that it is Jesus who is coming again, not John the Baptist, not some prophet of old, or Elijah. It is Jesus who will come in all “His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26) to save us for eternity.

Let’s follow Jesus today!