Who Is Jesus?

A large university hosted an orientation for incoming students. The final event of the week was a reception with the president, some of the administration and their staff, and their spouses. They were all out on the front lawn, just kind of mingling around. And an older lady began talking with one of the incoming students. And she asked him, “How do you like things so far?” And he said, “Well, I love the school, but there's one thing I think that needs to change.” And she asked, “What's that?” He said, “Well, the president. I mean, let's face it, he's just an old guy. He's an old fuddy duddy. He's a real stick in the mud, and they ought to put him out to pasture and, you know, bring in somebody new with fresh ideas and just get this school turned around.” The woman gasped, and she said, “Young man, do you know who I am?” He said, “No.” And she said, “I'm the president's wife.” So, the student said, “Well, do you know who I am?” And she said, “No.” And he said, “Good,” and ran off.

Identity is everything. Identity reveals who we are. It reveals our character. It even reveals where we're going in life. As we examine Jesus’ life, including the things that he said and the things that he did, it becomes very apparent that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This morning we’re going to look at Jesus as Lord of our lives

Luke 9:18-19 says…

18 While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

19 They answered, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back.”

Jesus asks his disciples an important question. “What are the crowds saying about my identity? Who am I?” So they list all these names, and I think these are some pretty good answers, as these are some of the things that the people were saying about Jesus. And maybe the disciples are trying to compliment Jesus in a kind way. They’re comparing him to some pretty important people in the history of Israel.

I found this survey from just a few years ago. 52% of American adults, over half of American adults, believe that Jesus was just a great teacher and nothing more.

What do we say? When it comes to Jesus, we’ve got a huge decision to make. Who is he? What is Jesus’ identity? Because if Jesus was just a great teacher who captivated the crowds with some great lessons and maybe fooled them with some of his miracles, then what are we doing here? Why go to church? Why read the Bible? Why try to be a good person if that's all Jesus was?

C.S. Lewis said, “…let us not come with any patronising [sic] nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us… We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse… I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

With Jesus, it's all or nothing. We can't just say he's a great teacher and move on with our lives. It's. If we believe that, then we've got to believe everything else. Either he is who he says he is, or he's crazy.

Luke 9:20…

20 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

“You're the Christ. You are the anointed one that Israel's been waiting for all these years to lead us into a new era of religion.” Now, Peter is not the only one to conclude who Jesus is. The angels, when Jesus was born, declared it to some shepherds out in the fields. John the Baptist announced it as Jesus was beginning his ministry. Even the demons shouted it. Judas admitted it to the religious leaders after he betrayed Jesus that night. The Apostle Paul wrote about it. Pilate even tried to persuade the crowd by saying who Jesus was. The centurion at the foot of the cross declared, “Surely this man is the son of God.” Thomas confessed it. And Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preached it.

Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of the living God. And there is so much more evidence to reinforce who Jesus is, to reinforce our faith in Jesus. We have the eyewitness accounts. We have fulfilled prophecies. We have historical and archaeological records that keep digging things up, proving who Jesus is. We have the perfect written record in the Bible. And we have millions of lives that have been transformed by the good news of Jesus Christ. Who do you say Jesus is? Is he real or is he a fraud?

On April 21, 1980, Rosie Ruiz competed in the Boston Marathon. And she was the first woman to cross the finish line that day in almost record time that day. So she competed. She also cheated. As she crossed the finish line, everyone cheered. But something didn't seem right. It took eight days to investigate what actually happened. They found out no one had seen her in the first 25 miles of the race. When she crossed the finish line, her face wasn't flushed, she wasn't out of breath, and as sweaty as you might think an athlete would be after having run 26.2 miles. And as they continued to investigate, they actually found out that she had skipped the first 25 miles of the race. She actually jumped in the last mile and ran the last mile to finish the line. When she crossed the finish line, a perceptive reporter came up to her and said, “You're either the fastest woman on the face of the earth, or you're a fraud.”

What do you say about Jesus? Either Jesus is the Christ, God's living Son who conquered the grave, or he's a fraud and pulled off the biggest hoax in all of history. Because you think about what he did in life. Somehow, he fooled everybody when he fed the multitudes and performed all these miracles, and raised people from the dead. Somehow, he allowed the soldiers to kill him. He survived a beating that more than half the people didn't survive. After being crucified, he was placed in an airtight tomb for two days without food and water. And yet he was able to, on his own, push away the stone and take on an entire battalion of soldiers and somehow get them to lie about what actually happened. And then he convinced a bunch of his disciples, his buddies, into being tortured and imprisoned and murdered for what they knew to be a lie. And don't forget that throughout his three-year ministry, every time he talked about dying, in the same breath, he talked about rising from the dead…and not to mention the other 300 prophecies he fulfilled. Was it really a hoax? What do you say? Is Jesus the King of Kings? Or is he just someone who fooled and faked his way into the historical records?

If you really believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then it should revolutionize your life.