01/08/2026
JESUS! JESUS!! WHO IS JESUS?
It is interesting to know that the answer to the topic above varies from so many perspectives. Many people see Jesus as a prophet, a son, the Messiah, a nobody, and just a common name, to mention a few.
In this study, we examine the Biblical perspective of the true identity of Jesus.
In the Beginning: The Creator and The Word
Genesis 1:1 reads:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1 (NKJV) reads:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Both scriptures reference God as The Creator and The Word. Prior to the birth of Jesus in the New Testament, many prophets in the Old Testament prophesied about the purpose of the coming Messiah and his identity — Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22.
In John 1:10-14, John wrote about Jesus being in the world made by Him:
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name... And the Word became 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.
The same Word that was with God in the beginning, that was God, and by whom all things were made — is the same Word that became flesh. This is the first and clearest thread we must hold onto: the Creator did not send someone else in His place; the Creator came Himself, clothed in flesh.
The Prophets Already Knew Him
Long before Bethlehem, the prophets described a coming figure whose identity stretched far beyond a mere man or messenger:
Isaiah 9:6 names the child to be born not only "Son," but Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 53 describes One who would be "wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities," carrying a suffering too personal and substitutionary for an ordinary man to accomplish on behalf of the whole world.
Ezekiel carries recurring visions of "the glory of the LORD" appearing in forms that anticipate a God who draws near to dwell among His people, not remain distant from them.
Psalm 22 describes, centuries in advance, the specific suffering of the cross — the pierced hands and feet, the mockery, the casting of lots for garments — written by David as if he stood at Calvary himself, yet speaking in the voice of the sufferer.
These are not scattered, unrelated prophecies. They converge on one figure: a Messiah who is "God with us" — not God's representative, not God's most exalted creation, but God Himself, come to be pierced, to suffer, and to save.
The Word Became Flesh
John 1:14 (NKJV) reads:
And the Word became 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.
Notice what is not said here. It does not say the Word sent a representative, or that a second divine being took on flesh while the Word remained untouched in heaven. It says the Word Himself became flesh. The one through whom all things were created (John 1:3) wrapped Himself in a human body — the very thing He had made.
Paul makes this point with striking directness in 1 Timothy 3:16:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
"God was manifest in the flesh" is not a description of one person of a Godhead stepping forward while others remain hidden. It is God Himself becoming visible, tangible, and knowable in a body of flesh and blood. Paul underscores this again in Colossians 2:9:
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Not a portion. Not a third. All the fullness — bodily, in Christ.
Why God Needed a Body
Scripture gives us the reason. Hebrews 2:14 explains:
Since the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.
God, who cannot die, took on flesh so that He could die — and in dying, defeat death itself on our behalf. This is why the body mattered. It was not a disguise or a puppet; it was the means by which the Eternal God entered into human suffering, temptation, and death, so that He could conquer all three from the inside.
Hebrews 4:15 adds that this same flesh-and-blood Jesus was:
Tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.
The Creator, wrapped in the very dust He formed man from, walked our roads, felt our hunger, wept at our graves, and bled under our whips — not as a bystander sending help, but as God Himself, present.
Immanuel: God With Us
This was foretold long before Bethlehem. Isaiah 7:14 prophesied:
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Matthew tells us plainly what that name means, so there is no room to spiritualize it away: Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
Not "God's messenger with us." Not "a god-like being with us." God with us — in the flesh, in a manger, under a star, in a carpenter's home in Nazareth. He also lives within us as The Holy Spirit.
What Jesus Did That Only God Can Do
If He was truly God in the flesh, we should expect to see it not only in prophecy and doctrine, but in what He actually said and did, and in how the people around Him responded.
He Forgave Sins Directly
When the paralysed man was lowered through the roof, Jesus did not say "God forgives you." He said:
"Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you" (Matthew 9:2).
The religious leaders present understood exactly what this meant, and their reaction confirms it: "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7). Jesus did not correct their theology — He proved His authority to do it by healing the man on the spot (Mark 2:9-11), answering the very question they raised.
He Accepted Worship
Throughout the Law, worship belongs to God alone — "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve" (Matthew 4:10, Jesus's own words to Satan). Yet Jesus repeatedly received worship without ever refusing it or redirecting it elsewhere:
The healed blind man: "Lord, I believe!" And he worshipped Him (John 9:38).
After walking on water: "Those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of God'" (Matthew 14:33).
Thomas, seeing the risen Christ: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) — and Jesus's response was not rebuke, but affirmation: "Because you have seen Me, you have believed" (John 20:29).
Compare this to Peter's response when Cornelius fell at his feet: "Stand up, I myself am also a man" (Acts 10:26), or the angel who refused John's worship: "See that you do not do that... Worship God" (Revelation 19:10). Every faithful angel and prophet in Scripture deflects worship. Jesus never does.
He Claimed Eternal Existence
To the Jewish leaders who challenged Him, Jesus said:
"Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58).
This was not a slip of grammar. "I AM" is the very name God gave Moses at the burning bush — "I AM WHO I AM... Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). The crowd's response tells us they understood exactly what He meant: "Then they took up stones to throw at Him" (John 8:59) — the prescribed penalty for blasphemy.
He Proclaimed Oneness With the Father
"I and My Father are one" (John 10:30). Again, the response of those listening removes any ambiguity: "The Jews took up stones again to stone Him... 'You, being a Man, make Yourself God'" (John 10:31, 33). Jesus does not correct them by saying they misunderstood His meaning — He answers by pointing to His works as proof (John 10:37-38).
He Received the Titles of God
Thomas called Him "my God." Paul called Him "our great God and Saviour" (Titus 2:13). John, in Revelation, records Him declaring: "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End... the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8, 11).
The Verdict of the Witnesses
What stands out across every one of these episodes is not just what Jesus said, but how the people closest to the events understood Him. Blasphemy charges, stones picked up, worship offered and accepted, the divine Name claimed as His own — these are not the reactions of people who saw before them a prophet, a good teacher, or a created being. They are the reactions of people confronted with a claim to full and absolute deity, made plainly and repeatedly, by Jesus Himself.
From Genesis to Revelation, the answer to "Who is Jesus?" is the same answer given at the burning bush, at Calvary, and at the empty tomb: He is God who came in the flesh, dwelt among us, bore our sins and still lives in us: The Soon and Coming King who reigns forever.
May this study strengthen our confession, as Thomas's was strengthened when he acknowledged Him as "his Lord and his God."
Shalom!