Person Of Jesus Christ Flashcards
Three ways of understanding the person of Jesus
Jesus the Son of God
Jesus the Teacher of Wisdom
Jesus the Liberator
Jesus the Son of God
Early Christians identified Jesus with God. The New Testament also applies the term ‘God’ to Jesus as well. Paul also speaks of Jesus as God’s own son in Romans 8:32. Jesus also appears to be uniquely close to God in the baptism and the transfiguration.
Jesus the teacher of wisdom
Richard Dawkins states that Jesus “was a great moral teacher”. Jesus taught love, forgiveness and and spiritual purity and set himself as a example to us so that we may act like Him.
Jesus the liberator
Jesus is commonly interpreted as a liberator, someone who wanted to free people from social convention, religious restrictions, political domination and someone who wanted to liberate people from sin and death.
Jesus as the son of God through the knowledge of God
The relationship between Jesus and God is mysterious. He refers to God as ‘abba’ meaning father and heavenly voices’ declare Jesus “my son”. Jesus is directly associated with God by text and is believed to be so by Christians:
. St John writes of Jesus as ‘human’ and that word was ‘God’
. Doubting Thomas refers to Jesus and “ my lord and my god”
Jesus as the Son of God through the humanity and divinity of Jesus
The first council of Nicaea the founders of the Nicean creed stated that Jesus was the same substance as the father; they called this homousius. The council of Chaldea affirmed Christ is acknowledged in 2 natures, not a mix or a blend but fully human and fully God
Jesus the Son of God through Jesus’ self knowledge
The question of whether Jesus had 2 centres of consciousness or not is still debated. Was He free to do what He did? Was His knowledge made of human knowledge or did He look at the world as a creator looks at His creation? If Jesus had divine knowledge does that mean His anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane fabricated?
Jesus the son of god through the miracles of Jesus
In the New Testament Jesus shown as a ‘miracle worker’ healing the sick to driving out demons and defying the laws of nature. By being able to work miracles Jesus no bout illuminated divinity and authority of God
Jesus the son of god through the resurrection of Jesus
Jesus arsing on the third day from the dead illuminates His divine nature. Paul states that if Jesus had not risen on the third day all preaching and prayer would have been in vain and sins would not have been cleaned. The resurrection distinguishes Jesus from any other preacher and human in existence
Jesus the teacher of wisdom through His Rabbinic nature
Jesus was a teacher providing guidance on multiple issues. Jesus was also referred to as ‘Rabbi’. Jesus spoke on moral issues such as; the importance of love, self-sacrifice, concern for the poor, honesty, justice and peace. Jesus’ wisdom was illustrated through his moral message
Jesus the teacher of wisdom through moral teaching
Jesus’ moral teachings were strongly involved around love and overturning social norms. Jesus miracles revolved around healing the sick and spending time with groups of people who were regarded as outcasts. Jesus was also very involved with women despite it being against the norm of patriarchal society
Jesus the liberator through His challenge to political authority
Jesus iced under the roman rule were it was common for revolutions and assassination, murders and open military rebellions to occur. Despite all this Jesus continued to preach and do the father’s will till the very end. His efforts gathered believers and made Christianity the largest religion in the world
Jesus the liberator through social and revolutionary messages
Some people such as ‘Aslan’ urges the Jesus was a political revolutionary through links to zealots. Jesus did suggest causing a revolution or conflict; “i did not come to bring peach but a sword”. Jesus’ followers had weapons to defend themselves in Gethsemane and many of His followers had suspicious names such as Judas Iscariot or ‘Iscarii’ meaning dagger men whic was another name for zealots
Jesus the liberator through challenge to religious authority
Jesus tried to break and challenge authority in Jerusalem constantly. Jesus went against the rules of the Sabbath and went against the religious purity demanded by the Pharisees. Jesus overturning the tables in the temple which angered the religious leaders. Jesus’ opposition led to conflict with Sanhedrin the Supreme Court of Jerusalem which was made of of chief priests, scribes and scholars
