The Person Of Jesus Christ Flashcards
Jesus as the Son of God
- for Jews the phrase ‘Son of God’, means someone specially chosen by God, perhaps with with angelic or supernatural aspects. For Gentiles (non-Jewish people) its a way of saying someone was divine.
- the special nature of his birth seem to show Jesus as being literally the Son of God.
- at his baptism and transfiguration, God specifically calls Jesus his son, but Jesus does not seem to use the title. Some think this is because the idea of him being divine was written into the texts later, others think it’s because Jesus didn’t want to attract unnecessary attention.
Jesus’ knowledge of God:
- it seems from some Gospel accounts that he did not see himself as equal to God. However, in John’s Gospel, there are a number of sayings of Jesus that begin with ‘I am’, written in Greek in the same way that the Greek version of the Old Testament referred to the unspoken name of God. This seems to be a clear indication that Jesus was referring to himself as God.
- although some point out that John’s Gospel was written a long time after the other Gospels and so the point may have been John’s own addition to the Jesus story to match the theology of early Christianity.
Miracles:
- Jesus’ miracles seem to suggest he had God given powers. The New Testament talks of them as works of power and great wonder.
- John’s Gospel suggests that these miracles were a sign to point towards Jesus’ divinity.
- magicians were common place at the time and some think that on their own they miracles don’t prove divinity. However, unlike magicians, Jesus asked people not to talk about what had happened after a miracle was performed.
- also a miracle such as calming the sea showed Jesus performing actions only God was thought to be able to do.
Resurrection:
- the resurrection was enough proof for the disciples that they began a new religious movement.
- the Gospels make an effort to show Jesus as having really died, only for the tomb to be found empty with Jesus’ clothes discarded.
- Paul’s letters (written before the Gospels) speak of Jesus’ appearance to his followers but not the empty tomb, suggesting the resurrection should not be taken literally.
- however, the truth of the resurrection is central to Christian belief. The emphasis that Jesus, as God, raised himself from the dead to show that death is not the end.
- its the ultimate sign that Jesus came to earth both as human and divine: he died but broke through the barrier and therefore is a special intermediary between God and humans; he knows what it is to be human but also shows that God is completely in control.
Jesus as a teacher of wisdom
- Jesus’ sayings were often similar to those in the book of Proverbs, one of the examples of wisdom literature in the Old Testament, and his one-liners gave insight and were memorable. His parables were stories designed to catch the attention of his contemporaries and to make them think differently about the world around them.
- Jesus’ wisdom comes from the fact he is God as well as human. Some argued that encounters with heaven at his baptism or transfiguration might have given him his wisdom. But others, the direct access to God would be more of a sign that he was not human, simply divine.
- he wanted people to take responsibility for their actions but to get their priorities right: for example, he said the Sabbath Law was made for humans, not the other way around.
- Religion and morality help humans get to God, purity is about whats on the inside, not what rituals are being followed.
Teachings on repentance and forgiveness, inner purity and morality:
- a key theme of Jesus’ teachings was repentance and forgiveness. Jesus praised the repentance of those of his disciples who left behind old lives to follow him.
- Jesus taught that people should not forgive an action just once, but that forgiveness should be a constant thing.
- the prayer Jesus left the Church, the ‘Our Father’, places forgiveness at the centre of daily prayer for the Christian when it says “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”.
Jesus as a liberator
- Luke’s birth stories about Jesus suggest that he would have a special relationship with the poor. In these stories he was placed in a feeding trough as a crib and his first visitors were the semi-outcastes shepherds.
- Religion and politics were closely linked in first-century Israel snd there are overlaps between those in political authority and those in religious authority.
Challenge to political authority:
Jesus clashed with the politicians of his day on many occasions:
- he talked about the Kingdom of God - a political statement because it suggested that authority was going to be taken away from those with earthly authority.
- he made tax collectors who represented the government, turn away from their former lifestyles and follow him.
- in his last week of life, he: publicly entered Jerusalem on a peaceful donkey, not a military horse, suggesting he would bring peace where the government couldn’t.
- he turned over the tables in the temple, objecting to the fact it had lost its religious focus.
- he was crucified by the Roman government for being a troublemaker.
Challenges to religious authority:
- he was accused of not following the strict laws relating to the Sabbath, but he said that following the laws need to be kept in perspective.
- he was criticised for eating with outcasts, but he said he was there to help those people who needed him the most.
- he was said not to respect the purification laws, but he pointed out following rules is not the same as worshipping God properly.
- the religious authorities objected to Jesus forgiving sins because only God could forgive sins.
Jesus the liberator:
- he certainly inspired those who were seen as the underdogs of society.
- the liberation he brought seems to have been less about upsetting and reforming the authorities and more about preparing people for the new kingdom - one where God is in charge.
- the liberation he brought was liberation from spiritual states as much as physical states and applied to all sectors of society, including those from other countries.
Discussing Jesus
was Jesus only a teacher of wisdom?
- some modern scholars have tried to strip away the elements of the Gospel that are likely to have sprung up after the time of Jesus and, in removing the supernatural elements, we are left with a teacher of wisdom.
- Some people find it difficult to accept Jesus was divine, especially as there is little evidence that Jesus taught this about himself.
- his teachings certainly engaged people on a new level and made them think about the situation that they live in, but some would argue that this does not mean he was ‘only’ a teacher of wisdom: they would say that it is the whole picture of Jesus rising from the dead that gave hum particular authority.
Was Jesus more than a political liberator?
- Jesus thought that people had got too bogged down with following the law, rather than trying to understand the thinking behind it.
- he came as a came as a champion of all people into a county occupied by the Romans. However, there are several arguments suggesting that political liberation was not his prime focus.
- Jesus told his followers to pay taxes and Paul also echoed this view that Christians need to be lawful citizens
- Jesus escaped when he realised people would try to make him king by force
- he did not resist arrest when he could have done
- he said he had not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfil them
Was Jesus’ relationship with God very special?
- as a teacher, prophet and liberator, he sits in the tradition of many Old Testament figures who had special relationships with God.
- as a miracle worker, he was certainly special, even raising people from the dead; but even in the Old Testament there are examples of people being raised from the dead.
- it seems there was more to Jesus than just this. His miraculous birth, surrounded by unusual visitors, a moment of religious experience at his baptism and transfiguration all seem to suggest that he was more than just another prophet. He seemed to embody both the Jewish and Gentile understanding of what it meant to be a Son of God.
- even where many of the stories might be understood as inventions by the Gospel writers, there remains a basic tradition of Jesus being a miracle worker and inspirational teacher. The resurrection, however, is a key moment that changes our understanding of everything that has gone before.
Did Jesus think he was divine?
- it’s difficult to understand how Jesus could have been completely God and completely human. But many Christians explain this by suggesting that the nature of knowledge is different for God than it is for us.
- Christians believe that Jesus did not just exist when he was born, but that he is an eternal part of the Trinity, therefore, he existed before the universe was created.
- even as a child, he showed wisdom beyond his years when, having been lost by his parents, he said to them, ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my fathers house?’
- he certainly did experience emotions and moments where he felt abandoned by God.
- he was also very aware of his mission from God to intervene in the world in a unique way. It may be this sense of mission that helped him to focus more on his human nature while he was on earth. At the very least, this shows immense trust in God, but perhaps this was trust founded in the knowledge that everything was a part of a plan for the salvation of the world that had been in place since the Fall.
