Jesus Christ

Easter Sunday is a couple of days a way and much of the world’s Christian population will be celebrating this Holy Day. Easter commemorates Jesus’ victory over death and mankind’s hope for eternal life.

The extraordinary importance followers put on the death of its founder, Jesus Christ, will strike anyone who follows Christianity. All other spiritual leaders are marked by their life not their death. Christians even chose the symbol of the cross to remember their leader and to remember his death.

And although Christianity has had a bittersweet history, believers have never swayed from their profound love of Christ. For in essence Christianity is really about Christ himself, he is the core and center. For without Christ, there is no Christianity.


As we approach this Holy Weekend it is a wonderful opportunity to contemplate again three very important questions; who is Jesus Christ, why did he go voluntarily and deliberately to the cross and why is it relevant to my 21st century life?


What we know about Christ is that he was in fact the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth. He existed and is vouched for by pagan as well as Christian writers. He was a real human being who ate, slept, wept and lived his daily life.

We also know he was a testament to a certain set of ideals. As John Stott, minister and author, points out in many of his books on Christianity, “Jesus was a fearless critic of the establishment. He championed the causes of the poor and the needy. He made friends with the drop out of society. He had compassion on the very people who despised and rejected him. And although he was fiercely and unjustly attacked, he never retaliated. He told his disciples that they must love their enemies and he practiced what he preached.”

We also know that Jesus was the unique Son of God. There is ample testimony to his power and authority. He taught the multitudes, He healed the sick, He governed nature, He had power over death, He performed miracles and He forgave sins.

But the most intriguing and powerful aspect of Jesus Christ is what He said about himself. He referred to himself as “the light of the world”, “the bread of life”, “the way, the truth and the life”, the resurrection and the life, and finally he put himself forward as the object of people’s faith.


And as many religious leaders have proclaimed this is the ultimate paradox of Jesus Christ. He proclaimed things about himself that seemed insane and yet he showed no signs of anything but ultimately reliable.

We know at a deeper level that Jesus Christ is absolute and significant. He speaks to us at a heart and soul level. Carnegie Simpson summarizes it this way, “Instinctively, we do not class him with others. Jesus is not one of the world’s great…Jesus is apart. He is beyond our analysis. He confounds our canons of human nature. He compels our criticism and overleaps it. He awes our spirit. He said of himself, “I AM”. He assumed his uniqueness and did not draw attention to it. Jesus was sinless because he was selfless…and selflessness is love”.


Jesus also claimed that he came to the earth to do three things.

First, He claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. Second, He claimed to be the Son of God. Third He claimed to be the Savior and Judge of the world.

We understand that the birth of Jesus was natural but his conception was supernatural and we recognize that his death was natural but his resurrection was supernatural.

Finally, we remember what Jesus Christ asks of mankind. He invites us to follow him, and, in turn, he offers the promise of eternal life.


One of the most thought provoking passages regarding Christ is revealed in Matthew 16. Jesus says to one of his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”

That is a question we should ponder ourselves because inherently it demands an answer.