Ever since Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” men have been tossing that question around.

In Jesus’ day, some said He was John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets (Matt. 16:13-14).

After almost 2,000 years, debate remains concerning the identity of Jesus Christ. The answers people give to that question vary dramatically.

Some deny that Jesus was a historical figure. They say He was little more than a mythological figure or a fictitious character in a novel and they refuse to consider the evidence of the New Testament.

To identify Jesus, we need to consider the eyewitness accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who wrote the first four books of the New Testament.

The last few weeks at West Lake Baptist Church, we have been focusing on the identity of Jesus.

John wrote, “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life was with the Father and was manifested to us.”

John tells us in these two verses that Jesus was real. John heard, saw and touched Jesus. When Jesus went to the mountain and began teaching what we know as the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), John was there.

When Jesus ate the last supper with the disciples, John was there at the table with them (Matthew 26:26- 29). When Jesus was crucifi ed on the cross of Calvary, John was there (John 19).

Jesus was not a ghost and He did not just “appear” to be a man. He was flesh and blood. When He was beaten by the Roman soldiers, He bled. When He was on the cross, He cried, “I thirst.”

John’s word also tell us something else about Jesus: He is God.

1 John 1:1 tells us: “That which was from the beginning. John said in his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

Jesus is God. Jesus was not a man with a “super human ego” who “thought he was God or a god.” John tells us that “the Word” (Jesus) “became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Furthermore, in John 5:18, Jesus upset the Jewish leaders and they “sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”

Paul, the greatest theologian of the early church wrote these words concerning Jesus deity and humanity in Philippians: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.”

The message of the Bible is consistent: Jesus is the God–Man. He was 100 percent man and He is 100 percent God.

Yet an even more crucial question is this: Who is Jesus to you? You can more fully discover the real Jesus by reading John.

You are also welcome to visit West Lake Baptist Church!