Who do you say that I am? Jesus asked his disciples this question nearly two thousand years ago, but this question is still of relevance today. If you intend to follow Jesus, this is a question you will encounter and will be forced to answer. However, there is no correct or incorrect answer to this question because it is asking how you personally see Jesus. The mechanical answer is that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to Earth in order to save us from our sins. However, this is my best answer to this two thousand year old question.
Jesus is a divine being who was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, but was born as a human infant. Growing up, he contained the knowledge of the universe, but was limited by his human qualities and was unable to express this information. As a young man he left home and began to show, for the first time, his divinity to the masses. Like a human, he was tempted by the devil, but afterwards, performed multiple miracles like a higher, divine beings. Jesus prays to God like an ordinary person, but while on a mountain, speaks with Moses and Elijah as would a celestial being. He weeps for Lazarus, he is overcome with emotion at the Temple, and he asks God to spare him. All of these are characteristics of a human. However, he feeds five thousand, raises the dead, heals the sick, and overpowers nature. All of these are characteristics of a divine being. At the end of his life he dies on a cross as a common criminal, but within three days rises from the dead. Although dying is a quality that the divine can overcome, rising from the dead is an act only the divine can accomplish. After his resurrection, when he is with his disciples, he is hungry, but later disappears in front of them.
If Jesus is only human, then he could not have risen from the dead or ascended into heaven. However, if Jesus was purely divine, he would not have died, prayed to God, or required food. Jesus is fully divine and fully human. Although it may seem impossible, it would not be for someone fully divine. Although it may seem impossible for a divine person to come to Earth and die, it would not be impossible for a human to die. Jesus can control the universe, but was unable to control his own death. Therefore, Jesus is both fully divine and fully human.
However, Jesus is not simple a fully divine and fully human being. He is also the ideal for which Christianity is based upon; to love God and each other unconditionally without expecting anything in return. He is present everywhere and in everyone. So, he is the little girl on the swings, the old man sitting quietly on the bench, the man in the blue car trying to get to work, and he is us. Who do I say Jesus is? He is everywhere, everything, and everyone.
Back to Homepage
Back to Web Assignment 1:The Gospel of Matthew
Next to Web Assignment 3:Sacramental