I had to write two opinion-editorial article for my Journalism class last week. One I wrote about Easter and the other about Jesus. Yes, my Savior. I decided to post it here to provoke some thoughts about Him who was pierced for my transgressions.

Enjoy!

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What do some people say Jesus the Nazarene is?
By Jesse Medlong

Jesus of Nazareth. You may have heard of Him before. He goes by a few names such as the Son of Man, the Christ, Rabbi, or Jesus Christ. Some people know of His name, but not a whole lot about Him. Who was He and who do you think He is?

Who was Jesus? The Bible is the source for all original information about this Jesus I’m referring to. According to the Bible, Jesus was born of virgin birth in a town known as Bethlehem. He grew up in a place called Nazareth from His youth until His late 20s or early 30s.

Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man. This sometimes perplexed the people He spoke to. When He began His ministry, He preached about the Kingdom of Heaven.

In short, the Bible says He was born into this world to save every person from their “sins” by dying a criminal’s death on a cross by crucifixion, though He was innocent of death. By doing this hard task, He would redeem every person from spiritual death so that they may live spiritual by accepting His free gift of Salvation and believing in His name.

Jesus also claimed that He was the Son of God. In the gospel of Matthew, chapter sixteen, verses thirteen through twenty, in the New American Standard Bible, it says:
“[Jesus began] asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.“”

By affirming Simon Peter’s statement, Jesus claimed He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. That’s a radical statement to make. This information helps us to know who Jesus really was.

C. S. Lewis, who was a professor at Cambridge University and once an agnostic, what this about Jesus. He writes:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’

That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse.“”

Lewis confronted the thought some people have about Jesus. Josh McDowell wrote similarly in this quote about Jesus. He writes:

“But if He was a liar, then He was also a hypocrite because He told others to be honest, whatever the cost, while He himself taught and lived a colossal lie. More than that, He was a demon, because He told others to trust Him for their eternal destiny. If He couldn’t back up His claims and knew it, then He was unspeakably evil. Last, He would also be a fool because it was His claims to being God that led to His crucifixion.

“Many will say that Jesus was a good moral teacher. Let’s be realistic. How could He be a great moral teacher and knowingly mislead people at the most important point of His teaching His own identity?

“You would have to conclude logically that He was a deliberate liar. This view of Jesus, however doesn’t coincide with what we know either of Him or the results of His life and teachings.”

Both Lewis and McDowell confronted the thoughts some people have of Christ. I whole heartily believe what Jesus said about Himself, and what both Lewis and McDowell wrote about Him. But I thought, “What do my fellow classmates believe about Jesus?”

As of April 2nd, I surveyed thirty students from Ohio Virtual Academy for their opinions about who Jesus the Nazarene is.

Out of the twenty-nine students I surveyed, only 3.3% of them said they thought Jesus never existed, while 6.7% of the students thought Jesus was just a prophet or a good teach. An overwhelming 90% of the students I surveyed believed Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God.”

This is only a glimpse of what people really think of Jesus. There are the other 6+ billion people in the world that have various beliefs about Jesus. I hope that whoever reads this article will think twice about their belief about this Jesus of Nazareth.

I know what I believe about Him, do you?

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