Who Did Jesus Say He Was?

In December 1896, Franziska Schanzkowska was born in Prussia.  This name is most likely not familiar, but maybe the name of Anna Anderson would sound more familiar to some.  However, knowing who this woman claimed to be would ring a bell for many.  This woman was the most well-known imposter of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov who was part of the Romanov dynasty of Russia and was executed alongside her family in 1918.  Anna Anderson claimed to be the Tsar’s daughter, and it was not until 2007 that DNA evidence proved that Anastasia was truly executed in 1918, and all doubts were put to rest.

You may wonder why I am bringing up this imposter.  She is a perfect example of how people had to wrestle with her claims to inherit the rights and privileges of this famous family.  The options would be to believe that what she was saying was true, or that she was mentally unstable, or that she was a liar.  C.S. Lewis wrote that all of us have these same options when wrestling with who Jesus claimed to be.

So – who did Jesus claim to be?  Throughout His life, He made many claims.  The book of John documents all of the “I AM” statements of Jesus – including His statement “...before Abraham was, I AM,” clearly referencing God’s answer when Moses asked who he should say sent him to free His people  (John 6:20; 8:24; 8:28; 8:58; 18:5).  In addition, Jesus used descriptive metaphors attached to “I am” to help us understand who He is.  He described Himself as the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and life, the way, the truth, and the life, and finally as the true vine.  Looking at each of these metaphors, especially in the context, you start to understand that Jesus is saying He is essential to our salvation and the only way to true life.  The author John makes it very clear that Jesus stated He came from heaven and was equal to God. 

In the book of Mark, Jesus claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath and to have authority over the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28).  He also said He had the authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5) and to judge the world (Mark 14:62).  This gospel also makes it clear that Jesus claimed to have the same authority as God.

I could list many more claims from all four of the gospel accounts, but the above list should help you us to see that  there should not have been any ambiguity around who Jesus claimed to be.  However, the next step for determining if Anna Anderson was really Anastasia Romanov would have been to see if her claim had any merit.  The same could be said of Jesus.  What would give credence to His claims?

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Mmessianic prophecies given in the Old Testament.  If you do a search on how many prophecies were fulfilled by Christ, you can get multiple answers including that of Alfred Edersheim who states there are 456 Old Testament prophecy fulfillments.  Regardless of the exact number – there are hundreds.  What are the odds of one man fulfilling all of these prophecies?

Jesus also performed numerous miracles over the course of His life.  John tells us that there were many more things Jesus did that weren’t recorded (John 21:25).  You could of course argue that others before Jesus performed miracles and that they were not equal with God.  This is why one of Jesus’ claims in particular, and the fulfillment of that claim, is so critical.  Jesus stated in John 10:17-18 that He could raise Himself from the dead.  This was a power no other prophet had.  When Jesus proved His words with the resurrection, this was the ultimate proof of His claim.

So – knowing what Jesus claimed, we can’t just believe Jesus was a nice man who gave good advice.  As C.S. Lewis stated, we must wrestle with Jesus’ claims and either accept Him as God or reject Him as a lunatic or liar.  God has always welcomed reasoning with us and I pray we look at Jesus’ claims closely and understand the weight and merit of those claims and then in faith, follow Him as our Savior.