What does the Bible say about Jesus?
One of the most important questions one can ask is, “Who is Jesus?” The answer to this question tells us how we can be saved from our sins and live forever. Not only that, knowing Jesus – knowing Him personally – is a blessing beyond belief. We can have intimate friendship with the Creator of the universe, we can revel in His love, we can experience His power in and through us, and we can follow in His footsteps of righteous living. Knowing Jesus is pure joy, pure love, pure peace – like nothing we could ever imagine.
Quotes about Jesus
“Christ literally walked in our shoes and entered into our affliction. Those who will not help others until they are destitute reveal that Christ’s love has not yet turned them into the sympathetic persons the Gospel should make them.” – Tim Keller
“I feel as if Jesus Christ died only yesterday.” Martin Luther
“Jesus is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is He the best of several ways; He is the only way.” A. W. Tozer
“Jesus didn’t come to tell us the answers to the questions of life, he came to be the answer.” Timothy Keller
“Be assured that there is no sin you have ever committed that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot cleanse.” Billy Graham
Who is Jesus in the Bible?
Jesus is precisely who He said He is – fully God and fully man. He is the Son of God and the second Person in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead to save all those who put their trust in Him.
When we say Jesus Christ, the word “Christ” means “Messiah” (anointed one). Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies that God would send a Messiah to save His people. The name Jesus means Savior or Deliverer.
Jesus was a real flesh-and-blood person who lived about 2000 years ago. In the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, we can learn who Jesus is – the prophesies about Him, His birth and life and teachings and miracles, His death and resurrection, His ascension into heaven, and His return at the end of this present world. In the Bible, we learn of Jesus’ deep love for mankind – so great that He sacrificed His own life so we could be saved.
1. Matthew 16:15-16 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am? 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
2. John 11:27 “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
3. 1 John 2:22 “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist–denying the Father and the Son.”
4. 1 John 5:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.
5. 1 John 5:5 “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
6. 1 John 5:6 “This is the one who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.”
7. John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father–the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father–He will testify about Me.”
8. 2 Corinthians 1:19 “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us–by me and Silas and Timothy–was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”
9. John 10:24 “So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
The birth of Jesus
We can read about Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1 & 2 and Luke 1 & 2 in the New Testament.
God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl named Mary, telling her she would conceive – through the Holy Spirit – and give birth to God’s Son.
When Joseph, Mary’s fiancé, learned Mary was pregnant, knowing he was not the father, he was planning to break the engagement. Then an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him not to be afraid to get married to Mary, because the baby had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to give the baby the name Jesus (Savior), for He would save people from their sins.
Joseph and Mary got married but did not have sexual relations until after she gave birth. Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem, Joseph’s hometown, for a census. When they got to Bethlehem, Mary gave birth, and Joseph named the baby Jesus.
Some shepherds were in the fields that night, when an angel appeared, telling them that Christ had been born in Bethlehem. Suddenly, a multitude of angels appeared, praising God, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.” The shepherds hurried to see the baby.
After Jesus’ birth, some Magi arrived, saying in the east they had seen the star of He who had been born King of the Jews. They went into the house where Jesus was and fell down and worshiped Him, and gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
10. Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
11. Matthew 1:16 “and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”
12. Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
13. Matthew 2:1 “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea when Herod was king. After Jesus’ birth wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”
14. Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
15. Jeremiah 23:5 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”
16. Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The nature of Jesus Christ
In His earthly body, as fully God and fully man, Jesus possessed the divine nature of God, including all the attributes of God. Before He was born as a man, Jesus was in the beginning with God, and He was God. Through Him, all things were created. In Him was life – the light of men. Jesus lived in the world He had created, yet most people didn’t recognize Him. But to ones who did recognize Him and believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:1-4, 10-13).
Jesus, from infinity, eternally shares the divine nature with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. As part of the Trinity, Jesus is fully God. Jesus is not a created being – He is the Creator of all things. Jesus shares with the Father and the Spirit the divine rule over all things.
When Jesus was born, He was fully human. He got hungry and thirsty and tired, like everyone else. He lived a fully human life. The only difference was that He never sinned. He was “tempted in all things, just as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
17. John 10:33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
18. John 5:18 “Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
19. Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
20. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
21. Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
22. 2 Peter 1:16-17 “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
23. 1 John 1:1-2 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.”
Attributes of Christ
As fully God and the second person of the Trinity, Jesus possesses all the attributes of God. He is the infinite and unchanging Creator of all things. He is superior to angels and all things (Ephesians 1:20-22), and at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow – those in heaven and on earth and below the earth (Philippians 2:10).
As fully God, Jesus is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (everywhere), omniscient (all-knowing), self-existent, infinite, eternal, unchanging, self-sufficient, all-wise, all-loving, always faithful, always true, completely holy, completely good, completely perfect.
When Jesus was born as a human, what did He do with His divine attributes like being all-knowing or everywhere at once? The reformed theologian John Piper said, “They were his potentially, and thus he was God; but he surrendered their use absolutely, and so he was man.” Piper explains that when Jesus was human, He operated with a kind of limitation of His divine attributes (like being all-knowing) because Jesus said no man (including Himself), but only the Father, knew when Jesus would return (Matthew 24:36). Jesus didn’t empty Himself of His deity, but He laid aside aspects of His glory.
Even then, Jesus did not fully lay aside His divine attributes. He walked on water, He commanded the wind and waves to be quiet, and they obeyed. He traveled from village to village, healing all the sick and disabled and casting out demons. He fed thousands of people from one modest lunch of bread and fish – twice!
24. Philippians 2:10-11 “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
25. Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”
26. Acts 4:27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel.”
27. Ephesians 1:20-22 “he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.”
Jesus in the Old Testament
Jesus is the central figure of the Old Testament, as He explained on the road to Emmaus: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). Again, later that evening, He said, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
The Old Testament points us to our need for Jesus as Savior, through the law given to Moses, for through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
The Old Testament points to Jesus through all the prophecies He fulfilled, written hundreds of years before His birth. They said He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), that the women of Bethlehem would weep for their dead children (Jeremiah 31:15), and that Jesus would spend time in Egypt (Hosea 11:1).
More Old Testament prophecies include that Jesus’ friend would betray Him for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), and that His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16) for our offenses and wrongdoings (Isaiah 53:5-6).
The Old Testament foreshadows Jesus. The Passover lamb was a symbol of Jesus the Lamb of God (John 1:29). The sacrificial system was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ sacrifice, once and for all (Hebrews 9:1-14).
28. Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
29. Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
30. Genesis 22:2 “Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
31. John 5:46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.”
32. Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
33. Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Jesus in the New Testament
The New Testament is all about Jesus! The first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell all about Jesus’ birth, His ministry, what He taught the people, His awesome, mind-blowing miracles, His prayer life, His confrontations with hypocritical leaders, and His great compassion for the people. They tell us how Jesus died for our sins and resurrected in three days! They tell about Jesus’ great commission to take His good news to all the world.
The book of Acts begins with Jesus’s promise that His followers would be baptized with His Holy Spirit in a few days. Jesus then ascended into heaven, and two angels told His disciples that Jesus would return in the same way they saw Him go. A few days later, a rushing wind swept through and flames of fire came to rest on each of Jesus’ followers. As they were each filled with the Spirit of Jesus, they began to speak in other languages. The rest of the book of Acts tell how Jesus’ followers took the good news to many places, building up the church, which is the Body of Christ.
Most of the rest of the New Testament are the Epistles (letters) to the new churches in different cities and countries. They contain teachings about Jesus, how to know Him and how to grow in Him and live for Him. The last book, Revelation, is a prophecy about the end of the world and what will happen when Jesus comes back.
34. John 8:24 “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
35. Luke 3:21 “Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened.”
36. Matthew 12:15 “But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all.”
37. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”
38. Hebrews 12:2 “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
39. Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
How deep is the love of Christ?
The deep, deep love of Jesus is vast, unmeasured, boundless, and free! The love of Christ is so great that He took on the form of a servant, came to this earth to live a humble life, and willingly died on the cross so we could be set free from sin and death (Philippians 2:1-8).
When Jesus lives in our hearts through faith, and we are rooted and grounded in His love, then we begin to comprehend the width and length and height and depth of the love of Christ – which surpasses knowledge – so we are filled with all the fullness of God! (Ephesians 3:17-19)
Nothing can ever separate us from Christ’s love! Even when we have troubles and calamity and are destitute – despite all these things – overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us! Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love – not death, not demonic powers, not our worries, not our fears, not even the powers of hell can separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35-39).
40. Psalm 136:2 “Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
41. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
42. John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”
43. Galatians 2:20 “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
44. Romans 5:8 “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”
45. Ephesians 5:2 “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
The crucifixion of Jesus
Thousands of people followed Jesus, hanging to His every word, and seeing His love in action. Nevertheless, He had enemies – the hypocritical religious leaders. They didn’t like their own sins being exposed by Jesus, and they feared a revolution would upend their world. So, they plotted Jesus’ death. They arrested Him and held a trial in the middle of the night where they accused Jesus of heresy (false teaching).
The Jewish leaders found Jesus guilty in their own trial, but Israel was under the dominion of the Roman Empire at that time, so they took him, in the early morning hours, to the Roman governor Pilate. Pilate told them that he found no grounds for the charges against Jesus, but the leaders stirred up a mob, who began screaming and chanting, “Crucify him! Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate feared the mob and finally handed Jesus over to be crucified.
The Roman soldiers took Jesus outside the city, stripped Him of His clothes, and hung Him on a cross, with nails in His hands and feet. After a few hours, Jesus gave up His spirit and died. Two wealthy men – Joseph and Nicodemus – got permission from Pilate to bury Jesus. They wrapped His body in cloths with spices, and laid Him in a tomb, with a huge rock over the entrance. The Jewish leaders received permission from Pilate to seal the tomb and place a guard there. (Matthew 26-27, John 18-19)
46. Matthew 27:35 “And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.”
47. 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
48. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
49. Luke 23:33-34 “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”
The resurrection of Jesus
Early on the following Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and some other ladies went out to visit Jesus’ tomb, bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! An angel came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightening, and his clothing was white as snow. The guards shook with fear and fell down like dead men.
The angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid! Jesus isn’t here; He is risen from the dead! Come, see where His body was lying. Now, quickly, go tell His disciples He is risen from the dead.”
The women rushed off, frightened but filled with joy, to give the angel’s message to the disciples. On the way, Jesus met them! They ran to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. Jesus told them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there.” (Matthew 28:1-10)
When the woman told the disciples what had happened, they didn’t believe their story. However, Peter and another disciple (probably John) ran to the tomb and found it empty. Later that day, Jesus appeared to two of Jesus’ followers as they were traveling to Emmaus. They dashed back to Jerusalem to tell the others, and then, suddenly, Jesus was standing right there with them!
50. Luke 24:38-39 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.”
51. John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies.”
52. 1 Corinthians 6:14 “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.”
53. Mark 6:16 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
54. 1 Thessalonians 4:14 “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
What was Jesus’ mission?
The most essential part of Jesus’ mission was to die for our sins on the cross, so that we, through repentance and faith in Him, could experience forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.
“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Before Jesus died, He went about preaching the good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus demonstrated His compassion for the weak, the sick, the disabled, the oppressed. He said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but He came to give life, and give it abundantly (John 10:10).
Jesus’ passion was to give an understanding of the Kingdom of God to the people – for them to know the hope of eternal life that they had through Him. And then, just before He returned to heaven, Jesus gave His mission to His followers – our commission!
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).
55. Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
56. John 6:68 “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
57. John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
What does it mean to trust in Jesus?
To trust means to have confidence or faith in something.
All of us are sinners. Not a single person, except Jesus, has lived a life without sin. (Romans 3:23)
Sin has consequences. It separates us from God – creating a gap in our relationship. And sin brings death: death to our bodies and punishment in hell. (Romans 6:23, 2 Corinthians 5:10)
Because of His great love for us, Jesus died to take the punishment for our sins. And He came back to life again after three days to give us confidence that we will also rise from the dead if we trust in Him. Jesus’ death bridged the gap – the broken relationship – between us and God if we trust in Jesus.
When we say, “trust in Jesus,” it means understanding that we are sinners, and repenting – turning away from our sin and turning toward God. Trusting God is faith that Jesus’ atoning death paid the price for our sins. We trust that Jesus died in our place, and rose again, so we can live with Him forever. When we trust in Jesus, we receive a restored relationship with God!
58. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
59. Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31).
60. Acts 4:11-12 “Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
