who do you say jesus is
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Who do You say Jesus is?
Makayla Gliori Department of Theology, Grand Canyon University CWV 101: Christian World View Professor Josh Matteson
November 5, 2020
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Who do You say Jesus is? The debate surrounding God and who He claims to be, has been an ongoing debate for centuries. His followers believe that He is the world’s true and only God; while others believe that there has to be another explanation. Radical thinkers believe that not only God, but Christianity as whole was one elaborate hoax. True believers see God as the one true Messiah, the creator of the universe as people know it to be. The Claims Made in John 15 One of the ways used to analyze and uncover who God is believed to be, is to go back and look at documents and testimonies given in the Bible. One good example of this can be found in John 15. In this passage, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, using metaphors to explain that he is the healer of men, and how he expects mankind to treat one another. It is in this passage that Jesus bestows his knowledge and wisdom to his disciples. His Teachings “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 New International Version). This quote summarizes the beginning of Jesus’ teachings in John 15. The point of this sermon was to inform His disciples that a life without God is an unfruitful life. Without God there is no love, knowledge, wisdom, nor safety. Jesus uses the metaphor of a fruit tree in order to accurately illustrate the fruitfulness, or in contrast the
unfruitfulness, of a life with the Lord. Through the teachings of God, mankind is allowed knowledge and wisdom. But, in contrast, a life without God is to be filled with a feeling of dissatisfaction. It was important for this teaching to be included in the book of John as John was
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selected by Luke to pave the way for Jesus and his subsequent teachings (The Mission of John the Baptist, 1992). A Different Perspective As was stated earlier, not all of mankind believes in the preaching’s of the Bible. There are those with varying religious beliefs or even those with no opinion on any religion. Atheism As atheism is the lack of belief in any gods, an atheist might view this passage and think that it is outlandish. Atheists do not, not believe in God, but rather lack the belief needed to believe in religion at all. One view of atheism is that religion divided people as there is no “neutral” ground. One has to either accept or denounce God; believe or not believe. John 15 makes the claim that without God, mankind would not survive as they would lack the knowledge
on how to do so. Pantheism Pantheism is the complete opposite as atheism as it is the belief that God is everything and everything is God (Levine, 1994). The view of God from a pantheist point of view varies drastically from that of a Christian as they do not believe in one diving being but rather energy that follows through everything. Christian’s view God as an omnipotent force that operates away
from humanity and at levels that are unknown to mankind. Pantheists however view God is that there is not one singular divine being but rather energy that follows through everything and that this energy is constantly surrounding and encompassing humanity. A pantheist would view this passage as arrogant because the Bible is claiming that one divine being controls all knowledge.
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Similarly, a pantheist would disagree with most of the Bible as many claims are made stating that Jesus is the one true God that decides what is or is not morally sound. The Claims Made in Matthew 7 In this passage Jesus talks about false versus true prophets and disciples. He discussed how both of these false peoples pose a serious threat to not only Jesus’ followers but also to Jesus himself. These false peoples pose an immediate threat to God as they are speaking for Him,
and speaking falsely. False Prophets In order to accurately explain what false prophets are and how they pose a threat to Christianity, Jesus compares them to fruit trees (Matthew 7:15-20 New International Version). He says that a good tree, a true prophet, will yield good fruit, accurate prophecies. He explains that one can recognize a good tree by the fruit it produces. A good tree will produce fruit while a bad tree does not have the capacity to produce fruit at all. He explains this by saying a person does not go to a thornbush to find grapes. This metaphor is all a set up for the last two lines of the paragraph in which Jesus says that a bad tree will be cut down and thrown into the fire. This continued metaphor is Jesus’ way of explaining to his followers that a false prophet will be found
out and when they are they will be cast into the flames of Hell by God. The point of this passage is to show case Jesus’ thoughts and feelings towards false prophets. It is His nature to weed out the false prophets and punish them. A false prophet is a threat to Jesus and His teachings. This threat is derived from the idea that a false prophecy can lead to the wrong people dying and the wrong people living. A false prophecy is not only a harm to Jesus,
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due to its origin in lie, but also to mankind as it can be deadly if told incorrectly (Judgment on False Prophets and Idolatry, 1992). In Matthew 7, Jesus is explaining to His followers that this behavior will not be tolerated and that this is an issue that He is serious about. False Disciples In the following paragraph Jesus expresses the same distaste for false disciples as He does for false prophets. Similarly, false disciples pose an immediate and serious threat to Jesus and His teachings. Unlike in the previous passage, however, Jesus does not rely on metaphors to get His point across, but rather the technique of narrative. Jesus speaks to His followers, acting out a hypothetical conversation. It is in this conversation that Jesus says that He views false disciples not as His children but rather as strangers (Matthew 7:15-20 New International Version). Simply put, Jesus does not approve of false disciples spreading His word. The point of this passage is to emphasize Jesus’ distain for false disciples. This distain is derived from the idea that a false disciple could spread false ideals about Christianity thus hurting Jesus and his teachings. Jesus relies on his disciples to spread His word. This purpose of this passage is to showcase Jesus’ feelings against false disciples. Who do I say Jesus is? I identify as a pantheist, meaning that I do not believe in one holy or all-knowing being. I personally believe in energy. Everything is made of energy, people, plants, animals, the universe etc. This energy effects everything and everyone around it. If there is a God, He is not a singular being but rather energy that impacts everyone and everything. This energy exists on Earth is and not some sort of omnipotent being that watches over Earth from a distance.
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I do not think that this exercise changed my opinion on who Jesus is. But I think it gave me a better insight into Christianity and Christians’ view as to the type of God that Jesus is. With
this exercise it gave me a better understanding as to Jesus’ views on false prophets and disciples.
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References Judgment on False Prophets and Idolatry (13:1-14:23). (1992). Retrieved November 01, 2020, from
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/asbury-bible-commentary/a-judgment-on-
false-prophets-and-idolatry-13-1-14-23
Levine, M. (1994). Introduction [Introduction]. In Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity
(pp. 1-22). New Fetter Lane, London: Routlegdge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203014776
The Mission of John the Baptist (3:1-20). (1992). Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/asbury-bible-commentary/a-the-mission-of-
john-the-baptist-3-1-20