Behold, Our King: The Identity of Jesus
Six Ways Jesus is Described in the Bible, And What it Means for our Walk with Christ
Who is Jesus?
The past several weeks, I’ve been preaching about the identity of Jesus for our church in Omaha. I’ve always felt that the weeks leading into Christmas is a great chance to focus on who Jesus is, what he’s offering us, and how we are called to live in response.
The Bible gives Jesus a lot of titles, and all of the different words used to describe him tell us something about who he is (identity), what he came to accomplish (mission), and what we are called to do in response (expectations).
Since it would take me most of a year to preach one sermon about each name or title Jesus is given in the Bible, I decided to focus on a few of the ones that strike me as especially meaningful. Jesus is the Son of God, a prophet like Moses, the perfect high priest, the Good Shepherd, the Savior of the world, and the one true king.
These titles all portray Jesus in a slightly different way, and yet they are all consistent with his character and mission. Allow me to share just a few words about what each of these titles reveals about the heart of Jesus and his plan for our lives.
1. Jesus is the Son of God.
When Jesus was ready to begin his public ministry, he went to his cousin John the Baptist to be baptized. Immediately afterward, Heaven was opened, the Spirit descended on Jesus, and the voice of God the Father declared “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). One of my favorite things to point out about this story is that Jesus had not yet preached any sermons, healed any diseases, called any disciples, or cast out any demons. He was not yet Jesus the Rabbi, Jesus the Healer, or Jesus the Miracle Worker. He was just Jesus, the carpenter’s son. And that was enough for his Heavenly Father to love him.
This scene from Jesus’ life is one of the most important ways that God reveals to us the true identity of his Son. For more on this topic, check out this post about the baptism of Jesus.
2. Jesus is a Prophet Like Moses
I’ve written about this aspect of Jesus’ identity previously, so today I’ll simply mention that Jesus was not just a prophet, he was THE prophet that God has been talking about since the time of Moses. A prophet who would exceed all expectations and become the source of salvation for the people of God. As a prophet, Jesus received a message from God the Father that he was expected to share with the people of the world. And in turn, the people were expected to listen to his message, take it to heart, and put it into practice. Through Jesus, we can know the heart of God and the will of God — which is why the Bible places so much emphasis on building our lives on the foundation of Jesus and his word (e.g. Matthew 7:24-27).
3. Jesus is the Perfect High Priest.
The book of Hebrews portrays Jesus as the perfect high priest who has made the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus didn’t serve as a physical priest in the Temple of Israel during his ministry, but with the benefit of hindsight, later Christians looked back on his ministry and came to realize that he was nevertheless our perfect high priest. He took what the priests of Israel tried to do — represent the people and make atonement for their sins — and perfected it in a way that only he could. Unlike the sinful, mortal priests of Israel, Jesus was a perfect, eternal high priest who was able to offer himself once for all the sins of the world. Through Jesus we have access to our Heavenly father and can experience salvation through our relationship with him (Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-10).
4. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
One of God’s favorite ways to describe his relationship with his people is that of a shepherd caring for his sheep. God knows that we need a guide, a protector, and a provider — just like sheep do. So he has promised to be our Good Shepherd, as we see in places like Psalm 23. But God also knows that people need a real, tangible person to follow. Toward that end, God appointed all kinds of leaders in Israel who were supposed to shepherd the sheep. The problem was those shepherds let their power go to their head, and instead of using their resources to care for their flock, they abused their power by taking advantage of them!
So even though Israel had lots of shepherds, they didn’t have any good shepherds. That’s what makes Jesus’ words in John 10 so incredible. Jesus is not just a shepherd — he’s the Good Shepherd. He loves his sheep, knows them by name, and is willing to sacrifice everything to take care of them. Because of Jesus, we have a guide, a protector, and a provider who truly values us and wants what’s best for us. And as we follow him, we experience salvation and life to the full.
5. Jesus is our Savior
Salvation is more than having your sins forgiven. It’s about being rescued from life-and-death situations that are so overwhelming that we’d never be able to survive on our own. Like when people get stuck in a rip current in the ocean, or stranded on a desert island after a plane crash, or trapped in a collapsed mine thousands of feet below ground. The point is that in moments like that, things are so dangerous that the only hope of survival is to be rescued — to be saved.
The first words that the angel of the Lord spoke about Jesus after his birth is that a savior had been born — Jesus. And “Jesus” means “The Lord is Salvation” or “The Lord Saves.” Jesus came to save us from something that was far beyond our ability to solve on our own — the problem of sin. Our sin separates us from God, but Jesus reconciles us. Our sin makes us guilty, but Jesus makes atonement for our sins. Our sin takes us captive, but Jesus sets us free. Jesus’ death broke the power of sin, took away our guilt, and reunited us with our Heavenly Father.
6. Jesus is the One True King.
As I wrote last year, the Kings of Israel were charged with leading, providing, pursuing justice, and setting the spiritual tone for the people. But like the shepherds of Israel who ended up abusing their power, the kings of Israel and Judah did not always lead the way God wanted them to. More often than not, they led the people astray and enriched themselves instead of caring for the people. Eventually God allowed his people to be taken captive by foreign nations because of their ongoing, generational sin. What they needed now was a new king to rise up and lead a spiritual revival. The Bible tells us that Jesus is that King (Revelation 19:13-16) — and not just for Israel, but rather for the whole world.
What Does this All Mean?
Because of Jesus, we can come to the Father, know the will of God, receive forgiveness, and have a loving shepherd for our journey. He protects us, guides us, provides for us, and intercedes on our behalf. What an incredible blessing it is to have Jesus in our lives!
All of these various roles describe the different gifts God is giving us, but they also point to some important expectations for those who claim to follow Jesus. We need to listen to his voice, to follow his lead, to trust in his promises, and to follow him as Lord.
But here’s the difficult truth: We can’t expect to receive the blessings of following Jesus unless we’re willing to actually follow him. Because of that, Christmas is a wonderful time to reflect on not just the gifts God is giving us in Christ, but the gift we give him in return—a life of faithfulness, devotion, and discipleship.
Reflection: Which aspect of Jesus’ identify is most important to you during this season of life? What is one way that you can better serve or follow him?
I love that Jesus is our good shepherd, guiding and protecting us even when we wander aimlessly, as sheep often do!