11 17th, 2020Yeshua once asked his disciples the following question.
“Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (Matthew 16:13)
The disciples replied;
“Some say you are John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. (vs.14)
Yeshua then rephrased his question in a more personal way.
“But who do you say that I am? (vs.15)
This is really the heart of the matter. Who do you say Yeshua is? The Apostle Peter replied;
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living Elohim (God).” (vs.16
Yeshua replied;
“Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (vs.17)
Would that be your answer as well, dear reader? Before you answer, please read the rest of this article and then search your heart deeply and answer that question.
Many in this world would have a different answer than the Apostle Peter. Some would say he was a liar. The Scriptures declare Yeshua to be truth. Yeshua said of himself;
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
The Apostle John wrote;
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [Yeshua] was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)
The Apostle Paul wrote;
“If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Yeshua: (Ephesians 4:21)
You can choose to believe those who say Yeshua was a liar without ever hearing him or witnessing all the miracles he performed or you can believe what the Bible says about him.
Others say Yeshua was a lunatic or deluded; that he just imagined himself to be the Son of Yahweh.
Yahweh declared from heaven at the time of Yeshua’s baptism;
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)
Yahweh also declared to Peter, James and John concerning Yeshua;
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear you him. (Matthew 17:5)
Psalm 2:7 says;
“I will declare the decree: Yahweh has said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Those words were quoted in Acts 13:33 concerning Yeshua.
“Elohim has fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He has raised up Yeshua again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
You can choose to believe those who claim Yeshua was a lunatic, or you can believe what the Scriptures say about him even before he was born.
Others say Yeshua never existed. Here is an excerpt from an article by Bart Ehrman who rejects the claims of Christianity, yet still believes Yeshua (Jesus) was a real person. The article is entitled, “Did Jesus Exist?”.
“With respect to Jesus, we have numerous, independent accounts of his life in the sources lying behind the Gospels (and the writings of Paul) – sources that originated in Jesus’ native tongue Aramaic and that can be dated to within just a year or two of his life (before the religion moved to convert pagans in droves). Historical sources like that are pretty astounding for an ancient figure of any kind. Moreover, we have relatively extensive writings from one first-century author, Paul, who acquired his information within a couple of years of Jesus’ life and who actually knew, first hand, Jesus’ closest disciple Peter and his own brother James. If Jesus did not exist, you would think his brother would know it.
Moreover, the claim that Jesus was simply made up falters on every ground. The alleged parallels between Jesus and the “pagan” savior-gods in most instances reside in the modern imagination: We do not have accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead (despite what the sensationalists claim ad nauseum in their propagandized versions).
Moreover, aspects of the Jesus story simply would not have been invented by anyone wanting to make up a new Savior. The earliest followers of Jesus declared that he was a crucified messiah. But prior to Christianity, there were no Jews at all, of any kind whatsoever, who thought that there would be a future crucified messiah. The messiah was to be a figure of grandeur and power who overthrew the enemy. Anyone who wanted to make up a messiah would make him like that. Why did the Christians not do so? Because they believed specifically that Jesus was the Messiah. And they knew full well that he was crucified. The Christians did not invent Jesus.
The famous Jewish historian Josephus mentioned Yeshua in his historical writings.
“At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one should call him a man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. He was the messiah. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them on the third day, living again, just as the divine prophets had spoken of these and countless other wondrous things about him. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out. (Antiquities 18.3.3)
You can choose to believe those who claim Yeshua never existed, or you can believe the multitudes who not only witnessed his miracles, but died for believing he was the promised Messiah and Savior of the world.
Still others believe Yeshua was just a prophet. The Scriptures declare he was indeed a prophet, but they also declare him to be much more than that. Here are a few titles given to Yeshua in Scripture.
Apostle and High Priest of our Confession – Hebrews 3:1
Author and Finisher of our Faith – Hebrews 12:2
Bread of life – John 6:35
Captain of our Salvation – Hebrews 2:10
Chief Cornerstone – Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6
Deliverer – Romans 11:26
First born from the dead – Revelation 1:5
Good Shepherd – John 10:11; 14
Head of the Church – Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22
Holy One of Elohim – Mark 1:24
Intercessor – Hebrews 7:25
Judge of the World – 2 Timothy 4:1; Acts 10:42
King of Israel – John 1:49
King of Kings – Revelation 17:14; 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15
King of Nations – Revelation 15:3
King of the Jews – Matthew 2:2
Lamb of God – John 1:29
Life – John 14:6; Colossians 3:4
Light of the world – John 8:12
Mediator – 1 Timothy 2:5
Messiah – John 1:41; 4:25
Prince of Life – Acts 3:15
Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6
Resurrection and Life – John 11:25
Root of David – Revelation 5:5
Savior of the world – 1 John 4:14; John 4:42
Son of Elohim – Luke 1:35
Stone rejected by the builders – Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:8
The Way the Truth and the Life – John 14:6
You can choose to believe Yeshua was only a prophet, or you can believe ALL that the Scriptures have to say about him.
So, I ask you again.
Who do YOU say Yeshua is?
If you do not declare, as the Apostle Peter did, that Yeshua is the Messiah and Son of Elohim/God, then I hope you have some really good reason why not that you will give to Yahweh when you stand before him on judgment day.
I leave you with these words from the Apostle John.
“For [Yahweh] so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For [Yahweh] sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of [Yahweh]. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in [Yahweh]. (John 3:16-21)
All the faulty reasoning and ignorance that people use to deny who Yeshua really is are merely excuses to continue in a life of sin. They know that if they confess his true identity as the Messiah and Son of Yahweh, they will need to change their ways and begin living according to the teachings of the Light of the World, Yeshua.
May Almighty Yahweh grant you repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth that you be not condemned with the rest of the unbelieving world.
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