Who did Jesus think he was?

Moving on to Jesus himself now. A good place to start is by asking the question, "What did Jesus regard his mission and identity to be?" This is a difficult question to answer for a number of reasons. Firstly, according to the gospels, Jesus said and did a great many things, many of which seem enigmatic and puzzling to us, not the least because of the enormous cultural, historical, geographical, linguistic, and texual issues that must be overcome before we can understand correctly what Jesus really said and did. This is not to say that the effort is not worthwhile or that knowledge is not possible, but that it takes work. Secondly, volumes and volumes have been written on this subject and much of the related discussion is not really relevant to what I am targeting here. And, finally, I want to keep this focused on the specific key issues concerning Jesus self-understanding and what this contributes to the likelihood of his resurrection being true.

Even the most skeptical of New Testament scholars agree that Jesus had a unique understanding of who he was and what his ministry involved. This self understanding can be derived from considering some basic facts affirmed by even the most critical of scholars: Jesus self-designation as the Son of Man, his belief in himself being the Son of God in a unique sense, his claims to speak and act with divine authority, and his claims to determine the eternal destiny of others before God.

Jesus’ most common self-designation in the Gospels is as the Son of Man. In referring to himself as the Son of Man, Jesus located his identity with the “one like a son of man” who is divinely inspired with authority in Daniel 7:13f.[1] This transcendent self-understanding involved “assuming divine power and authority as world judge and in terms of his coming to earth to perform that final judgment”.[2] Given that several of the Son of Man sayings refer to Jesus’ suffering and death, it is only right to conclude that Jesus did not think that his death would be the end, but rather that he would be vindicated beyond the grave through his resurrection and later return to judge the nations.[3]

Jesus clearly thought of himself as a prophet in the Old Testament tradition, one called to bring a special, critical message of future judgment and hope from Israel's God to his people. But, beyond this, as a spokesman for God who was unique – the Son of God.[4] This term is used in the Old Testament to refer to angelic messengers, to Israel and also to the king of Isael. But with Jesus we see this idea of divine sonship in a new and special from his use of the Aramaic term “Abba” as a personal, intimate name used for God. Even critical scholar Robert Funk notes that “Jesus undoubtedly employed the term “Abba” (Aramaic for “Father”) to address God, and among Judeans the name of God was sacred and was not to be pronounced…Yet Jesus used a familiar form of address and then asked that the name be regarded as sacred”.[5]

Also, in the parable of the wicked tenants God’s special Son, distinct from previous envoys to Israel, is God’s final messenger, even the rightful heir to Israel.[6] Jesus boldly claimed exclusive knowledge above all other people and even angels, this knowledge extending to all things except the time of the end of the age.[7] This sonship idea is extended even further in Mt. 11:27, where Jesus claimed to be the Son of God in a unique and absolute sense, invested with exclusive authority to reveal God his Father to humanity.[8]

So Jesus appropriated the designations of Son of Man and Son of God and used them in new , unique and revolutionary ways to explain his identity and mission to the Jews of his day. These were the type of things that would upset the political authorities and threaten the religious and political power-brokers. In my next posting I will look at the authority that Jesus claimed for himself.

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[1] See Mt. 26:64; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 22:69

[2] Ben Witherington, The Christology of Jesus (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), 262.

[3] Mk. 10:45; 14:62

[4] Mt. 13:57; Mk. 6:4; Lk. 4:24; Jn. 4:44

[5] Robert W. Funk, The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the AUTHENTIC Words of Jesus (San Francisco: Harper Press, 1997), 149.

[6] Mt. 12:1-8; William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. rev. ed. (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994), 245.

[7] Mk 13:32

[8] Craig, 1994, 246.