[Uniqueness of Christ] Jesus' Unique Role預覽

The testimony of Jesus’ role

In the legal and scientific realm, truth is established by a "statement of proof." God's statement of proof came through the many prophecies in the Scriptures that foreshadowed Jesus' coming and what His role would be.

During His walk on Earth, Jesus, the Son of God, affirmed His God-given role with several testimonies of Himself as the Messiah. He declared this fact to His disciples, the people, and the religious leaders. Sadly, not everyone accepted or understood His words.

Jesus' statement that He was the Messiah was not enough for it to be considered an established truth. Jesus had to prove that He was the Messiah before many witnesses to vouch that God's prophecies were a reality in Him. His words and actions were the very proof of His Messianic role for God's people and the rest of humanity.

Moreover, we also see several times in the Scriptures how others verified the truth of Jesus' unique role.

From Jesus' birth, there were witnesses who testified that He was the Messiah. The angels declared this truth to the shepherds, and that's why they came and worshipped the newly-born Jesus in the manger.

At Jesus' dedication in the temple, Simeon, a prayerful man full of the Holy Spirit, testified of Him, and so did Anna, the prophet.

John the Baptist also said of Jesus that He was the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

At Jesus' baptism, God the Father Himself affirmed that Jesus was His beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased.

Jesus' disciples confirmed He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, because of what they heard and saw Him do.

Martha, Lazarus' sister, and other followers of Jesus also cried out that He was the One sent by God.

Even after Jesus' death on the cross, the Roman soldiers who didn't believe Him before declared Jesus was the Messiah after experiencing the unique events that happened at His death.

Despite the Jews of His time knowing Him and seeing manifold proofs of His uniqueness, not all of them accepted Him. They had heard the prophecies and expected a conqueror who would rescue them from Roman oppression. For them, Jesus did not fit their preconceived notions of what the Messiah God promised would be.

The few who believed in Him and followed Him witnessed the fulfillment of His wonderful promises.

However, Jesus came not to free the nation from physical slavery. His unique role was to give the people of Israel and the rest of humanity something greater that no one could take away from them. Jesus came to remove the oppression of sin and to free humankind from captivity.

Even with so many witnesses, some still did not believe in Him out of fear or hesitation. We see the same dilemma today. Yet, by His grace, Jesus gives humankind the opportunity to believe in Him and follow Him. Through faith in Him and His work on the cross, we can be set free from sin and have eternal life.

Thank you, Father, that your Son became like us to give us life in abundance.