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Jesus: Who? What? How? Why?

The title sounds like an assignment for a journalism class.  It is in actuality a short series of questions that give us the ability to sort through the story of Jesus in the Gospel.  AS we work our way through the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - the perspective of Jesus is like a Kaleidoscope.  It depends upon how you turn the eye piece.  Keep your eye on Jesus and look at his works.  One moment he is declaring - repentance, forgiveness, compassion, warning, rebuke, love.  He is again  teaching, healing,  confronting...but most of all asking questions.

For example, Who do you say that the Son of Man is? 

 Matthew 16:16 
16  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

There you see...  Son of Man (look at Daniel 7 to understand this), the Christ (Messiah, the Promised one of God) and the Son of the Living God.  

What?  If we had to sum up Jesus' ministry we need only to go back to his own declaration as he began his public ministry:

Luke 4:17-19
17  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,  19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus' proclamation is the Old Testament Law's proclamation of a Jubilee year (see Leviticus 25).  Freedom, liberty, good news, for who?  the ones captive, blind, oppressed.  While we can put those who "actually" are in these situations; we also see from various accounts that these descriptions were metaphorical also.  For example in John 9, Jesus heals a man who is blind, but then uses that to make a declaration:  

John 9:39
39  Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 

Jesus comes to bring salvation to all who KNOW they need him, but to those who believe they are fine on their own, he becomes a stumbling block to God's life.

How?  How is Jesus going to accomplish God's redemptive promise?  The Jews expected a Messiah to come and overthrow their oppressors and set up God's Kingdom rule upon the earth - i.e., through the power of conquering and dominating rule.  That is not how Jesus is going to accomplish the Kingdom mandate.  Remember the WHO question above?  Immediately after this question and Peter's answer, Jesus reminds them of TWO future realities to come - His suffering and the Church.

Matthew 16:18-21
18  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
20  Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
21  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  

We cannot underestimate the "upside-down" character of the Kingdom Jesus is King over.  What the world believes must happen through military power, material wealth, and dominion rule over others will not be how Jesus accomplishes God's purposes.  Instead, it is his suffering - his death on the cross - and the birth of the Church after his resurrection and ascension that will be the means for which the purposes of God will be revealed.

Why?  Why did he come?  Why did he do all that he did?  Why even care?  There are a number of ways to respond to this..but we must not lose sight of the most basic aspect of his character.  John tells us in a simple metaphor:  

John 10:14-18
14  I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16  And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17  For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The image of a Shepherd who knows his sheep, loves his sheep, and lays down his life for his sheep is a crisp short answer to why.

Jesus - a kaleidoscope of wonder.  Can we sit before him and look upon his glory, the wonder of who he is and why he cares so much for me...for you...for his sheep?  His glory shines through.

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