Who Is Jesus? What the Bible Says About Jesus Christ

Published 2026-11-08

Jesus is God the Son, who became a man, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead. He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, and taught in Israel in the first century. The Bible presents Him as the promised Messiah ("Christ" means Anointed One), the Saviour of the world, and the Lord who is coming again.

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Matthew 16:15–16

A real person in history

Jesus isn't a myth or a legend. Historians overwhelmingly agree that Jesus of Nazareth lived, taught, gathered followers and was crucified under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Besides the four Gospels and the letters of the New Testament, written within decades of His life, He is mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus.

Luke, a careful researcher, wrote his Gospel after investigating "everything from the beginning" with eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1–4). The question isn't whether Jesus existed; it's who He was.

What Jesus said about Himself

Jesus didn't only teach about God. He made claims about Himself that no ordinary teacher would make:

• "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
• "Before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58), taking the name God revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:14). His listeners understood the claim and picked up stones.
• "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30) and "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).
• He forgave sins, something the onlookers rightly said only God can do (Mark 2:5–12).
• "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25–26).

Claims like these leave little room for calling Jesus merely a good teacher. As C. S. Lewis famously argued, someone who said these things was either deceived, deceiving, or telling the truth.

Fully God and fully human

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

John 1:1, 14

• Fully God: "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). He calmed storms, healed the sick, raised the dead and accepted worship (John 20:28–29).
• Fully human: He was born, grew, got hungry and tired, wept at a friend's grave (John 11:35), and was "tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
• Why both matter: only a human could stand in our place, and only God could pay a debt this large and defeat death. Jesus, being in very nature God, "made himself nothing" and humbled Himself to the cross (Philippians 2:5–8).

Christians speak of one God in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son, the One through whom God has made Himself fully known.

Why Jesus came

• To save the lost: "the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10).
• To give His life: He came "not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
• Because God loves the world: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16–17).
• To bring the kingdom of God near: His first message was "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). See what "Thy kingdom come" means.
• To give abundant life: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

His death and resurrection

Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem around AD 30. His death wasn't a tragic accident; He laid down His life on purpose (John 10:17–18), taking the penalty for our sin: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross" (1 Peter 2:24).

On the third day He rose. Paul passed on what he had received: Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Peter, to the Twelve, and then "to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living" (1 Corinthians 15:3–8). Frightened disciples became bold witnesses willing to suffer for what they had seen. Everything rests here: "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17–20). But He has been raised.

That's the heart of the Gospel: forgiveness and new life offered freely by grace.

Jesus today and tomorrow

After His resurrection Jesus ascended to the Father, where He reigns and prays for His people (Hebrews 7:25). He promised to be with His followers "always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20), and He is coming again (Acts 1:11). One day "every knee should bow… and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:9–11).

Who do you say He is?

Jesus asked His disciples that question, and it's the most important question anyone will ever answer. You don't have to have everything figured out to start. Read one of the Gospels (Mark is the shortest), ask honest questions, and talk to Him. He invites everyone: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28–30). New to the Bible? Start with how to read the Bible for the first time.

Next steps: what it means to be born again, what repentance is, and the first steps for new believers reading path.