Who Do You Say That I Am?

Today, Jesus is called many things; revolutionary, social activist, best bud, moral crusader, good teacher. In the picture above, the artist has drawn on the now famous image of Argentinian Marxist Che Guevara. It has became vogue to mislabel Jesus as a social reformer, battling against the oppressive socio-political structure of Israel's Roman occupation. But to call Him anything other than the Christ is to border on blasphemy! In the Gospel of Matthew, Simon Peter is asked this simple, yet profound, question by Jesus, "who do you say that I am?" Peter replies with "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter clearly identifies Jesus as the promised Messiah.

As Christ, Jesus fulfills three distinct roles: Redeemer, Reconciler, and Mediator. In His redemptive role, Jesus pays the price we owe, not with silver or gold, but with His blood. Luther says it this way, "Those tyrants and jailers [the devil, sin, death, God's wrath] now have been routed, and their place has been taken by Jesus Christ." (Large Catechism). Paul writes to the Galatians that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us." (3:13) So Paul is saying that Jesus became sin on the Cross and by bearing the rightful punishment for our sin, we are now free from it's curse.

Jesus as Reconciler re-establishes a harmonious relationship between man & God. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:19 "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them." Jesus Christ reconciles us to God by His merits, not our own. He fulfilled the Law by living a sinless life and as the Lamb of God He took away the sin of the world. Revelation 1:5 affirms and comforts the reader by saying that Jesus has "freed us from our sins by his blood."

His final role as Christ is Mediator. A mediator is one who intervenes for the guilty and pleads their case.  God was angry because of our sins, and as poor wretched sinners, we did not have the strength nor the will to atone/propitiate/mediate/reconcile on our own behalf. God the Father sends His one and only Son to make satisfaction for the sins of the world.

An obvious question is 'How do I use Jesus Christ as Redeemer, Reconciler, and Mediator?" The answer is simple: faith. In Romans 5:1, Paul writes "since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The Apology of the Augsburg Confession presents it this way "faith (by which a man believes that because of Christ his sins are forgiven him, and because of Christ God is reconciled and sees us favorably) gains forgiveness of sins and justifies us.

May we always look to Jesus as the Christ, proclaiming repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name!