Who Is Jesus? What the Bible Says About Him — and Why It Matters

Every story on this site — every revival, every baptism, every believer who keeps worshipping in prison — comes back to one person. Two thousand years after His life, more people follow Him than anyone else in history. So who is Jesus?

The Historical Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth was a Jewish man born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, in Galilee, in the first century. He was known as "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55), and at around thirty (Luke 3:23) He began a public ministry of teaching, healing and calling disciples. He was crucified in Jerusalem under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Beyond the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned by first-century and early second-century historians outside the church, including the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus, who records that "Christus" was executed under Pontius Pilate. Historians — Christian and not — overwhelmingly agree that He lived and was crucified.

The bigger question is not whether He lived, but who He was.

What Jesus Said About Himself

In John's Gospel, Jesus makes a series of striking "I am" claims:

• "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35)
• "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12)
• "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11)
• "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25)
• "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6)

He forgave sins (Mark 2:5–7), accepted worship (Matthew 14:33) and said that He came "not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). These aren't the claims of a moral teacher alone.

What the Bible Says He Is

• God made 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).
• The Messiah. The promised Saviour of Israel and the world: "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
• The image of God. "The Son is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). To see what God is like, look at Jesus.
• Saviour. He died for the sins of the world and rose again — the heart of the gospel.

Christians summarise this as Jesus being fully God and fully human.

His Death and Resurrection

Jesus was crucified — the Roman death reserved for rebels and slaves. The Gospels record that He was buried and that on the third day the tomb was empty. Paul, writing within about two decades, lists people who saw the risen Jesus, including "more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living" (1 Corinthians 15:6) — an invitation to check.

The resurrection is the claim everything else rests on. Paul admits as much: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The Question He Still Asks

At a turning point in the Gospels, Jesus asked His disciples what people were saying about Him — a prophet, perhaps. Then He made it personal: "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15–16).

That's the question every reader eventually faces. C. S. Lewis famously argued that Jesus' claims leave little room for calling Him merely a good teacher. Either way, He can't be ignored.

What to Do Next

• Read about Him yourself. Start with the Gospel of Mark or John — our guide on how to read the Bible for the first time shows how.
• Understand His message. Read what the gospel is and what it means to be born again.
• Respond. If you believe He is who He said He is, tell Him — and read what to do after accepting Jesus.