Who is this Jesus? (Matthew 1:1, Mark 1:1, John 1:1)

 The gospel writers each identify Jesus in their opening paragraphs in a different way...

• Matthew calls him "the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1) and later on in his book, "Son of God" (Matt 14:33)
• Mark calls him "Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1) and again in Mark 3:1.
• John calls him "the Word who was with God and who was God" (John 1:1) and "the Son of God" (John 1:34).

except for Luke. Luke doesn't identify Jesus in the opening paragraph, he just begins to tell the story of Jesus.  He waits until we overhear the angel speaking to Jesus' mother-to-be before cluing us in to Jesus' identity.  The angel introduces this baby Mary is going to birth as "holy, the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).

These four men were eye witnesses of Jesus' life.  They knew him personally.  And although they identify him by slightly different titles in their introductions with slightly different emphasises, not one of them thought that he was just a good guy or just a human prophet.   In fact, they all identified him as "the Son of God."  And in their books, they are in agreement with all the same terms that the others used to describe Jesus in their introductions.

Jesus was the anointed son of God - not just half human with a Jewish lineage and half God fathered by the Spirit, but all human and all God.  In fact, he was God.  This is what Jesus' closest friends taught about him... they taught this with no benefit to themselves... they were hated for it and persecuted for it.  In other words, they believed it so much that they put their own lives on the line.

Who can fully understand what it means to be the Messiah, the Son of God, or God in flesh?  We don't have a lot of physical evidence around to measure and study.  But we can just take it on faith believing in these testimonies and enjoy the mystery!  We can embrace it... celebrate it... trust it.  What we believe about who Jesus was will affect everything else we believe about his life.  It affects whether we are his followers or his observers - whether we follow just his ways or both him and his ways.

Embrace Jesus by celebrating and cherishing the mystery of both his humanity and his divinity.  And because of who Jesus is, when we follow him, our lives take on far more significance - far more cosmic importance - than just following a good teacher!