mannafest.faith

Who it is about

Jesus

The Messiah — everything on this site runs to Him.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." For the trophy He Himself erected, but the crowns He hath caused us also to partake of. And this not of debt, but of mere mercy.
John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 42 (407)
When I believed that Thou wert the Son of God, I believed that Thou wert the resurrection, that Thou wert lifeb; and that he that believeth in Thee, though he were dead, shall live.
Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas (430)
[Jesus] offers himself as the bread of life to those who believe in him. It is he who came down from heaven and gave life to the world.
Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 48 (444)
If we cannot name the Lord Jesus without the Spirit, surely we cannot proclaim him without the Spirit.
Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.11.124 (397)

Every page on this site eventually points here. Jesus of Nazareth is not one figure among many that Scripture discusses — He is the reason Scripture exists at all, the Person the whole story has been building toward from its opening pages.

The Old Testament announces Him centuries before His birth. Isaiah names the coming child 'The mighty God' and 'The Prince of Peace' seven hundred years early (Isaiah 9:6). Micah pinpoints His birthplace as the small town of Bethlehem, and then says something remarkable about His origin: His 'goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting' (Micah 5:2). A child born in time, and yet eternal — the Old Testament already holds both truths together before the New Testament ever explains how.

Matthew and Luke tell the story of that birth. His name itself carries the announcement: He shall be called Emmanuel, 'God with us' (Matthew 1:23). The angel who announces His birth to shepherds calls Him 'a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord' (Luke 2:11) — three titles stacked together, each one claiming something enormous about who has just been born in an ordinary stable.

John's Gospel goes further back than Bethlehem. Before the world existed, John writes, 'the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). Then comes the turn that changes everything: 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us' (John 1:14). The eternal Son did not simply visit humanity from a safe distance. He became one of us, fully, while remaining fully God.

Jesus made claims about Himself that no ordinary teacher would dare to make. He said no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6) — not one way among several, but the way. When Peter was asked directly who Jesus was, he answered plainly: 'the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16:16), and Jesus did not correct him. He accepted worship. He forgave sins. He said that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father.

Paul, writing to churches who had never met Jesus in the flesh, describes Him as 'the image of the invisible God' (Colossians 1:15) — the One through whom, and for whom, everything was created. Hebrews calls Him 'the express image' of God's own person, the exact representation, upholding the entire universe by the power of His word (Hebrews 1:3). These are not poetic exaggerations from admiring followers. They are careful theological claims from people willing to die for their accuracy.

His life did not end at the cross, though the cross is where the weight of the whole Bible's story of sin and sacrifice comes to rest. Hebrews says He endured it 'for the joy that was set before him' (Hebrews 12:2) — looking past the suffering to what it would accomplish. Three days later the tomb was empty, and the risen Jesus could say of Himself, 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending... the Almighty' (Revelation 1:8).

Every subject explored on this site — Israel, judgment, joy, the judges, even the silent centuries between the testaments — eventually runs into this same Person. That is not an accident of arrangement. It is the shape of the Bible itself, which Jesus said was written about Him from the beginning.

Read in full, not just cited

The 3 verses the essay above leans on hardest

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6BSB
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel— One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
Micah 5:2BSB
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
Matthew 1:23BSB

10 passages

Where Scripture speaks

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6BSB

Isaiah names the coming child 'The mighty God' seven centuries before His birth.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel— One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
Micah 5:2BSB

Bethlehem foretold as His birthplace — yet His 'goings forth' are 'from everlasting.'

“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
Matthew 1:23BSB

His name means 'God with us' — Emmanuel, the mystery of the incarnation stated plainly.

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

Peter's confession names Him plainly: 'the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1BSB

John's opening line: the Word was with God, and the Word was God — Jesus before time.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14BSB

'The Word was made flesh' — God Himself walking among us in Jesus.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6BSB

Jesus claims exclusivity: 'the way, the truth, and the life' — no other way to the Father.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15BSB

Paul calls Him 'the image of the invisible God' — Jesus makes the unseen Father visible.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3BSB

He is 'the express image' of God's person, upholding all things by His word.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
Revelation 1:8BSB

The risen Jesus names Himself Alpha and Omega — the Almighty, beginning and end.

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