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What the Bible Teaches about Jesus By Robert P. Mills, Director, PLC Publications Introduction Truly this man was the Son of God! — Roman centurion Who is Jesus? Is he simply a good moral teacher, a wandering philosopher or a miracle worker who lived long ago and whose example remains influential today? Or is he truly the Son of God, as the Roman centurion confessed at Jesus’ crucifixion (Mark 15:39)? The 12 lessons in this study explore what Scripture and the Church say about who Jesus is, what he did in his life on earth, and what he does today. The goal is to help Christians grow in their knowledge and love of the Triune God. How are these studies organized? Truly the Son of God follows a time-tested, Reformed approach to the study of Scripture and Christian doctrine. Each lesson begins with a brief overview and the reading of one or two biblical texts. The studies are then divided into three sections: The Text, The Teachings and The Life of the Church. Discussion questions conclude each of these sections. The Text identifies key words and phrases in the biblical text and explores them in some detail. Taking the time to read and consider the other Scripture references given in this section will yield valuable insights into the verses being studied. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version. The Teachings explain the historic Christian doctrines that have emerged from the biblical texts. Christians need to study Scripture to learn what God has revealed through Jesus Christ about his character and conduct. However, a critically important, if often overlooked, part of the Christian vocation is recognizing false teachings and learning how such teachings distort or even contradict Christian faith. Christians with a limited knowledge of Scripture and the historic teachings of the Church, unaware of the existence or the dangers of false doctrines, may easily be led along paths that lead away from God. Thus a key feature of Truly the Son of God is its identification and examination of teachings that are contrary to Scripture. The Life of the Church reflects on how the texts and teachings relate to our Christian faith and daily life. This section is intended to show how biblical texts and Christian doctrines help to shape the daily lives of the people of God. At the end of each lesson is a question for reflection followed by a brief passage of Scripture that may be prayed or used as a model for prayer. Praying the Scripture simply means reading the verses, aloud or silently, offering them to God as our own prayer, much as we pray the Lord’s Prayer. This historic Christian practice has been little used by Protestants in the modern era. Its recovery would offer yet another opportunity for Christians to share the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5), who prayed Scripture even while hanging on the cross (see Lesson 9).
Truly the Son of God may be used by a variety of individuals and groups. With the Introduction and the Table of Contents as an overview, the study could be used for a 13-week adult Sunday school course. A class that desires more time for discussion could have a 26-week course, exploring The Text one week and The Teachings and The Life of the Church the next. A monthly meeting of elders or deacons could use Truly the Son of God in its devotional time, completing it in a year. It would also provide a year-long study for Presbyterian Women, Presbyterian Men and similar organizations. Groups that meet nine times a year could combine certain lessons (such as Lessons 6-8 on the threefold office of Christ or 9-10 on the crucifixion and resurrection) to fit the material into their schedule. Study leaders should feel free to combine or divide lessons, adapting this resource to meet the needs of less formal Bible study gatherings. Certainly the material presented in each lesson is far from exhaustive. The study leader who wishes to provide more background, or study participants who wish to explore the topics considered in more detail, will find a list of additional resources at the end of every lesson. Each lesson has been prepared so that it may be used “as is” or as a resource for a teacher preparing a lesson plan. The study of Jesus “It is of great importance for Christian believers to have, from time to time, a reasonable, sane, mature person stand up in their midst and say ‘God is ...’ and go on to complete the sentence intelligently. ... The theologian offers his mind in the service of saying ‘God’ in such a way that God is not reduced or packaged or banalized, but known and contemplated and adored, with the consequence that our lives are not cramped into what we can explain but exalted by what we worship.”¹ It is my hope that these studies will lead to the worship of Jesus Christ – the Son of God, the Incarnate Word, the second person of the Trinity – by speaking to the mind as well as to the heart. Although most Christians know the command “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30), the modern age has tended to value feelings over facts. As a result, the modern church has been inclined to emphasize that which warms the heart over that which fires the mind. In response, I have looked to those who have offered their minds in the service of God and have tried to draw together resources from throughout “the Great Tradition,” which stretches back to the early church, through the Reformers, and is continued in the best of current evangelical scholarship. For if we are to strengthen our souls, we must be careful to nourish both our hearts and our minds, a concern Paul voices so eloquently in his prayer “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened …” (Eph. 1:18). It is my prayer that those who participate in this study – all of us by definition theologians, those who speak a word (logos) about God (theos) – will do so with the goal of more fully knowing, contemplating and adoring our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is truly the Son of God. Endnotes
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