Who Is This?

Easter...what a wonderful time for Christians...and for anyone searching for the truth. Easter is exciting for me because it is a statement that Jesus did not just die for us, but was resurrected! He lives!

For Palm Sunday, I went to Matthew 21, where Jesus was depicted coming into Jerusalem. Though He was celebrated and "palm branches" were strewn in His path, verse 10 quotes many as saying, "Who is this?" A valid question. I went on to ask, "What's So Special About Jesus?"

The bottom line is found in two particular New Testament verses. First, in John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Then in Acts 4:12 it says, "There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Pretty narrow...and pretty special. He is the only way to God; He is our only Savior. Only He can forgive us our sins, which is why He went to the cross for us. That is what is so special about Jesus!

The Bible is pretty plain about this...there is no other way to salvation, except through Jesus Christ. That's not my decision or conclusion, it is just the straight, simple teaching of the Bible.

On Easter, I went through the entire Bible and shared with my congregation how Jesus is found and illustrated all the way through, as the little boy said, "from generations to revolutions!" I will feature this for the next few days, as it would make today's column too long...so here goes:

-In Genesis, Jesus Christ is the seed of the woman.
-In Exodus, He is the passover lamb.
-In Leviticus, He is our high priest.
-In Numbers, He is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
-In Deuteronomy, He is the prophet like unto Moses.
-In Joshua, He is the captain of our salvation.
-In Judges, He is our judge and lawgiver.

-In Ruth, He is our kinsman redeemer.
-In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is our trusted prophet.
-In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning king.
-In Ezra, He is the rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
-In Esther, He is our Mordecai.
-In Job, He is our ever-living redeemer.
-In Psalms, He is our shepherd.
-In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our wisdom.

There's more, and I will share tomorrow.