2 of 12 Christian Basics: Who is Jesus?
Humble repentance
Many people have suggested basic concepts for Christianity. In fact, Jesus himself taught 12 basics of theology in his Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). In the first article of this series on Christian basics, I listed the 12 I found there.
The first basic, stated by Jesus himself, is that he has “all authority.” His authority included the power to heal and to forgive sins. The latter was considered blasphemy by the religious leaders of his day, since only God has the power to forgive sins. Jesus was claiming to be God.
In today’s second basic, we see that Jesus identified with the father in the story of the parable son in Luke 15:11-31. He told the story to answer objections of some of the religious leaders that he “welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Rather than being distressed about the disreputable people who came to him, as his critics were, Jesus was delighted that they came to him, and wanted his critics to welcome them as well.
In the story, the son reached the end of himself. He was desperate. He was distraught about how unworthy he was because he damaged his relationship with his father. He repented of his wayward life when he returned to the father. The father, in turn, joyfully welcomed his long-lost son back with open arms and forgiveness. We understand that Jesus, although he had “all authority,” and was God, welcomed with open arms all those who came to him humbly and with repentance. He expected his followers to do the same. This is why he was so willing to welcome “sinners and eat with them.”
Although there is much more to say about who Jesus is, these two things, his authority and his forgiveness are two of the most important. Jesus considered a restored relationship with God the most important thing in life. In Jesus’s mind, no one was beyond the forgiveness and restoration that God offers.
You can see the entire study on the 12 basics of Christian theology here.
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