John 9 & 10 - Who is Jesus?

Is this an easy question for you? Difficult? If asked this in your workplace or someplace where the climate towards faith is unknown, how would you answer? Would the answer be related to how Christians in general see Jesus or how you personally see Jesus?

These are all thoughts that came up in a discussion this week when my small group and I were studying John 9 & 10. In these chapters (and the proceeding ones), Jesus is moving between Jerusalem, where many of the Pharisees are trying to figure out a way to "take care of him" and other places that are more remote.

Let me share a few related scriptures, this first one, from chapter 9 is a conversation among the Pharisees and with the blind man Jesus had healed (on the Sabbath).

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
¹⁷ Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

And a short while later, the former blind man's parents are brought in to the conversation.

²⁰ “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹ But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

 And a little later Jesus and the formerly blind man meet again.

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

Shortly after (in Chapter 10) Jesus says this about himself.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  

And the people were divided in their thoughts.

¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

As we discussed the different people's responses and the environment that they were in, we couldn't help but remember other responses to Jesus from other places in the Bible from Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ to the many other times Pharisees declared him demon possessed.

Some declared him openly and boldly whether in a positive or negative light and some were less out there. I am reminded of Nicodemus, a Pharisees who visits Jesus at night. He believes, and often when I read about Pharisees who pose positive assertions to their fellow Pharisees, I think of Nicodemus. He was a supporter but still walked in the ranks of the Pharisees, retaining his place of influence, in spite of the climate.

So I ask this again, what declarations would you make about Jesus in an unknown environment? Is answering that question easy or difficult.

For me, there have been times when this topic has come up and I have declared my relationship with Jesus and told the story of when I tried to commit suicide and Jesus saved me through his declaration of love for me. I have encouraged others to have an encounter with Jesus and to "come and see" who he is.

At other times, doors have been opened for me and I have taken a more subtle approach, posing questions and pointing to people and events in the world to cause the other person to consider Jesus without making a personal and definitive declaration myself.

And still other times, I have failed to walk through the door and make a declaration out of fear of how it would be received or because in that moment, I personally wasn't feeling all that close to Jesus and didn't want to take the risk.

Some days the question is easy, and other days it is hard, but everyday it is important. How would you answer it today?