| The People
Luke 2:25-32
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Here we see Simeon proclaim Him to be the Lord's salvation sent to all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. So a devout man of Israel, not a priest was the first to recognize Christ as the Messiah. Many times in New Testament it says that the Pharisees didn’t make a move against Him for the people held Him as a Prophet.
John the Baptist
In John 1:29-31, John the Baptist, when he first sees Jesus, proclaims, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”
The Disciples
In Matthew 16, when Christ asked who the people said He is, Peter replied, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” But when He asked who the disciples said He is, Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-17)
The Pharisees
The Pharisees were divided as to who He is, some believing Him to be the Christ, the One prophesied to come and others believed Him to be a blasphemer. Nicodemus came to Him at night to question Him about savlation. He believed that Jesus was the Christ, the coming Messiah. But he didn't want to be put out of the temple. (see John 3)
Demons
About every time Christ came in the presence of someone possessed by a demon, the demon within them would cry out, like the Legion in Mark 5, “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God?” So the demons knew who He was. They knew that He had been prophesied to come. So they were afraid He had come to cast them into the lake of fire.
The Centurion at the Cross
However, I think the most profound proclamation of Him by someone who saw him came from the centurion standing at the foot of the cross when He died. It says in Mark 15:39 that when the centurion heard him cry out and give up the ghost, he said, “alethos outos o anthropos Uios Theou en.” Alethos, This is the truth, but probably better said, It has been revealed, my eyes have been opened and I know this is the absolute truth, this man is the son of God.
Part 4 - What He said about Himself |
