Who Is Jesus? Saviour (Part 1)

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:1-6

The Christian author and editor Philip Yancey writes: "I first got acquainted with Jesus when I was a child, singing “Jesus Loves Me” in Sunday school, addressing bedtime prayers to “Dear Lord Jesus,” watching Bible Club teachers move cutout figures across a flannelgraph board. I associated Jesus with Kool-Aid and sugar cookies and gold stars for good attendance.

            I remember especially one image from Sunday school, an oil painting that hung on the concrete block wall. Jesus had long, flowing hair, unlike that of any man I knew. His face was thin and handsome, his skin waxen and milky white. He wore a robe of scarlet, and the artist had taken pains to show the play of light on its folds. In his arms, Jesus cradled a small sleeping lamb. I imagined myself as that lamb, blessed beyond all telling.

            Recently, I read a book that the elderly Charles Dickens had written to sum up the life of Jesus for his children. In it, the portrait emerges of a sweet Victorian nanny who pats the heads of boys and girls and offers such advice as, “Now, children, you must be nice to your mummy and daddy.” With a start I recalled the Sunday school image of Jesus that I grew up with: someone kind and reassuring, with no sharp edges at all—a Mister Rogers before the age of children’s television. As a child I felt comforted by such a person." (The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 13).

            What are your earliest impressions of Jesus? I remember Him as a very white man wearing a white robe and a blue sash. He also had a cartoon quality about Himself, seeing as I often saw representations of Him from the Picture Bible.

            But more importantly, who is Jesus? Is He the good moral teacher many North Americans make Him out to be? Is He a dangerous and intolerant right-winger? Or is He merely one of God’s many prophets or spokespersons?

            The founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, A. B. Simpson, taught that Jesus was our Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. I would like to take some time to explore these ideas, beginning with Jesus as Saviour.