Who is Jesus?
In a world full of information and opinions, this question stands above the rest. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes Jesus Christ is exactly who he said he is: true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. He is our Lord, the Son of God who was crucified and rose again for the salvation of all who trust in him.
Christ is not Jesus’s last name. It comes from the Greek Christos (Χριστός), translating the Hebrew Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ), “anointed one.” It identifies him as the Messiah, God’s promised Savior, sent so that we might belong to him and live free under his reign, rather than under the reign of sin, death, and the power of the devil.
A real person, in real history
This isn’t legend or metaphor. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried — real events, in a real place, first-century Israel, involving real people. The third day he rose again from the dead. The Bible reliably records this history, and the miracles and teachings recorded in the Gospels are true.
What scripture says
“Jesus is the eternal Word of God, present at creation, who became flesh and lived among us.”
John 1:1–14“Though he was God, Jesus took on the humility of a servant and obeyed his Father even to death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:5–11“Through Jesus, God reconciled the world to himself, making peace through the blood of his cross.”
Colossians 1:13–20What we believe, in plain terms
Jesus Christ is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. He is our Lord. Everyone belongs to someone. Left to ourselves, we live under the reign of sin, death, and the power of the devil — not as a distant idea, but as the plain shape of a life without a Redeemer. Jesus purchased and won us out of that captivity. Not with gold or silver, but with his own holy, precious blood, given in his innocent suffering and death. He did this so that we could be his own: living under him, free from fear and guilt, and serving him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Just as he rose from the dead, he lives and reigns to all eternity. This is the faith Christians have confessed for two thousand years, the same faith we hold today.
Adapted from lcms.org/about/beliefs/who-is-jesus and Luther’s Small Catechism, The Creed, Second Article
How we know him
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the sacraments Christ himself established — his own word and promise attached to them, so that he is truly present in them for us. Alongside these, he keeps meeting us in the spoken word of forgiveness.
In Baptism, the old self in us is put to death by daily contrition and repentance, and a new self rises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever — a washing of the new birth, worked not by water alone, but by God’s word with the water.
In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives us his true body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins — for where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
God speaks to us in two words: Law and Gospel. The Law shows us our sin; the Gospel is his final word over us. Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and each week in worship, we confess our sins together and receive the words of absolution. This is how we know him — not by our own effort, but by his mercy and grace, his last word to his people. Knowing him is not what saves us. His final word does.
Adapted from Luther’s Small Catechism — Holy Baptism, The Sacrament of the Altar, and The Lord’s Prayer
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