The New Testament is the only document that gives us a reliable picture of Jesus of Nazareth, who he is and what he means for humankind.  The Gospel according to St. Mark, the earliest of the recorded Gospels, (about 70 A.D.) says, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased'" (Mark 1:9-11).

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews calls him "... the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross ... and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

St. Paul, the earliest of the New Testament writers, says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:15-20).

St. John’s Gospel calls Jesus the Word, saying "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:1-5).

The universal Christ

ELCA theologian, Carl Braaten, writes: "(Jesus) is clearly depicted as the Messiah of Israel, God’s only Son, the Lord of creation, the Savior of all humanity.  The New Testament abounds with titles which identify the uniqueness of Jesus.  It is simply not possible to ... subtract these titles from the picture of the Man and have any real Jesus at all.  We have no picture of Jesus as merely Jesus, to interpret as we please.  The only Jesus we know is Jesus as the Christ, Son of God, Logos, Lord, Savior - all titles of highest possible honor, putting him in the place which Israel had reserved for God alone, so much so that ultimately the church’s "trinitarian formula (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)"  (becomes) the only sound way to speak about the identity and meaning of Jesus.  If we rightly read the New Testament, we learn that Jesus is not a son of God, but the only Son, not a savior, but the only Savior, not a Lord, but the Lord of lords, etc."*  Braaten goes on to say: "The special quality of Jesus’ uniqueness is best grasped in terms of his universal meaning.  The concrete person, Jesus of Nazareth, is unique because of his unequaled universal significance.  The point of his uniqueness underlines his universality.  If Jesus is the Lord and Savior, he is the universal Lord and Savior, not merely my personal Lord and Savior."*

True God, true man

But for Christians all over the world he is that, too - a personal Lord and Savior.  The earliest of the universal Christian creeds, confessed by ELCA Lutherans in worship and drawn from the New Testament witness, says:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father,
Through him all things were made
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

Incarnation, salvation, invitation

For ELCA Lutherans, as for all Christians, Jesus is fully man and fully God. We believe that in this Jesus atonement (the reconciliation of God and humankind) is accomplished. He is God’s promised Messiah, the Christ, humankind’s savior. In him, "... God reveals to us most supremely who God is, how God relates to us and the world, and the depths to which God will go for our salvation." ***

ELCA Lutherans believe that incarnated, enfleshed in this First Century human being, God's promise to redeem all creation is fulfilled, God's righteousness is shown, and God's covenant with humankind is fulfilled.  We believe that Jesus, who having been put to death by crucifixion by the decree of the Roman curator Pontius Pilate, was witnessed as resurrected, and became, in the words of St. Paul, the first born of the dead (Romans 6:1-11).   We believe that in his death our own sin and separation from God died   We believe that God intends humankind to participate in a resurrection like his that will unite us with him in his heavenly kingdom.  Just so - as he did with St. Peter and St. Andrew - this Jesus invites each of us in our lifetime to "Follow me ...." (Matthew 3:19).

*Carl Braaten, The Universal Meaning of Jesus Christ, Lutheran Church in America, Partners Magazine, December, 1980