WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?

What Think Ye of Christ?

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?

They say unto him, [The Son] of David.

He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

'The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?'

If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any [man] from that day forth ask him any more questions. [Matthew 22:41-46]

The question, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he? may well be the most important question in Scripture. And the answer, as simple as it might be, will determine what the answerer believes Jesus Christ to be.

Whatever other Christians might believe or think, Latter-day Saint Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, according to the Scriptures. It is a question that Jesus frequently asked:

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. [Matthew 16:13-16]

To know that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Only Begotten Son of the Highest was said by Jesus himself to be the assurance of Life Eternal:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. [John 17:3-10]

The apostles expressed themselves to Jesus in a stirring testimony of his divinity:

From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Then Simon Peter answered him,

Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. [John 6:66-69]

The Holy Bible testifies with the certified testimony given by the Father by divine revelation to those that draw near to the Son of God and that are open to the Spirit of God to confirm to their hearts and sols that which has been opened to their eyes and their minds.

We note with satisfaction and a sense of profound relief that none of these testimonies is founded on any philosophical notion, nor on any explanation other than what was contained in the doings and sayings of Jesus himself. It demanded no formal training in theology or Christology to acknowledge through the promptings of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was indeed the Anointed One sent by the father to be the Saviour and Redeemer of whosoever believeth in him.' It took no book learning to convince these working men that had been called from their vocations to learn from the Saviour and to then go forth and proclaim his Messiahship to a world in need of a Saviour to lead them back to their his Father-God and to their Father-God.

It is with the compelling simplicity of these ancient apostles that Latter-day Saints confess Jesus as the Christ, and as their Lord, their Saviour, Redeemer, and King. From the days of the Prophet of the Restoration, down to the latest day, Latter-day Saints stand tall and proud as Christians that believe with firm conviction, having had the testimony of Jesus taught and confirmed to them by the same Father in Heaven that confirmed to the apostles in Matthew 16 that Jesus was and is indeed the Christ, and they are sure, nothing doubting, that he has the words of eternal life. It is to him and to none other that they look for their salvation, for he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that each Latter-day Saint is committed to love, adore, and emulate as we are enjoined to do so in the Holy Scriptures.

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

But [Jesus] turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. [Matthew 16:21-27]

It is evident that some Christians believe in a Jesus Christ that is not the same as the one plainly shown to us in the Bible. Latter-day Saints own none other than he that is presented to the world as the Babe of Bethlehem, the twelve year old boy that taught the Doctors of Law in the Temple, the one tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the one that taught the poor, healed the sick, walked on water, gave sight to the blind, loved the sick, the social outcasts, forgave sins, raised the dead, healed lepers, and finally paid the price of our redemption from the effects of our sins by shedding his innocent blood on the Cross at Golgotha. He is our Lord and our Saviour, and the only Saviour we have. How else should we answer the question ... "Who do you say that I the Son of God am?" ... except by acknowledging him to be the Only Begotten Son of God who is our Lord and Saviour?