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The Gospel of Matthew, a book in the Bible, tells us of this conversation between Jesus and his disciples:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Matthew 16:13-15

Christianity hangs on this question, who do we say he is. A person is not a Christian because he/she goes to church, because he hangs out with other people who are Christians, or even because he was baptized when he was young. What makes a person a Christian is who the person thinks Jesus is and what relevance Jesus has to the person.

To start, we look at how the disciples respond to Jesus' question:

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:16.

First off, let's look at that term, "Christ." This was not Jesus' last name, as some think. Christ means "anointed one," the Messiah. There were multiple prophesies in the Old Testament (Jewish Scripture) of the Messiah coming. Among several expectations of the Messiah, he was to be a messenger (Malachi 3:1), a prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15), high priest (Psalm 110:4), and Savior (Isaiah 49:6). Hence, it was expected by the Jews of his day that the Christ would be a very important spiritual leader, one that would lead them to "salvation." (cf. John 4:25).

"...the Son of the living God." This comment has more of a theological implication. Though Christians are said to be children of God, Jesus had a unique relationship: He was the Only Begotten Son of God the Father. He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18-25).

Similar to how you inherited some of your father's traits, Jesus is divine in nature, just as the Father is. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:1, 14. This is an important point in Christian theology, because many things in the Bible make no sense without it. For example, the only God forgives sins, yet we see that Jesus forgave sins:

And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
      Seeing their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."
      The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
      But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,"-- He said to the paralytic-- "I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home."
      Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
Luke 5:18-25.

So, we see that Jesus as witnessed by the Bible texts is a unique person indeed. In fact, he made one of the most audacious claim-- proceed with caution, if you are a religious pluralist, this may offend you-- Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6. Here, Jesus leaves us with a dilemma. Either Jesus is right, He is the only was to God, Christianity is right and all other believe systems (religions, atheism, etc.) are in error; or He is wrong, and Christianity cannot be a way to God (since this option makes Christianity's founder a liar). The option "all roads lead to God" is not left open to us. Jesus' words leave us no other option. Where do you stand?

The final aspect of Jesus identity I am going to talk about in this essay is what happened sometime around 33 AD or so. We are told that Jesus was crucified, which is the most excruciating way to die. (in fact, the term excruciating was created because there was no word to describe the horrific pain of crucifixion; it literally means "out of the cross").

But then, something the people didn't expect happened: Jesus raised from the dead...

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me [Paul] also.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

Why is it so important that Jesus was raised from the dead? The Resurrection defies our common sense knowledge that people don't come back from the dead after three days, especially without modern medical treatment, and where we can be certain one was dead. The Resurrection would be the greatest evidence of the supernatural, of the existence of God, and that Jesus' ministry on earth was truthful¹ to date. Now, in the near future I am planing on writing about the various evidences in favor of the Resurrection, and look at common objections. For now, however, if you accept these things but are uncertain about what to do now, I encourage you to read the next essay... If not, please look at the rest of my site, and/or consider some of the books and websites in the links and bibliography section. In particular, I highly recommend A Case For Christ by Lee Strobel. Though it doesn't delve too deep in the scholarship behind Christianity, it is at the very least a good starting place.

Notes and Citations:

1. The reasoning here is that, given a resurrection is an extremely rare event, and it happens to a leader of a religion, it follows that the leader's teachings are approved by a Deity. Otherwise, it is irrational for a Deity to raise from the dead a person who taught lies, knowing that such an event would lead people astray.