“Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.”  (Matthew 22:42)

Most people of the known world celebrate the holiday “Christmas” in the month of December. This holiday is celebrated by not only many Christians, but also many non-Christians. It holds many different meanings for many people. Since this Holiday is made up of two words “Christ” and “Masse,” it must have something to do with Christ. This devotion is not to delineate the origin of this holiday, or of its long history of celebration on December 25^th, or as to the “why” people celebrate Christmas; but instead about the first part of this compound word, “Christ.” Thus, the question of our text, “What think ye of Christ?”

In an effort to answer this question, we must consider three separate sets of answers:

First: When this question is posed to “the world of non-believers,” the great percentage of answers range from:

• It is a historical fact that Joseph and Mary, of the House of King David, had a baby born in the town of Bethlehem during the taxation under Caesar Augustus of the Jewish people. It is also a fact that this baby was hailed to be the King of the Jews, the Christ of the Old Testament; to set up His Kingdom and to rule from His father David’s throne. But the Jews rejected Him; they called Him an imposter, a blasphemer, a liar and hypocrite, among other titles. Then the Jews finally had the Roman Government to try, convict, and crucify Him on a cross.
• Or they say, yes we have heard of one called Jesus; it was told he was a good man, even a prophet to the Jews; but was finally crucified and buried in a tomb and is there unto his day.
• Others say he was some fictitious character told about in Jewish folklore.
• Some will say he set up his own cult; was mystical; and is still popular among some religious groups.

Second: When the question is posed to the Christian world, the answers vary from:

• He was the Son of God, yet capable of sin.
• He was God in the flesh, yet without sin; having no sin nature, but a perfect nature (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:15).
• As God in the flesh, He revealed the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6).
• He is The Savior; both The Christ and The Lord (Luke 2:11).
• He conquered spiritual death on the Cross for us (Hebrews 2:14; 9:12; Isaiah 53:1-12; Romans 6:23).
• His tomb is empty; because He was raised from the dead, proving He was the Son of God with Power (Romans 1:4).
• He is King of kings and Lord of Lords.

Third: When the question is posed to Christ, His answers are:

(John 11:25-26) “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

(John 14:6) “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

(John 17:2-3) “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. (3) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

It is obligatory, it is a must, for each individual to answer this question. Your answer will reveal your present position and your eternal position. If your answer, in the present state, is as was Peter’s in John 6:68-69 (see also Matthew 13:13-16), then you have revelation from God (John 3:27). You know He is not just a babe in the manger, but He is God in the Flesh. He is our Substitute, Sacrifice, and Savior; our High Priest, Prophet, and King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the Christ and the Lord (Isaiah 9:6-7). Your eternal state will be in His presence forever (2 Corinthians 5:8).

However, if your answer claims Him to be a defeated cultist, dead in the grave; or if your answer is as was the Pharisees, that He was a liar, a hypocrite, a deceiver, a blasphemer; that he had a devil; that He was an imposter – then your present state is that you are still dead in sins and trespasses. You have not been born again. You are a natural man, without spiritual discernment. You do not have the mind of Christ; the old man has not been replaced by the new man. Therefore, you are still under the law of sin and death. Your eternal position is one outside of the light; eternally separated from God; a place of mental anguish and torment; a place of no peace and no rest for eternity.

Then the question comes to you personally, reader. “What think ye of Christ?” Is He a babe in a manger? Or is He the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords? Is He a defeated and destroyed and dead religionist, still in the grave? Or is He the Son of God; raised from the grave as proof positive that He has destroyed spiritual death; declared to be the Son of God with power (who has all power in heaven and in earth), according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the Resurrection from the dead? Is He myth or is He reality? Is He just another good man who is dead, or is He the Savior, alive and on His Throne? Is He abstract, or does He live and dwell and abide in your spirit? He is either a fake, or He is who He said He was and is – God, our Redeemer, our All in all.

“What Think Ye of Christ?”