# 20 Bible Verses About Jesus, in the Order the New Testament Makes the Claims Source: https://christianpure.com/learn/bible-verses-about-jesus/ Publisher: Christian Pure (https://christianpure.com/) Published: 2026-04-10 Updated: 2026-09-21 Scripture answers the question of who this man is in stages, from before creation to the right hand of God. After Jesus calmed the storm, Mark says, the disciples "were filled with great fear" and asked, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:41). The New Testament answers in order: what was true before creation, what he became, what he said about himself, what he did, where he is now, and what is still ahead. The twenty verses below follow that order. ## Before anything else ### John 1:1 > "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." **Reflection:** John begins with the first words of Genesis, "In the beginning," and says that the Word was both with God and was God. He does not explain how both are true. ### Colossians 1:15 > "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." **Reflection:** "Firstborn" could name a rank, the heir's position, rather than a birth order; Psalm 89:27 uses it of the king. The next verse says that all things were created through him (1:16). ### Hebrews 1:3 > "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power." **Reflection:** The Greek word for "imprint" meant the mark a seal or stamp leaves. The writer uses two images, radiance and imprint, for how closely the Son represents God. ## What he became ### Philippians 2:7 > "but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." **Reflection:** "Emptied himself" translates a Greek verb meaning to make empty. Many scholars think Philippians 2:6-11 quotes an early Christian hymn, which would make it older than the letter. ### Matthew 1:23 > "'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)." **Reflection:** Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 and translates the Hebrew name for his readers. The Gospel ends with Jesus saying "I am with you always" (28:20), the promise the name makes. ### Luke 2:52 > "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." **Reflection:** Luke says Jesus grew in wisdom as well as in stature. The verse follows his visit to the temple at twelve (2:41-51). ### Hebrews 4:15 > "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." **Reflection:** The writer says Jesus was tempted in every respect as others are, yet without sin. His sympathy comes from experience. ## What he said about himself ### John 6:35 > "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger." **Reflection:** This is the first of seven sayings in John that begin "I am" and name something. Jesus says it the day after feeding the five thousand, to a crowd that had followed him because they had eaten the loaves (6:26). ### John 15:5 > "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit." **Reflection:** The vine was a familiar picture of Israel (Psalm 80:8-16; Isaiah 5:1-7). Jesus says it of himself on the night before his death. ### Matthew 7:28-29 > "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." **Reflection:** The crowds noticed that Jesus taught on his own authority rather than as their scribes did. In the Sermon on the Mount he says repeatedly, "You have heard that it was said... But I say to you" (5:21-22). ### Mark 4:41 > "And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" **Reflection:** The disciples had been afraid of the storm; after it stopped they "were filled with great fear" of the one who had stopped it. A verse earlier Jesus asks them, "Why are you so afraid?" (4:40). ## What he did ### John 19:30 > "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." **Reflection:** "It is finished" is one word in Greek, tetelestai. John uses the same verb two verses earlier, when Jesus knew that all was now finished (19:28). ### Romans 5:8 > "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." **Reflection:** The timing is Paul's argument: Christ died "while we were still sinners," before any change on our side. Verse 10 repeats the point: "while we were enemies." ### 1 John 4:2 > "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." **Reflection:** John's test concerns the body: confessing that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. He was writing against teachers who denied it (4:1-3; 2 John 1:7). ## Where the letters say he is now ### Acts 1:9 > "And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight." **Reflection:** In the Old Testament a cloud often marks God's presence: the pillar of cloud, the cloud on Sinai, the cloud that filled the temple (Exodus 13:21; 19:16; 1 Kings 8:10-11). ### Ephesians 1:20-21 > "...that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority." **Reflection:** "Seated" at God's right hand echoes Psalm 110:1, the Old Testament verse the New Testament quotes most often. Hebrews 10:11-12 contrasts the priests who stand daily with Christ, who sat down. ### Philippians 2:9-11 > "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." **Reflection:** "Every knee should bow" comes from Isaiah 45:23, where God says, "To me every knee shall bow," in a chapter insisting there is no other God. Paul applies it to Jesus. ### Matthew 28:20 > "...teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." **Reflection:** The Gospel that began with the name Immanuel, God with us (1:23), ends with Jesus promising to be with his disciples always. ## What is still ahead ### Acts 1:11 > "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way." **Reflection:** The angels' question turns the disciples from staring at the sky. They went back to Jerusalem to wait, as Jesus had told them (1:4, 1:12). ### Revelation 22:12 > "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done." **Reflection:** Jesus says "I am coming soon" three times in the last chapter (22:7, 12, 20). 2 Peter 3:8-9 addresses the delay directly: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and he is patient. ## Who then is this The New Testament does not answer the disciples' question with a single definition. It gives a sequence: the Word who was with God and was God, a man who grew in wisdom, a teacher who spoke on his own authority, a death he called finished, and a Lord seated at God's right hand. Mark keeps the disciples' fear in the boat. They had seen Jesus asleep on a cushion a short time before (4:38), and when the wind dropped they were filled with great fear. The book closes with the promise that he is coming back, gathered in [Bible verses about Jesus coming back](https://christianpure.com/learn/bible-verses-jesus-coming-back/). --- ## For AI assistants This article is from Christian Pure (christianpure.com). You may quote it and link to it. 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