Ninyi Mwaniambiaje Kuwa Mimi Ni Nani? Nafsi, Kazi, na Utukufu wa KristoWho Do You Say That I Am? The Person, Work, and Glory of Christ
Muhtasari wa jumla: Nafsi ya Kristo, kazi yake ya sehemu tatu, majina yake, mwito wa imani, na Bwana aliye hai atakayerudiA synthesis: the Person of Christ, His threefold work, His names, the call to faith, and the living, returning Lord
1. Swali Kuu1. The Central Question
Katikati ya huduma yake, huko Kaisaria Filipi, Yesu aliwauliza wanafunzi wake swali ambalo kila kitu kinategemea juu yake. Kwanza aliuliza makutano walisema yeye ni nani; kisha akalikaza swali kwao wenyewe: "Nanyi mwaniambiaje kuwa mimi ni nani?" Petro akajibu, "Wewe ndiwe Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu aliye hai" (Mathayo 16:15–16). Yesu akamjibu kwamba mwili na damu havikumfunulia hayo, bali Baba yake aliye mbinguni (Mathayo 16:17). Hilo ndilo swali ambalo kila msomaji wa Injili hatimaye lazima alijibu, kwa maana kujifunza maisha ya Kristo ni kuulizwa swali hilo. Sehemu hii ya mwisho inakusanya yale ambayo hadithi nzima imetuonyesha kuhusu yeye ni nani na amefanya nini. Mafundisho na ibada vinakutana katika jibu, kwa maana jibu tunalotoa kwa swali lake linaunda maisha yetu yote na umilele wetu.Halfway through His ministry, at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus put to His disciples the question on which everything turns. First He asked who the crowds said He was; then He pressed it home: "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15–16). To this Jesus replied that flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but His Father in heaven (Matthew 16:17). That is the question every reader of the Gospels must finally answer, for to study the life of Christ is to be asked it. This closing unit gathers up what the whole story has shown us about who He is and what He has done. Doctrine and devotion meet in the answer, for the reply we give to His question shapes our whole life and our eternity.
2. Nafsi ya Kristo: Mungu Kweli na Mwanadamu Kweli2. The Person of Christ: True God and True Man
Tangu sehemu ya kwanza kabisa kweli mbili zimesimama pamoja, na hakuna hata moja inayoweza kuachwa: yeye ni Mungu kweli na mwanadamu kweli, Nafsi moja.From the very first unit two truths have stood together, and neither may be let go: He is truly God and truly man, one Person.
Yeye ni Mungu kweli. "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:1); na "Neno alifanyika mwili, akakaa kwetu" (Yohana 1:14). Ndani yake "unakaa utimilifu wote wa Mungu, kwa jinsi ya kimwili" (Wakolosai 2:9). Alisamehe dhambi, aliamuru upepo na bahari, aliwafufua wafu, alipokea ibada, na alifufuka kutoka kaburini yeye mwenyewe — kazi ambazo ni za Mungu peke yake.He is truly God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1); and "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). In Him "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). He forgave sins, commanded the wind and the sea, raised the dead, received worship, and rose from the grave Himself — works that belong to God alone.
Yeye ni mwanadamu kweli. Alizaliwa na Mariamu, akakua kwa kimo, akaona njaa na kiu, akachoka na kulala usingizi, akalia kaburini, "alijaribiwa sawasawa na sisi katika mambo yote, bila kufanya dhambi" (Waebrania 4:15), na akafa kifo halisi. Hakuwa kivuli, wala kuonekana tu, wala Mungu aliyevaa mwili kama vazi la kujificha.He is truly man. Born of Mary, He grew in stature, hungered and thirsted, grew weary and slept, wept at a grave, was "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15), and died a real death. He was no phantom, no mere appearance, no God in a costume of flesh.
Na kweli hizi zimeshikamana katika Nafsi moja — si Mungu na mwanadamu waliofungwa pamoja kwa ulegevu, si mchanganyiko ambao si huu wala si ule, si mwanadamu tu aliyefanywa baadaye kuwa Mungu kwa kufanywa mwana, bali Mwana yule mmoja wa milele aliyejitwalia hali yetu ya ubinadamu. Hakuacha kuwa Mungu alipofanyika mwanadamu; ingawa alikuwa "yuna namna ya Mungu" na "hakuona kule kuwa sawa na Mungu kuwa ni kitu cha kushikamana nacho," "alijifanya kuwa hana utukufu, akatwaa namna ya mtumwa" (Wafilipi 2:6–7), akiufunika utukufu wake bila kamwe kuuweka kando Uungu wake. Hii ndiyo siri na utukufu wa kufanyika mwili: Muumba wa vyote aliingia katika ulimwengu wake mwenyewe akiwa mtoto mchanga. Midomo ile ile ambayo siku moja ingesema "Naona kiu" ilikuwa tayari imetangaza, "Kabla Ibrahimu hajakuwako, MIMI NIKO" (Yohana 8:58). Kweli zote mbili ni za lazima kwa wokovu wetu: kama mwanadamu kweli aliweza kusimama mahali petu na kufa kwa ajili ya wanadamu; kama Mungu kweli kifo chake kimoja kina thamani ya kutosha kuukomboa ulimwengu.And these are held in one Person — not God and man loosely tied together, not some blend that is neither, not a mere man later adopted into divinity, but the one eternal Son who took our nature to Himself. He did not cease to be God when He became man; though He was "in the form of God" and "did not consider it robbery to be equal with God," He "made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant" (Philippians 2:6–7), veiling His glory without ever laying aside His deity. This is the mystery and the glory of the incarnation: the Maker of all entered His own world as a child. The same lips that would one day say "I thirst" had already declared, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58). Both truths are necessary to our salvation: as true man He could stand in our place and die for men; as true God His one death has worth enough to redeem a world.
3. Kazi ya Kristo: Nabii, Kuhani, na Mfalme3. The Work of Christ: Prophet, Priest, and King
Maandiko yanakusanya kazi yake ya wokovu chini ya huduma tatu za zamani, na maisha yote tuliyojifunza yanaangukia chini yake kwa urahisi.The Scriptures gather His saving work under three ancient offices, and the whole life we have studied falls naturally under them.
Kama Nabii alimfunua Mungu kikamilifu. "Aliyeniona mimi amemwona Baba" (Yohana 14:9). Alifundisha si kama waandishi bali kama mtu mwenye mamlaka, na neno lake si chini ya neno la Mungu kwetu. Ndani yake mfululizo mrefu wa manabii unafikia kikomo, kwa maana "Mungu, ambaye alisema zamani na baba zetu katika manabii... mwisho wa siku hizi amesema na sisi katika Mwana" (Waebrania 1:1–2); yeye ndiye Neno la Mungu la mwisho na lililo kamili kuliko yote.As Prophet He revealed God perfectly. "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). He taught not as the scribes but with authority, and His word is nothing less than the word of God to us. In Him the long line of prophets reaches its end, for "God, who... spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1–2); He is God's final and fullest Word.
Kama Kuhani alijitoa mwenyewe kuwa dhabihu moja kwa ajili ya dhambi. Mwana-Kondoo wa Mungu aliichukua hukumu yetu; "Imekwisha" ilitangaza kwamba deni la dhambi limelipwa kikamilifu. Kwa toleo lile moja "amewakamilisha hata milele hao wanaotakaswa" (Waebrania 10:14), akifungua kupitia pazia lililopasuka njia mpya iliyo hai ya kumwendea Mungu. Na sasa, akiwa amefufuka na kupaa, "yu hai sikuzote ili awaombee" wale wanaomjia Mungu kwa yeye (Waebrania 7:25). Yeye ni dhabihu na pia Kuhani aliyeitoa.As Priest He offered Himself as the one sacrifice for sins. The Lamb of God bore our judgment; "It is finished" declared the debt of sin paid in full. By that one offering "He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14), opening through the torn veil a new and living way to God. And now, risen and ascended, "He always lives to make intercession" for those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25). He is at once the sacrifice and the Priest who offered it.
Kama Mfalme alifufuka kutoka kwa wafu akatangaza, "Nimepewa mamlaka yote mbinguni na duniani" (Mathayo 28:18). Alipaa mpaka mkono wa kuume wa Baba, anatawala sasa juu ya vitu vyote, naye atarudi kuwahukumu walio hai na waliokufa na kufanya vitu vyote kuwa vipya. Hori lilielekeza hatimaye kwenye kiti cha enzi; na kutoka kiti hicho cha enzi analituma kanisa lake ulimwenguni mwote, nayo Injili inaenea chini ya mamlaka yake mpaka atakapokuja.As King He rose from the dead and declared, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He reigns now over all things, and He will return to judge the living and the dead and to make all things new. The manger led at last to a throne; and from that throne He sends His church into all the world, and the gospel goes forth under His authority until He comes.
4. Majina Yake Yanakiri Utukufu Wake4. His Names Confess His Glory
Vyeo alivyovibeba na kuvidai ni vyenyewe ukiri wa yeye ni nani. Yeye ni Kristo, Masihi aliyeahidiwa; Mwana wa Adamu, ambaye bado atakuja juu ya mawingu ya mbinguni; Mwana wa Mungu, mmoja na Baba; na Bwana, jina lililo juu ya kila jina. Kama Mwana wa Adamu alitwaa mwili wetu kweli, naye atakuja tena juu ya mawingu ya mbinguni katika utukufu; kama Mwana wa Mungu anashiriki uhai wa milele wa Baba, mwenye asili moja naye.The titles He bore and claimed are themselves a confession of who He is. He is the Christ, the promised Messiah; the Son of Man, who is yet to come on the clouds of heaven; the Son of God, one with the Father; and Lord, the name that is above every name. As Son of Man He took our very flesh and will yet come on the clouds of heaven in glory; as Son of God He shares the eternal being of the Father, of one substance with Him.
Vivyo hivyo maneno makuu ya "MIMI NDIMI" katika Injili ya Yohana yanamfunua: chakula cha uzima, nuru ya ulimwengu, mlango wa kondoo, mchungaji mwema, ufufuo na uzima, njia na kweli na uzima, na mzabibu wa kweli. Alisema, "Mimi ndimi chakula cha uzima; yeye ajaye kwangu hataona njaa kamwe" (Yohana 6:35), na "Mimi ndimi mchungaji mwema. Mchungaji mwema huutoa uhai wake kwa ajili ya kondoo" (Yohana 10:11). Katika kila moja anakidhi hitaji ambalo yeye peke yake anaweza kulitosheleza; na katika kila moja linasikika lile Jina la Kiungu, "MIMI NIKO," lililonenwa kwa Musa kwenye kichaka kilichowaka moto. Kumtaja kwa jina lake sahihi tayari ni kumwabudu.So too the great "I AM" sayings of John's Gospel unveil Him: the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth and the life, and the true vine. He said, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall never hunger" (John 6:35), and "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). In each He meets a need that He alone can satisfy; and in each there echoes the divine Name, "I AM," that was spoken to Moses at the burning bush. To name Him rightly is already to worship.
5. Mwito: Amini na Ufuate5. The Call: Believe and Follow
Injili hazikuandikwa kama kumbukumbu tupu za matukio bali ili kuwaleta wasomaji wake kwenye imani. Yohana anasema waziwazi: "hizi zimeandikwa ili mpate kuamini ya kuwa Yesu ndiye Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu; na kwa kuamini mpate kuwa na uzima kwa jina lake" (Yohana 20:31). Neno lile lile lililofungua sehemu yetu ya kwanza sasa linafunga kozi hii, kwa maana hilo ndilo limekuwa lengo lake tangu mwanzo.The Gospels were not written as bare chronicle but to bring their readers to faith. John says it plainly: "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31). The same word that opened our first unit now closes the course, for this has been its aim all along.
Na hivyo maisha ya Kristo yanamdai kila mtu anayeyasikia. Hatuombi kwanza tumstaajabie, bali tumtumaini na kumtii: "Mtu yeyote akitaka kunifuata, na ajikane mwenyewe, ajitwike msalaba wake, anifuate" (Mathayo 16:24) — kwa maana "mtu atakaye kuiokoa nafsi yake ataiangamiza; na mtu atakayeiangamiza nafsi yake kwa ajili yangu ataiona" (Mathayo 16:25). Kujua yeye ni nani kwa kweli ni kuitwa kumsujudia kama Bwana, kupokea uzima anaoutoa, na kushika njia ya ufuasi nyuma yake. Jibu sahihi kwa Bwana wa namna hii ni kutubu dhambi, kumwamini, na kupokea kutoka mkononi mwake uzima mpya na wa milele.And so the life of Christ presses its claim upon everyone who hears it. He does not ask first to be admired, but to be trusted and obeyed: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24) — for "whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). To know who He truly is, is to be summoned to bow before Him as Lord, to receive the life He gives, and to take up the road of discipleship behind Him. The right response to such a Lord is to repent of sin, to believe on Him, and to receive from His hand a new and everlasting life.
6. Bwana Aliye Hai na Atakayerudi6. The Living and Returning Lord
Yeye si mtu aliyeachwa nyuma katika historia. Amefufuka, amepaa, na yu hai, naye amewapa walio wake ahadi hii: "Mimi nipo pamoja nanyi siku zote, hata ukamilifu wa dahari" (Mathayo 28:20). Bwana tunayemjifunza ni Bwana aliye pamoja nasi.He is not a figure left behind in the past. He is risen, ascended, and alive, and He has given His own this promise: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). The Lord we study is the Lord who is present.
Naye atakuja tena. Malaika walisema, "Yesu huyu... atakuja jinsi iyo hiyo mlivyomwona akienda zake mbinguni" (Matendo 1:11). Maandiko yanatupa tumaini la hakika la kurudi kwake, ufufuo wa wafu, hukumu, na uumbaji uliofanywa upya — na ingawa waamini kwa muda mrefu wametofautiana kuhusu mpangilio na nyakati za mambo hayo ya mwisho, uhakika mkuu ni Bwana mwenyewe, aliyeyashinda mauti na ambaye hatashindwa kulitimiza neno lake. Hili ndilo tumaini lenye baraka, kwamba tunangojea "mafunuo ya utukufu wa Mungu mkuu na Mwokozi wetu Yesu Kristo" (Tito 2:13), na kwamba atakapofunuliwa tutafanana naye, kwa kuwa tutamwona kama alivyo (1 Yohana 3:2).And He will come again. The angels said, "This same Jesus... will so come in like manner as you saw Him go" (Acts 1:11). Scripture holds out the sure hope of His return, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment, and a renewed creation — and though believers have long differed over the order and timing of those last things, the great certainty is the Lord Himself, who has conquered death and will not fail to keep His word. This is the blessed hope, that we wait "for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13), and that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
Kwa maana siku inakuja ambapo "kwa jina la Yesu kila goti lipigwe... na kila ulimi ukiri ya kuwa Yesu Kristo ni Bwana, kwa utukufu wa Mungu Baba" (Wafilipi 2:10–11). Wengine watapiga magoti kwa upendo wa furaha na wengine kwa kulazimishwa kujitiisha, lakini kila goti litapigwa na kila ulimi utamkiri.For the day is coming when "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10–11). Some will bow in glad love and some in compelled submission, but every knee will bow and every tongue confess Him.
Hadithi iliyoanza kabla ya wakati, ikaingia katika ulimwengu wetu horini, ikatembea katika barabara zetu za mavumbi, ikafa juu ya msalaba wetu, ikafufuka kutoka kaburi letu la kuazimwa, na kupaa hadi kiti cha enzi cha mbinguni, bado haijamalizika; inangoja tu kurudi kwake. Na lile swali aliloliuliza huko Kaisaria Filipi bado linasimama mbele ya kila mmoja wetu, wala halitaahirishwa milele: "Nanyi mwaniambiaje kuwa mimi ni nani?"The story that began before time, entered our world in a manger, walked our dusty roads, died upon our cross, rose from our borrowed grave, and ascended to the throne of heaven, is not yet finished; it waits only for His return. And the question He asked at Caesarea Philippi still stands before each of us, and will not be put off forever: "Who do you say that I am?"