Who do the JW’s say Jesus is?

For one, they do not believe in the trinity.  They say that Jesus is not the main focus, but rather Jehovah.  The Holy Spirit is not believed to be a divine member of the trinity either.  Rather, the holy spirit (notice the lower case letters) is another name for Jehovah at work.

The kicker is that they do not believe Jesus is God, but rather a created being.    He is the human incarnation of Michael the Archangel.  They claim that there was no bodily resurrection, but rather go back to being Michael.

They also do not believe Jesus died on the cross.  They think the original word translates into ‘steak.’  The word (stauros) is found in John 19:17 and following.   It’s a bad translation of the word.  Looking into the two thousand years people have been reading Greek scriptures, it is funny to think that the JW’s are the only ones who think this translation.

Some other issues with the torture stake.  John 20:25 speaks of multiple nails.  Matthew 27:37 says the sign is above Jesus’ head, not above his hands.  John 21:18-19 Jesus talks about stretching out hands on the cross, which cannot be done with the stake.

How are they able to come up these beliefs?

They use one translation of the Bible, their translation.  The New World Translation was made in 1955, and that is the one source they use.  They claim this is the only reliable interpretation of the Bible.  Obviously they have followed suit of Charles Taze Russell in not knowing how to translate Greek.