883 What Did Jesus Say about Himself Pt.1
What Did Jesus Have To Say About... • Sermon • Submitted
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- At an intersection there is an accident. Cars were pretty well banged up.
- There were four witnesses, one on each corner: one was a Lawyer, one a race car driver, one an interior decorator & one a panel beater.
Q. Now will those different people give exactly the same witness/report? - Probably not!
- Would they describe the very accident that happened – yes they would!
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- However, each of those witnesses would describe the incident from their own perspective
- The lawyer is thinking of the law suit that would ensue against the driver who was in the wrong
- The race car driver was more interested in telling his story about how fast the cars were travelling - oh & how the man on the goffer turned at the intersection only minutes before on only two wheels
- The interior decorator very much noticed the colours and shape of the car
- Whilst the panel beater emphasised the damage done to the vehicles.
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- As you can see, 4 different, but complimentary perspectives.
- In the Gospels, you will find slightly differing accounts about life and ministry of Jesus
- One thing for sure is that they all agree on the truths of Jesus & what He did on the cross, His death, His resurrection from the dead & His ascension to heaven
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- However, you will get different emphases from each Gospel writer
- For example, Mark was writing to the Romans, so Mark made sure he brought out how Jesus’ exercised His power & authority – that is what grabbed the attention of the Romans
- Luke, a Gospel to Gentiles along with Matthew’s with its Jewish flavour
- They don’t cancel each other out but they do present Jesus from their own perspective
- They don’t lie about Him nor make up stories, nor bend the truth, but they do highlight those aspects of His life that were critical to those to whom they were writing
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- Today, we look at Christology – a word on Christ (the study of Christ)
1. Jesus the God-Man
1. Jesus the God-Man
- We know that Jesus is both God and Man
- He came from God & in a supernatural way was born to the virgin Mary – the reason given is that He would be known as the Son of God, not the Son of Joseph
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
- This is what we refer to when we say that Jesus is God incarnate
- The incarnation is God becoming man
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
- That is the most part of the Nicene Creed of 325 AD
- It makes clear that Jesus is not half man & half God, but all man and all God
- It is a divine mystery how God could become Man, but it speaks volumes to us that God has visited us & has experienced all things that go with life in a sin-ravaged world
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- In other passages Jesus is known as the son of Joseph ONLY because it is to demonstrate that He was born in the line of David (that is so important – Joseph had the privilege of being a direct descendant of King David)
- Remember God gave an unconditional promise to King David
- It is commonly called, the Davidic Covenant & this Covenant continues & extends the Covenant of Abraham where God says that “all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed”
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- God promises David that His kingdom will be a never-ending kingdom & that His sons would have a never-ending reign
3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, 4 I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.” Selah.
12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
2. Jesus Is the Christ, the Son of God
2. Jesus Is the Christ, the Son of God
- I hope that most of you understand what Christ means
- It is important that you do
- Christ (Gk: Christos) means “anointed one” & it has reference to the anointing/installing a King (the king is an anointed one)
- In the OT which is written in Hebrew, the word for “anointed one” is Messiach which in English is “Messiah”
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- So Christ is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah
- Both mean the same – they are synonymous with each other
41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
- So to say Jesus is the Christ is EXACTLY the same as saying Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, the King – in the line of David
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- Jesus has been born in the line of David which means He qualifies to receive the unconditional promise of God to King David
- That is why many people in the NT ascribe to Jesus the title, “Son of David”
- The sick and lame cry out to Him, “Son of David” have mercy on me
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- I’d like us to look at this Psalm of David
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.
- It speaks of the blessing of God on the rule of His King & it’s one of the reasons that people rejected Jesus because they only could conceive of God’s Messiah being an all-conquering King – knowing the blessing of God almighty on Him giving Him victory in battle
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- However, Jesus was certainly not acting like a king – a ruler who would subdue the enemies of God
- After all, this Psalm clearly has God on the side of His king &, in fact, fighting for him - “...until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”
- Unfortunately, they failed to understand that the “Servant of the Lord” that Isaiah speaks about is also the Messiah of God
- The Servant of the Lord is the One who is “pierced for our transgressions”, “bruised for our iniquities”
- He is the One who was “despised & forsaken of men”; “a man of sorrows & acquainted with grief”
- He is the One whom the Lord “caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him”
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- But Israel were so fixated on this one thing – greatness, conquering, winning
- Jesus in His first appearing came to deal with our inner enemies & became the sacrifice for sin so we could be reconciled with God
- But oh, when He comes again – look out BIG TIME – He will not be coming as meek Jesus & a suffering servant
- He will come as that all-conquering King who will put down His enemies
- This is the Messiah the Jews were looking for & they missed Him
- To be sure, they will not miss Him when He comes as conquering King
- But by then, it will be all too late for them
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- Let’s get back to this Psalm
- Jesus throws a spanner in the works by challenging the people’s notions of who or what this “son of David” would be
Q. Is He divine or human?
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? 45 “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
- In other words, Jesus challenged the underlying assumption that the Davidic King would be merely human
- Jesus made no bones about the fact that God is His Father & that He Himself was the Father’s divine Son
17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
- So this Christ, this Messiah, this King is a divine king who receives the promise of an eternal kingdom – again...
36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39 Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
- Jesus made plain - & this is what was so upsetting to the religious leaders – that He is the Son of God
67 “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69 “But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”
- In fact, they were so infuriated by this claim that they did set Him up to be crucified
- When on the cross, they mocked Him for this claim
40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
43 “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
- They just couldn’t see the plan of God to deal with the inner enemies that mankind faces
- We can be so superficial - & arrogant
- People think they know better than God
- Man only sees victory through what he can see with his eyes
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- The enemies people see are the ones who control with brute force
- Physical power is their only compass – yet what do you do with those hidden, inner, enemies?
- Psychologists & mental health workers are trying to help people gain victory over their inner enemies
- But they are woefully & inadequately equipped
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- For starters, the enemies our Lord & His apostles identify are spiritual enemies – that of sin, Satan, & the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places
- Unless their help points people to Jesus Christ & His sacrifice for sin, the help is only superficial – band aid stuff
- It is like using tooth picks in trying to defeat men with swords
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- Humanistic substitutes for spiritual matters is nothing but another way the enemy is outwitting people – where is the Gospel???
- Jesus Christ came from God to deal with our sin – the Son of God was crucified for our sins – that’s how important is this battle
- Only Jesus could gain true victory over the true enemies that people face
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- Jesus demonstrated that He is the Son of God through all the miracles & signs that He performed – including His resurrection from the dead
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- He healed the sick, the demon-possessed, the blind, the lame; He raised people from the dead & demonstrated His power over nature, over the elements & over the laws of physics
- He could feed a stadium full of people with nothing but a handful of fish & bread; He could walk on top of water & stop a storm in its tracks
- Jesus gave these signs or signposts to point the way to all concerned that this person, Jesus & Jesus alone, is THE Son of God
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
- That not only speaks of true quality of life, but of everlasting life since this person has been reconciled with the creator of the universe
3. Jesus Is Human
3. Jesus Is Human
- When Jesus was crucified, as the Son of God, did the nails penetrate His hands & His feet?
- If he’d been superman, the nails wouldn’t have penetrated, right!
- They would have bent over
- Jesus, the Son of God, was born as a man & would experience all the frailty that we experience
- So no, the nails went through His hands & His feet
- And yes, in the saving plan of God, He did die
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- In His life, He got tired, became hungry & thirsty
- He grew as a boy - He increased in wisdom & in stature & in favour with God & Man
- He knew weakness as we can see as they forced Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for Him
- Of course, He literally experienced death which is typically the human thing
- He was so human that His brothers could not bring themselves to believe in Him until after His resurrection – they apparently could not grasp that he was God come in the flesh.
54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
- Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Php. 2:8)
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- Now what about Jesus’ blood? Would He have had DNA?
- Would He have had haemoglobin?
- Or, is His blood different from ours – did He have divine blood?
- From what the Scriptures tell us, He bleed just like every other man
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- Unfortunately, sometimes in communion, you can get the impression that there is something mystical or magical in the blood of Christ
- There has never been a shortage of sacred relics over the years where these things were almost – perhaps were/are – worshipped
- The precious blood that we speak about is not the blood per se, but the action of giving/surrendering His life up for our sakes
- The blood is precious to the extent that it most vividly represents His loving & sacrificial death for us
4. Why So Secretive?
4. Why So Secretive?
- I’d like to conclude today by explaining why Jesus was, at times, so secretive
Q. What made Jesus tell people & demons to be quite about Him being the Christ
- Let us look at some Scriptures:
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.
- With the coming of Christ into the world, there was a heightened increase in demonic activity
- Here you have demon-possessed people falling down before Jesus & the demons speaking through their hosts saying:- “you are the Son of God”
- Jesus uses a very strong censure against them - against telling anyone that He is the son of God
41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.
29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
- Here you get a hint as to why He told them to be quiet
- He could not get around to spread the word about the kingdom & its character
- His mission at this point was being hijacked by many people wanting Jesus for themselves – so they could be healed or personally helped
- This He did, but the foundation of the kingdom had to be laid & He had limited time for that to happen
- Remember what He said to Mary at her request
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
- My hour has not yet come!
- Timing was all important in the salvation plan of God so Jesus could not risk His crucifixion & death happen too soon before He had the opportunity to establish a foundation in the hearts & minds of those following Him
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- What a wonderful God we have & a wonderful Saviour who came from heaven – God became flesh – to deliver us from all the enemies who seek to separate us from Himself