No Ordinary Man

Welcome:

‌Good morning, Brothers! It brings me joy to be here with you again as we explore chapter 24 of The Story series. We are making our way through the most epic saga ever told. One in which you and I are actually characters within; that is, it’s still being written. God is urging us to have the same faith in him as we have observed in the Old Testament and the New Testament people that we have been studying. God desires that we have the perseverance to follow him and to connect our lives with the narrative he is crafting. One way or another, we play a part, whether we are complicit or in spite of us. Either way, through the characters in His story, the Upper Story, we are taught godly principles and life lessons that will guide us down the path of righteousness in our walk with God.

Something really cool, whether you’ve been here the whole time or just joining us today or even recently, is that there are 66 books in the Bible; 39 in the Old Testament, pointing to the ministry of Jesus, and 27 in the New Testament reinforcing, or pointing back to His Earthly ministry. Many others that are highly authoritative but not canonical called the Apocrypha; the Didache for one, or instructions of the apostles, and even a whole other, and ‘wholly other’ collection labeled pseudepigrapha, those falsely attributed texts or heretical in nature.

Intro:

The question is, who would write so much about something or someone so inconspicuous or seemingly unimportant?

What we know, and what we can agree on unanimously with the world, is that Jesus was a historical figure whose life had a profound impact on the course of human history. According to noted historian Jaroslav Pelikan, “It is from His birth that most of the human race dates its calendars; it is by His name that millions curse, and in His name that millions pray.”

Jesus was lying if He knew He wasn’t God. However, if he was a liar, He was also a hypocrite because He exhorted others to be truthful at all costs. Jesus would be unimaginably horrible if that’s the case because He purposefully persuaded people to give up their religious convictions and put their faith in Him for their everlasting fate. In fact, Jesus was accused of possession by a demon by the Jewish officials (John 8:48), a claim that the Bible categorically denies. Furthermore, if Jesus was lying, then He was a fool because His assertions were the reason He was crucified.

Illustration:

C. S. Lewis plays devil’s advocate in Mere Christianity. In sum, dismissing a foolish error that is often said about Him,

“I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher,” he says, “but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

Gamaliel, a leader in the Sanhedrin, even said, after the execution of Jesus, about the continued ministry of Peter and John, that they should let them go, saying in Acts 5:36,

“Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Transition:

That resonates, doesn’t it? And they totally listened because, in verse 40, it’s recorded that they had them flogged, ordered them to stop, and then let them go. That resonates, too; we’re all so good at that obedience thing, aren’t we?

That story is for the coming weeks. For now, we are finally here, our heritage is Jewish, but this is when we become something else. Many people have said that Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion, but in Matthew 16:18, He says that’s exactly what he came to do; “on this rock, I will build my church.” Today, we look at the man Jesus of Nazareth, who was, himself, No Ordinary Man.

Recap:

The story begins with God’s vision. It’s reflected in the Garden narrative. He created us and made his dwelling place with us. Adam and Eve reject this vision and are led out of the garden. Because they represent all of humanity, their choice affects us. We inherit their sinful nature; when we commit our first wrong, we prove this transaction.

Our inability to resolve this issue on our own was demonstrated by the account of Noah. As a result, God launched a plan to reconcile humanity, which he would carry out through the creation of a new people, Israel, named for the man who wrestled with God.

What is the plan? What matters is that it’s a “who”—not “what”—and he is going to come from Israel, specifically from the house of David. God will take on human flesh, which means taking on all of our guilt and atoning for it with the shed blood of his sinless Son.

The Virgin Birth is crucial because of this. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. He was born—but of The Holy Spirit, not the seed of man; he doesn’t inherit sin.

A blood sacrifice was required, but it could only be satisfied by one without a debt. We all had a debt, so we had nothing to borrow against. That’s why we made do with scapegoats. Jesus broke the system. He defeated death by atoning for our debt, He who was without sin in the place of—a sacrificial lamb—not a scapegoat, because he became man, having put on flesh, paid in full, not simply making rent. It covered all debts; everyone who accepts Jesus is pardoned.

This series aims to illustrate God’s overarching plan and to show how the lower stories are connected in one larger Upper Story.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined the term, ‘cheap grace,’ defining it as “forgiveness without requiring repentance” or “baptism without church discipline.” Everything that preceded Jesus was necessary. Why not earlier, some ask. Where is God? Israel asked, from Malachi to Matthew, the 400-year intertestamental period. Even so, there is still a Jewish church, many didn’t accept when John the Baptizer said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Jesus was born when we were ready for His grace. God’s ideal timing. Thirty years later, His ministry officially began at the time of John’s baptism of Jesus. That was two weeks ago.

Transition:

Today we come to chapter 24 of The Story. Jesus is in his second of three years of ministry before the cross. The first was a year of inauguration; last week, this is the year of his popularity. Next week is the final year which will be a year of opposition. At this point, thousands of people are congregating to catch a sight of Jesus, hear him speak, see him work miracles, and even receive healing. And he never let them down.

So, in our consideration of what kind of man Jesus was, whether he be mad, bad, or pretty rad—that is, a liar, a lunatic, or the Son of God, we should ask three questions.

Point 1:

Because the first point is that We are His disciples, but that doesn’t mean we have understanding!

You see, for centuries, the Jewish people were expecting a great king to come and save them. They thought the king would be powerful and strong like other world rulers. They were expecting a king with an army to free them from the Romans. Their Scriptures—though true, speak of celestial battles or even His second coming. So, they didn’t exactly see it being delivered through The Carpenter.

He preached, “The kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the good news.” The people were surprised. The high priests were angry.

Question 1:

So, the first question is, what do we need to believe?

The answer is, of course, we need to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that Jesus is the Son of God. We have evidence for both!

So, these crowds that would form to see Jesus were sometimes so huge that He would preach to the people on the shore from a boat in the water.

Narrative:

Depicted in Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:36-4; and Luke 8:22-25 you can pick any of them; I’m going to paraphrase because they’re all a little different—and all correct, let me add that—just three different authors.

This one time, when Jesus climbed into the boat, he simply wanted to rest. He told his disciples, “Let’s take the boat to the other side of the sea.” As soon as they left the shore, Jesus found a quiet spot in the boat and stretched out for a nap. He slept and slept while the disciples steered the boat and whispered to each other so they wouldn’t disturb him.

Soon the skies turned dark, and storm clouds rolled in. The water became choppy; whitecaps slapped the sides of the boat. That’s directly from the Greek; this is the Chaplain Lime translation. The gently rocking sea became wildly frightening! Water began to slosh into the boat. That’s a technical term. The wind howled, thunder boomed, and lightning lit up the sky.

“We’re going to drown!” cried the disciples. “Help!” they shouted, holding on to the sides of the boat. But Jesus was still fast asleep! The wind, thunder, and lightning did not disturb him. “Teacher!” yelled the disciples, trying to wake him up. “Don’t you care if we drown?”

Jesus opened his eyes. Then he calmly stood up and spoke to the wind and waves. “Quiet down! Be still!” The wind and waves obeyed. Immediately, calm returned to the sea. The boat settled back into its gentle rocking rhythm. Jesus turned to the disciples. “Why are you so afraid? Don’t you believe in me?”

The disciples, still amazed by what had happened, couldn’t even answer. All they could do was wonder, “Who is this man? Even the wind and waves obey him!”

So, really, that’s from a kids’ version of this story, but God’s Message is that His power is with him always. His words melt hardened hearts. His gentle touch heals. His simple commands control the storm and the sea. Through this, we can know that he has authority.

Exposition:

Not only does He have authority over disaster or nature, but also over disease, demons, death, even sin, the devil, and the authority to save.

Let’s just look at a couple of proofs; I’ll be in Matthew. Immediately in the opening verses of chapter 8, we see that Jesus has authority over disease. This authority is revealed in three different ways in three different stories. In verses 1–4, He cleanses the physically unclean.

After seeing Jesus heal the physically unclean in verses 1–4, now in verses 5–13, we see that He heals the ethnically outcast. The centurion in this story and his servant would have been Gentiles, likely brought in for military service from somewhere outside Galilee, like Lebanon or Syria. As a Roman centurion, he was not only viewed as an ethnic outsider by the Jewish people but also as one who was deliberately opposed to the people of God.

Finally, concerning Jesus’ authority over disease, He not only cleanses the physically unclean and heals the ethnically outcast, He also restores the culturally marginalized. In verses 14–15, Jesus healed another unlikely candidate from the outskirts of Jewish society and culture: “When Jesus went into Peter’s house, He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. So, He touched her hand, and the fever left her.”

Demons; same chapter, verses 28–34. Described here is a legion of demons who violently possess two men, yet they are deathly afraid of the Son of God. Knowing that Jesus has absolute authority over them, the demons plead for Jesus to cast them into a herd of pigs. It’s telling that these demons hate and loathe everything about Jesus. Yet, they are powerless to do anything apart from His permission!

We won’t go over them all, but it’s all here; He brings life in the midst of death. He gives hope in the midst of despair.

The very things predicted of the Messiah in the Old Testament were being fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. Isaiah 35:3-6 prophesized that the Messiah would open the eyes of the blind; that He would usher in a new day, and in the fullness of His kingdom (something which is still future) but that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, and the mute will sing for joy.

He’s no lunatic. He was accused of being a liar, though.

I’m skipping ahead; in chapter 9, verse 34, the Pharisees say, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!” They claimed that Jesus was demonic and that demonic power was the source of His miracles. Jesus refutes this with logic and by demanding nothing, by the way—in verse 13, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice…” and in Matt 12, “…a house divided cannot stand.” Instead of being in league with Satan, there’s another reality at work in Jesus’ ministry on earth: Satan has been defeated. Jesus casts out demons, not because He is of the Devil, but because He has overcome the Devil. Jesus has authority over sin, death, and the Devil himself. Therefore, we can rejoice in Jesus’ promise for eternity: Satan will be destroyed. The enemy will be cast down, and his sting will never be felt again because Jesus has all authority over the enemy. Satan can do nothing in this world, and nothing in your life, apart from the sovereign permission of God. Demons decidedly do not have all authority; Jesus does.

Point 2:

The second point is that your eyes have been opened.

Narrative:

This next encounter is recorded in Matthew 14:25, Mark 6:48-51, and John 6:19-21

Again, I paraphrase with less license, I promise.

Jesus wanted to spend some time alone. While he climbed a hill to find a quiet place to pray, his disciples set sail on the Sea of Galilee to cross over to a town called Capernaum.

During the night, the wind stirred up, and Jesus’ disciples rowed hard to keep the boat on course. Jesus watched the disciples struggling against the wind and came down from praying.

Because he was the Son of God, we know by now Jesus could do things that ordinary people couldn’t do. Jesus decided to join his disciples, so he walked out to their boat ... on the water!

He walked across the dark water as if it were solid ground. When the disciples saw the shadowy figure moving toward them, they were startled. Jesus tried to calm them, naturally. “Don’t be afraid. It’s me!” He said.

One of the disciples, Peter, replied, “If it’s really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come!” So, Peter did. He climbed out of the boat and began walking to Jesus. At first, Peter felt brave knowing that Jesus was near, but his courage disappeared when he glanced at the rough waters and began to sink into the sea.

Peter called to Jesus for help, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reached down and pulled Peter up out of the water. Once Jesus and Peter were back inside the boat, the disciples filled the boat with praise and worship, and they said, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

If he’s no liar and no lunatic… Let me rephrase that as a question: what looks like a duck and quacks like a duck?

Question 2:

So, the second question is, what does it mean to believe?

We use the word believe in numerous ways. Someone asks, “Is the weather supposed to be nice today?” We answer, “I believe it’s supposed to warm up.” We really mean, “I think,” or “I may have heard,” or “I have no idea, but it would certainly be nice.” We’re taught certain facts about history and physics in school, so we believe those facts. In that sense, belief means we hold it to be accurate but have no real attachment to it. If someone shows us different evidence, we are willing to change our minds. The kind of belief the Good News calls us to looks much different from these two types of belief.

Exposition:

The word belief is translated from the Greek word pisteuō, which means “to trust” or “to put one’s faith into something or someone.” To believe in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God requires more than mere intellectual adherence to a set of facts about the life of Christ. It requires our trusting in Christ regarding who he said he was and what he was sent to accomplish.

Point 3:

It’s kind of a two-fer. Nothing is too small for God to use in caring for His people, and even the smallest child can bring the largest gift.

Narrative:

Described in Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; as well as John 6:5-13,

a little boy once tugged on Andrew’s robe. He said, “Sir?” But Andrew shooed the boy away. Again the boy tried, “Sir... Sir... I can help.” “You? Help? Thanks, but our problem is too big for one little boy,” Andrew said as he tried to keep from laughing at the child’s offer. “I can share my lunch the boy insisted.”

Andrew looked at the thousands of people gathered on the hillside to hear Jesus teach. It was getting late, close to suppertime. The crowd would be getting hungry soon. The disciple looked again at the young boy. “Come with me,” he instructed. Together, they walked over to Jesus.

“This boy would like to share his meal with the people—but it’s only five loaves of bread and two fish-not nearly enough for this hungry crowd.” So, Jesus smiles. “Tell everyone to sit down on the grass,” he said.

As everyone settled in, Jesus held up the bread and fish and said a prayer of thanks. He gave the food to the disciples, telling them to share it with all the people. They did as he instructed. The disciples went through the crowd of thousands, giving food to everyone. The people on that hillside had plenty to eat. There was so much food that twelve baskets full of bread, and fish were left over.

The people had come to hear a lesson from Jesus. But instead of hearing a lesson, they saw a miracle! Two little fish and five little loaves were miraculously multiplied by Jesus.

Question 3:

The third question we should ask ourselves in answering who Jesus is, is, why do we need to believe?

Exposition:

One of the dominant themes of John’s Gospel is our need for life, and it’s always connected to the person and work of Jesus Christ. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men;” chapter 1, verse 4.

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life;” 3:16.

“Truly I tell you, anyone, who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life;” 5:24.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die;” 11:25–26.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life;”14:6.

Application:

The life we need—spiritual, eternal life, delivered from the judgment of hell—comes through belief in Jesus Christ (20:31). But it doesn’t come to us like a UPS package. It’s not a transaction in which we believe in Jesus then he hands us our life at the front door and walks away. The life he gives us is life— “in Him.”

Life in Christ can be illustrated by adoption. When a child is adopted, the significance is not a piece of paper he can place in a file folder. The real meaning of adoption is that he is brought into a relationship with a family that is now his own. His existence is tied up with these new family members. They sleep in the same house. They sit and eat meals together. They exchange gifts at Christmas. They cry together when Grandma dies. They pass the flu to one another. Adoption is not an exchange; it’s a new relationship. It’s the beginning of a new life. Life in Christ is not an exchange; it’s being drawn into an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. He illustrated it for his disciples by comparing their relationship to a vine with branches. The branch doesn’t get a one-time injection of life from the vine. It gets daily nourishment from its connection to the vine, and if something were to sever the branch from the vine, the branch would die. When we truly believe, we truly begin to live.

Sermonette:

There are a lot of different sources that people are turning to for wisdom about life. Have you noticed that? There are no shortages of self-help books, manuals, apps, tutorials, and DVDs. There are seminars about success and wisdom about life. So, I’m assuming people are looking for wisdom about life. And, there are some proverbs, if you will, I’ve come across from, you know, the Saints. See if any of these give you wisdom or help:

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just leave me alone. Maybe, if you’re introverted, perhaps you relate to that.

Here’s another one; if you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. Would you agree with that?

How about this piece of wisdom; it’s always darkest before the dawn, so if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

Just one more; if at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is definitely not for you.

You know, Jesus Christ had a lot of wise things to say. And a lot of people would probably agree with that. He had a lot of wisdom about life; in fact, he had some downright radical things to say about life, things like “you’ve heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to them the other also.”

“No man can serve two masters. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life.” How many of you here added a minute to your life because you did some really good worrying about something? “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in the eye of another person when you have a plank in your own eye?” “If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Jesus said all these things and much more in the most famous and greatest sermon ever preached. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. It’s recorded in Matthew, chapters five through seven. This sermon contains the beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Golden Rule, as it’s called; if you’ve never read the Sermon on the Mount in its entirety, I want to encourage you to do that today. Some homework, it’ll take you 15 minutes tops. He delivered it early on in his ministry, and it’s one of the many things that Jesus did to let people know he was No Ordinary Man.

The Sermon on the Mount may be familiar territory, it may be familiar material to many of you, and that can be a good thing and that can be a bad thing. It can be a good thing in that familiarity can mean that we come with a base of knowledge, and we can build on what we already know. It can be a bad thing because we can be so familiar with something that we think there’s nothing more we can learn from it. And that would be a tragic mistake.

Because the current religious culture in America loves to talk about belief and believing. Those spiritual buzzwords are often used generically and end up devoid of meaning. Contemporary spirituality trumpets not belief in an object or a person but rather a belief in belief. It goes something like this: “It doesn’t matter who you believe or what you believe. All that matters is that you believe.” There’s a belief in belief.

For twenty-five years, the high priest of this philosophy in the United States was Oprah Winfrey. She didn’t care what you believed; she just wanted you to believe. I’m not blaspheming the queen, don’t worry. But she was convinced that if you believed something, your life would improve. Some time ago, she had an atheist on her show. The atheist described the sense of wonder she experienced when standing at the ocean’s edge. Here was Oprah’s response: “Well, I don’t call you an atheist then… I think if you believe in the awe and the wonder and mystery, then that is what God is… It’s not a bearded guy in the sky.” Oprah was peddling a brand of spirituality that revolved around believing in belief. As long as a person has faith, he or she is fine. Now it wasn’t the point of her show, but in this example, she ignores the object of faith.

The Gospel doesn’t call us to believe in belief or to put our faith in faith. It’s teaching on belief is much deeper and more robust and infinitely more life-giving than any modern pop-culture philosophy.

It’s why Jesus was No Ordinary Man.

Close:

We are His disciples, but that doesn’t mean we have understanding! For that, we constantly have to seek Him and remain in fellowship. If you’re here and you feel like you don’t belong, remember that you belong because you’re here. The bar is low; you show up. We are his people if we wrestle with God.

Nothing is too small for God to use in caring for His people; even the smallest child can bring the largest gift.

Your eyes have been opened. The kingdom is paradoxical. It doesn’t make rational sense. You give to receive; the humble are exalted; those who lose themselves for my sake will find eternal life; having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness; when I am weak, then I am made strong; the last shall be first, and the first last… There are many places in Scripture where this backward spirituality is neatly summarized. Paul tells the Corinthians, “God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise (1 Cor 1:27).

Today, we’ve touched on what we need to believe, what it means to believe, and why we need to believe.

There is no middle ground. He has not left that as an option, and He did not intend to... Decide for yourselves, and do it with your entire being—if this man was, and is, the Son of God, a madman, or something worse.

Jesus chose and compels his followers to choose compassion over convenience.

Jesus made the insufficiencies of his disciples sufficient and does so today.

Jesus included His disciples in His plan, the work still set out for us, The Story.

Jesus met His own in the midst of the storm and is on a hill at Calvary with you today.

Jesus is Who He said He is.