Who do you say that I am? (4)

Jesus, The Son of Man...

Today we are going to look at Luke.’s account of the question,

Who do you say that I am?

Let’s start with prayer.

Luke was a Doctor. He was a gentile, and he wrote an orderly account to a man by the name of Theophilus.

Luke travelled with Paul the apostle, and is known for writing the book of Acts which gives the details of how the early church was established and how the church grew and flourished as Peter and Paul were used mightily by God.

To Luke, Jesus was

The Perfect Man...

but He was not just a man, He was the

Son of Man...

As Luke starts his book, he begins with the story of a priest that was to become the father of John the Baptist. John was the one that would prepare the way for the Lord.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, a virgin by the name of Mary came to visit her, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit and the child lept in her womb when Mary, who was expecting Jesus greeted her.

Luke researched and included the birth of Jesus in chapter 2. He showed God’s plan to fulfill Scripture that caused Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem, the angels and the shepherds, and the child wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus’ childhood was like? Luke gives the only description of Jesus between a small child and when He began His earthly ministry.

When Jesus was twelve years old, He went to Jerusalem with His parents according to the custom. As they returned, they didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t with them. At this they began their journey back to Jerusalem to find Jesus.

Luke 2:46–51 NIV

46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

One thing that we can learn from this is that we need to

Live in every stage of our lives...

So often we try to rush through certain stages of our lives, and we fail to live life to the full in each stage. When we are small, we can’t wait to go to school. When we get a little bigger, we can’t wait to go to high school. Once we are educated, we can’t wait find work. If we aren’t careful, we pass the time waiting for holidays, or the next job or even retirement. It’s like we’ve lived without fully living. God hasn’t called us to put in time, or to punch an hour clock.

Colossians 3:23 NIV

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

At times, we look in the rearview mirror with regret, wishing life had been different, or remembering how good things used to be, and we fail to live out today.

Jesus only lived 33 years.

As a 12 year old boy, knowing that He only had 21 years left, could have caused Him to rush, but He was obedient to His parents.

Let’s take every season in our lives and bloom where we are planted. Planning for the future is fine. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

In planning for the future, let’s not look ahead and forget to live life today. Let’s grow through every trial and every victory.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Luke ends chapter 2 describing how Jesus grew and matured.

Luke 2:52 NIV

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

This morning, I want to emphasize something that each of us need to apply to our lives, and it’s this:

Jesus was dependent on the Holy Spirit

In Luke 3, Jesus came to John to be baptized.

Luke 3:21–22 NIV

21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Let’s pay attention to what happened as Jesus began His earthly ministry. As He was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on HIm.

You might find this interesting or maybe even alarming.

Luke 4:1–2 NIV

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

Theologians will ask questions as to whether or not Jesus could be tempted like you and me.

It’s called

Impeccability

If He was fully God and yet fully man, how could he experience temptation?

If Jesus was impeccable, He could not have been tempted by the devil.

If Jesus was impeccable, He would not have set aside His divine privileges. James 1 says that God cannot be tempted by evil.

Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness. When He went to the wilderness, He was full of the Holy Spirit, and He was led there to do the will of God.

At the end of the forty days, He was tempted by the devil.

He was tempted in three ways, and each time He answered,

“It is written.”

What ways was He tempted.

The lust of the flesh...

Luke 4:3 NKJV

3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Imagine not eating for 40 days… What a temptation that must have been.

Luke 4:4 NKJV

4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

Lust of the eyes...

Luke 4:5–7 NIV

5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Do we ever see anything with our eyes that we long for? There are so many things that Satan, the accuser, will put in front of us, and say it’s yours if you will worship me.

Luke 4:8 NIV

8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

The third temptation was

The Pride of Life...

Luke 4:9–11 NIV

9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Have you ever been tempted with, “Look how smart you are. Look inside. Trust in your own abilities.”

In Jesus’ case the devil wanted Him to take His life and put God Himself to the test to save Him.

Luke 4:12–13 NIV

12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to overcome when the enemy comes in like a flood. We need Holy Spirit to raise up a wall of protection so that we can overcome. In our own strength, in our own wisdom, in our own abilities, we cannot overcome.

As we submit to God , we can resist the devil and he will flee from us.

After Jesus’ temptation, angels came and ministered to Him.

Matthew 4:11 NKJV

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit

As He began His ministry...

Luke 4:14–21 NIV

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61. He proclaimed that the Holy Spirit had anointed Him. As we read the book of Luke and see how He set captives free and how He healed people that were sick. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit.

If Jesus was anointed, if Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, how can we go out and minister without the power of the Spirit? We, too, need to be full of the Holy Spirit. We, too, need to be anointed to preach the good news to the poor, to set captives free, to bring sight to the blind, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour!

Common people found hope. Religious people found Jesus difficult because He challenged their beliefs.

Here’s some examples.

The Son of Man has

Power to forgive sins

This was the story of the four men bringing their paralysed friend to Jesus. Many had seen miracles where Jesus had healed people, but Jesus was ready to test their beliefs to their very core.

The man is laying in front of Jesus. The house is crowded and Jesus says to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law knew that only God had the authority to forgive sins, and yet Jesus had forgiven the man’s sins.

Jesus knew their hearts and how they were marking Him as a heretic.

In

Luke 5:24 NIV

24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

The religious leaders had become very legalistic. Jesus was meeting them head on and this would eventually fulfill the reason He came, to become the sacrifice for our sins.

The fourth commandment is about

the Sabbath Day

Growing up, I remember the dilemma about working on Sundays, sports on Sundays, and what was acceptable and what wasn’t acceptable to do on a Sunday.

For us, we would do the basic chores around the farm: feed and water the animals, milk the cows, collect the eggs, check cows at calving, and put wood in the furnace, etc.

We didn’t fix fence unless the cows had gotten out. We didn’t combine, or seed.

Dad worked hard for six days and He was ready to rest on Sunday afternoon. That was expected of us as well. We didn’t go to restaurants very often either on a Sunday.

God created a time of Sabbath for rest. It was made for us so that our bodies could get recharged.

Here’s a story about the Sabbath in

Luke 6:1–5 NIV

1 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

After this, Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.

Sometimes I wonder if because we were at times legalistic about the Sabbath that the pendulum has swung where we have lost our respect for the Lord’s Day.

One thing that the Sabbath rest does is that it gives us faith to believe that God can provide for us and that He can take care of the crop out in the field.

Each of us needs to make it our priority not to judge others who might do something on the Sabbath that we don’t think is appropriate. It can be so easy, I’m speaking from experience, to judge somebody else for what they do or don’t do, and yet feel that others don’t have the right to judge me for what I do. Each of us will stand or fall based on what our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, sees, and we will be judged according to His word.

Let’s extend the same grace to others that Jesus has given to us.

As the Son of Man,

Jesus endured the cross...

When Jesus suffered, bled, and died, He felt the same pain as the rebels that were on the cross beside Him.

When He saw His mother at the cross, He felt compassion for her and made sure that John would take care of her.

In Luke’s day, many didn’t believe that Jesus had actually been flesh and blood. They struggled with the humanity of Jesus. How could God become a man, and die for humanity. Many people still struggle with the incarnation.

One of the foundations of our faith is that Jesus was fully God, and that He was fully man. His body laid in the tomb for three days and three nights and He rose from the dead with a glorious body that can never die.

He believe that

He will come again

Luke 12:39–40 NIV

39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

The Son of Man is much more than just a man. He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Let’s be watching a waiting for when He comes. Let’s not be asleep when He comes. Let’s not be so busy doing our own things but doing the things for which He has sent us to do.

Let’s pray.