Let’s See Part Two: Who Christ Is

Introduction: The Dress

Back in 2015, a debate was sparked online!

Is this dress blue and black, or white and gold?

When I see this picture, it looks to me like it’s white and gold.

And yet there are friends that when they see it swear they see blue and black.

It has something to do with the way our eyes perceive it and the way our brain interprets it.

So we get this strange phenomenon where we can see the exact same thing, but what we do with that thing is radically different.

Sometimes we see the same thing differently…

This happens all over our world.

Two people can see the same news story and come away with radically different interpretations.

Two people can see the same movie, and see a total flop or a potential Oscar winner.

Two people can see the same biblical text, and come away with WILDLY different interpretations.

Two people could stare at Jesus, the Messiah, and come to remarkably different ideas on who that Messiah is.

And so as we continue our Let’s See series, let’s see who this Messiah really is.

The most important question:

Jesus is praying, and the disciples are nearby, and something about that prayer prompts a question from Jesus.

Who do people say that Jesus is?

Lots of “right sounding” answers, that aren’t right.

They come up with all kinds of interesting, and vaguely spiritual sounding answers.

John the Baptist

This is a bit confusing.

John, especially in Luke’s gospel, is explicitly named as Jesus’ older cousin.

So it’s strange that they would think that Jesus is somehow the second coming of John.

It could be that they were saying that they’re from the philosophical school, kind of like saying that they’re cut from the same cloth.

But still…close…but not quite.

Elijah

Elijah was the greatest prophet in the history of Isreal.

Elijah points the people of God back to their Lord.

Elijah stands in the midst of impossible odds and flexes quite a bit in front of the prophets of Baal.

Elijah knows the sound of God in the midst of the sheer silence.

But…

Jesus has some interesting things to say about the second coming of Elijah…

…but they’re so deep and complex and rich, we’re going to have to save that for another sermon.

All to say…Jesus isn’t Elijah.

Generic Prophet Character

This idea is still alive and well today.

Jesus was just a really good teacher.

He had a lot of good things to say about God.

Lots of good things to teach us.

But…that’s it.

Again, nice and spiritual sounding…but not quite right.

So then Jesus turns the question around for the disciples, and by extension, all of us gathered in this room:

Who do you say that I am?

At the end of the day, it’s not really about what the crowds say, or about what your Bible study leader says, or about what your pastor says.

It’s a question of who do you say that Jesus really is.

Peter nails it- You are the Messiah of God!

Peter who is known for saying the first thing that comes out of his mouth, finally gets one on the first shot!

But as with all things, even a really simple sounding answer has layers and layers of complexity.

A question arises out of that: What kind of Messiah?

Peter would have had a very specific idea in mind.

A warrior.

A Messiah in Peter’s mind would have been one who could restore the Kingdom of Isreal, and to do that you’re going to have to kick out the Romans.

So this would have been the first century Rambo image, right?

Swords and Charriots and armies and weaponry.

This kind of Messiah would be steeped in violence.

And they would have had a very specific idea of what that violence was for.

A king.

A Messiah to Peter’s mind is an inherently political idea.

They want the Romans out, and they want to be able to have charge of their own destiny.

They wanted a king in the mold and model of David, or Solomon.

Someone who could rule them, but also be “a man after God’s own heart.”

A power broker.

In both ideas, a Messiah the way Peter understands it, would have been all about power.

It would have been about taking power from the people that have it.

And maybe it would have been honorably about giving power back to the people of God.

But still…power.

Jesus has a different answer.

A messiah who suffers on our behalf.

With all that in mind, what comes out of Jesus’ mouth next is kind of astounding.

Luke 9:22 “saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.””

Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

It’s hard to see how offensive the statement about the cross would have been at that point.

Crosses aren’t for warriors.

Crosses aren’t for kings.

Crosses aren’t for power brokers.

Which leads us to an obvious conclusion:

Jesus is a different kind of Messiah…

Jesus is not going to be a warrior messiah who tramples on people by power and violence.

Jesus is the kind of Messiah who is actually the victim of that power and violence at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes.

Jesus is not going to be a King, at least not in the political sense.

Those kinds of Kings usually have coronations, not crucifixions.

Those kinds of Kings don’t usually come with the rejection of the other rulers around them.

Jesus is not about picking up power by means of violence or intimidation.

Instead he’s about willfully laying power down to those who demand his life from him.

It’s hard to imagine that this is the kind of Messiah Peter had in mind when he made his declaration.

Jesus is a different kind of Messiah…

…who inspires a different kind of disciple

Luke 9:24 “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”

For sure, Jesus meant your actual physically breathing kind of life.

But he also meant so many other things.

Those who want to save their image of a warrior messiah should be willing to lose it.

Those who want to save their theology should be willing to lose it.

Those who want to save their way of life should be willing to lose it.

Those who want to save their church exactly the way it’s always been should probably be willing to see it change.

Any of us who spend our time white knuckled holding on to something should loosen our grip a little bit.

So like I said earlier, Luke writes this passage brilliantly.

Jesus isn’t just asking those disciples who were standing right next to him.

He’s asking you and me.

Who do we say that he is?

What kind of Messiah are we looking for?

I think there are a couple of answers that sound right, but probably aren’t?

The Messiah of Power

So many of the political powers of our day are trying to draft Jesus to be on their side.

Every politician knows the power of a good endorsement.

If someone high up and powerful in their orbit says that we should vote for them, they know that it carries a lot of weight with the voters.

Some times when I’m watching politics, I get the sense that some of these folks don’t so much believe in Jesus as much as they just want to make sure they have Jesus’ endorsement.

They don’t want to change their lives to fit Jesus…they want Jesus to change the way we vote.

They don’t want to live in the kind of kingdom that Jesus imagines…they want Jesus to help them build their own kingdom.

They don’t want to preach grace and reconciliation…they want Jesus to give them permission to vanquish their opponents.

Sometimes folks will ask me…does that mean you don’t think Jesus cares about our political system?

And I’ve had the same answer for a little while now:

Jesus cares about our politics…just not the same way that we do.

I don’t think Jesus very much cares which party is in power at any given time…

I think he cares more about whether they’re using that power to serve the least of these.

I don’t think Jesus very much cares who wins the next election…

…I think he cares much more about whether they’re providing for those who don’t have food on their table.

I don’t think Jesus cares very much about enforcing or expanding the borders of any particular nation…

…I think he cares a lot more about the orphan, the widow, and the alien that we’ve been commanded to look after from the very opening books of the Scripture.

Anyone who tries to see Jesus as this Messiah of power…I’m sad to say will be disappointed.

The Messiah of Comfort

This one’s a little more difficult to see.

Again, sounds vaguely right…but maybe missing some things.

After all, Jesus wants us to be healed and whole and put back together, right?

Jesus wants us to be comfortable.

Sure.

But there are some markers of how the Messiah of Comfort can kind of go off the rails.

This Messiah always agrees with us.

I knew a friend from many churches ago who had a particularly great way with words.

Any time he disagreed with me, or a program I was running, or a sermon I had preached, he would say

“We need to have a discussion.”

He said it just like that too.

Any time he said that, I would always block off an hour or two to get chewed out.

I wonder how many of us, in our honest moments, have had to have a discussion with Jesus?

I wonder how many of us have really wrestled with what he has to teach us?

I wonder how many of us have disagreed with what he teaches us?

I wonder how many of us have wanted to argue with Jesus?

We know the right answer on the test.

When you’re in a fight with Jesus, you’re on the losing side.

But still, that’s an ok argument to have if it allows us to be honest.

What’s not ok is to want to avoid the fight, and so we just assume that Jesus always agrees with us.

Yeah, absolutely Jesus would be ok with me giving that guy the bird in traffic, because he cut me off!

Yeah, absolutely Jesus would be ok with me skimming a little bit of cash from the company, because he knows how much time and effort I’ve given them. I deserve this!

Yeah, absolutely Jesus would be ok with me harboring hatred for that political party or person in office, because I’m on the side of righteousness, right?

The Messiah of Comfort never wants the fight, so the Messiah of Comfort comes out sounding a whole lot like us.

A theologian once said that the cardinal sin of humanity is getting Genesis 1:26 backwards.

Instead of God making us in God’s image, we decide that things would be a lot better if we could make God in our image.

Instead of reflecting the Imago Dei, we create the Imago J (use your own name, but I was just pumped on how well that rhymed).

Instead of having a discussion, we just assume we’re all on the same page with Jesus.

The Personal Messiah

There is another phrase that sounds really right, but has a lot of problems with it.

I’ll be careful here, because a few folks around here have used this phrase with me before…

…and you should know it kind of sets off alarm bells in my head.

“A personal relationship with Jesus”

This is one of those phrases that sure sounds like it’s in scripture.

A few folks I know have sworn up and down that it is.

But it’s not.

You can read this Bible cover to cover (by the by, anyone still going on their year of the Bible plan? Tough sledding through the Torah!)

You can read the whole thing, and you’ll never find the words “Personal relationship with Jesus” anywhere.

And to make it clear, we ought to be really careful about using phrases about Jesus that the Bible itself is unwilling to use.

To be sure, our relationship with Jesus can be personal.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, in our life of prayer, Jesus Christ knows us and we can know him.

Jesus can be intimately familiar with our thoughts.

Jesus can be intensely aware of our desires.

Jesus can have that “discussion” with us when we fall out of line.

Jesus did indeed die for each and every one of us, rise for each and every one of us, and reign for each and every one of us.

Our relationship with Jesus can be very personal…

But it can’t only be that!

Scripture shows this all over if we have eyes to see it:

Mark 10:45 “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.””

Romans 8:21 “that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Ephesians 4:4–6 “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

Of course our relationship with Jesus can be personal, but it cannot only be that.

We cannot claim Jesus for ourselves, Jesus is for the whole creation.

We cannot claim Jesus for our way of thinking, Jesus transcends all ways of thinking.

We cannot claim Jesus as a weapon against those we disagree with, because he wants to redeem and claim them too.

How do we see Jesus clearly?

We pay attention to the scriptures.

I have found that one of the best ways to make sure that I’m not creating God in my own image is to make sure that I’m reading what God has to say about that image.

Spend some time in the gospels, and get to know what Jesus did and said while he walked this earth.

Be specific! Listen to those teachings, and make sure they line up with what you’ve always thought they said.

Spend some time in the New Testament letters, and get to know the theology of what the early church thought about Christ.

These inspired words of scripture do a far better job of describing Christ than any pastor or preacher might.

Spend some time in the Hebrew Scriptures, and learn how this story ever got to a place where we needed Christ.

Scripture is of course open to interpretation, we do it all the time.

But even within those interpretations, scriptures can set up guardrails that help us see Jesus for who he is: the suffering Messiah sent to free us from our sin.

We allow Jesus to disagree with us.

Again, we tend to shy away from this because we know that if we’re in a fight with Jesus, we’re probably on the losing side.

Still, it’s important to have a check against some of our assumptions.

Some of our assumptions and presuppositions are born out of our politics, and we need to recognize that Jesus might disagree with us there.

Some of our assumptions and presuppositions are born out of our biases and prejudices, and we need to recognize that Jesus wants to include everyone everywhere always.

Some of our assumptions and presuppositions are born out of a religious upbringing that might not have had anything to do with the scriptures, and the Word made flesh may want to have a discussion with us about that.

These disagreements with Jesus will actually help us challenge the way we view the world, and help us to see it more in line with who Jesus was, and what Jesus said about this world.

That everyone is to be loved, that peace is to be our highest pursuit, and that the least of these ought to be looked after.

Speaking of which…

We see Him in the least of these.

Matthew 25:40 “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”

Jesus made no secret about where we could find him.

He’s out there in the streets with the homeless.

He’s in our community among those who are suffering.

He’s with the lonely, the ones society has long forgotten.

He’s with the immigrants, the ones who feel like they have no home.

He’s with the downtrodden, the ones who feel like they’ll never get ahead.

He’s with the sick and dying, those who could just use a companion at the end of the journey.

So…if you want to see Jesus…let’s get out in the community.

Sign up for that retreat we’ve got going on.

And…let’s see!