No Ordinary Man

Good morning! Today we continue our journey through The Story, and we find ourselves in Chapter 24 titled No Ordinary Man. Let's watch our recap video for Chapter 24.

Recap-

Jesus was labeled and identified as many things during his time on earth. Many people knew the name Jesus but they defined him, they labeled him differently. Some people thought that Jesus was just a rabbi or a teacher. Some thought that he was the Messiah

The same is true for this world today, Many people have different ideas on who Jesus was.

I want you to imagine you’re in an elevator with a stranger and the stranger asked you who do you say Jesus is

How would you define Jesus? What would you say to that person?

That’s what we are going to talk about this morning. Not only how do we define Jesus but why does our definition of Jesus matter?

To do this I want us to look at our passage from Matthew this morning. The passage from Matthew 5 is the start of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and it says this

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First to understand this we need to look and define the word blessed. The Greek word for blessed is (Mah-KAH-ree-os) makarios which means happy or fortunate. Next we need to look at what poor in spirit means and it means those who recognize they need God. Those who mourn means those who long for God’s forgiveness and healing. Those who are meek means someone who is humble or gentle. The meek do not seek gain for themselves, instead they hope in the Lord.

Jesus’s teachings were so radically different then what was being taught by the Jewish rabbis and the religous leaders. During this time, most teachings were from the book of law which is the first five books of the new testament. These teachings involved the rabbis telling you what you can and cannot do. It would be like if I got up here, read from the book of Leviticus and after reading that, I would tell you what you could and could not do.

But Jesus’ teachings were so radically different. If you continue on throughout the Sermon on the Mount you see these extraordinary teachings on topics like being the Salt and Light, Loving your enemies, giving to the needy, and the Authority of Jesus.

If we go to the end of the Sermon on the Mount to Matthew Chapter 7 verse 28 it says the crowds were astonished or amazed at his teaching for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The crowds recognized the teaching of Jesus was so dynamically different from all the other teachers and the crowd's response was one of amazement. The crowd was amazed to the point of being overwhelmed.

Usually when you think of being overwhelmed it has a negative connotation. But here the word overwhelmed means that the crowd was moved or touched by Jesus’ message.

Jesus’ teachings were radically and dynamically different from the usual teachings of the time. Jesus was an extraordinary teacher bringing messages of love, joy, and hope. But Jesus was also a Extraordinary Miracle Worker

In the passage from Mark we see Jesus sleeping and the disciples freaking out. I think we all can relate to the disciples in this situation. If I was in the shoes of the disciples and I was on a boat in the middle of the sea and there was a bad storm that was going to most likely make the boat sink I would be panicking. But we see that the disciples wake Jesus up and all Jesus does is rebuke the wind and tell the waves to be quiet and still.

When Jesus calmed the storms he displayed his divine power over nature. Jesus also has divine power over the spiritual forces of this world. We see this throughout the New Testament when Jesus drives out demons, when he heals people and so much. Jesus is an extraordinary miracle worker, as I said we see this when Jesus take 5 loaves of bread and two fish and feeds 5,000 people, we see this when Jesus walks on water. There is so many miracles that were performed By Jesus.

Jesus's miracles are important because they serve as a powerful demonstration of his divine authority and identity as the Son of God. These acts—such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and calming storms—show his compassion for humanity and reveal his power over nature, illness, and death. They also fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, offering tangible proof that Jesus was the Messiah. Beyond the physical acts, his miracles often conveyed deeper spiritual truths, inviting people to have faith in him and to understand the coming of God's kingdom. Ultimately, these miracles helped to validate his teachings and mission, emphasizing the transformative power of God's love and grace.

When we look at the last verse of Mark 4, it says “and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” I think this question, “who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” leads into the last Scripture passage very well.

The passage from John takes place after Jesus feeds the five thousand and Jesus walks on water. When the crowd that was with Jesus from the day before reached the other side of the Sea, They ask Jesus how he got to this side of the sea. Jesus confronted them and was honest with them.

He tells the crowd that they are only following him in pursuit of material satisfaction and not out of genuine faith. Jesus tells them that he is the Bread of Life. He is referring to Himself as the one sent by God. Jesus is saying that the only way we can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst is to believe in him.

Jesus’ “bread” is unlike any other. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one sent by God to save us all for our sins.

Looking back at the original question that led us here, how do we define Jesus and why does our definition of Jesus matter? This is our definition of who Jesus is. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Messiah.

When we only define him as an extraordinary teacher, we can treat Jesus like a “buffet line”. If you think of a buffet line you get to pick and choose what you want.

We shouldn't treat Jesus like a "buffet line" because following Him isn't about picking and choosing aspects of His teachings that suit our preferences or desires. Jesus calls for a commitment to embrace all aspects of His life, teachings, and sacrifice, rather than selectively accepting what is convenient or comfortable.

Treating Jesus in this way diminishes the depth of His message and the call to live a life of selflessness, sacrifice, and transformation. Faith is about surrendering to His will, not about creating a personalized version of Him that aligns with our own desires.

Jesus is more than a "buffet line" because He is the Messiah, the Savior who came to fulfill God’s promises of redemption and bring salvation to all people. Jesus should be understood as the central figure of the Christian faith, whose life, death, and resurrection restore humanity’s relationship with God. He is not just a collection of moral teachings or miracles to be selectively accepted; rather, He is the incarnate Son of God who, through His sacrifice on the cross, offers forgiveness, grace, and eternal life.

If we only define Jesus as an Extraordinary Miracle Worker, we can start to treat Jesus as a genie that grants us wishes. We shouldn't treat Jesus like a genie when it comes to His miracles because His acts of power were never meant to be magical solutions to our personal desires, but rather signs of His divine authority and compassion, meant to reveal His identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

Jesus performed miracles not to satisfy individual wishes, but to demonstrate God's love, bring healing, and invite people to faith in Him. Viewing His miracles as mere tools for personal gain overlooks their deeper purpose — to point to the Kingdom of God and the eternal life He offers through His death and resurrection. Treating Jesus as a genie reduces Him to a mere servant of our whims, rather than recognizing Him as the Messiah who calls us to trust in Him and follow His will, even when it doesn't align with our immediate desires.

Jesus is more than a genie because He is the Messiah—the promised Savior sent by God to reconcile humanity to Himself through His sacrificial death and resurrection. His miracles were not about granting wishes or satisfying immediate desires, but about revealing God's power, compassion, and ultimate plan for salvation. Jesus came to offer more than temporary fixes; He came to restore the brokenness of the world and offer eternal life through faith in Him.

We should define Jesus as the Messiah and the Bread of Life because these titles capture the fullness of His divine mission and purpose in a way that goes beyond temporary fixes or superficial desires.

As the Messiah, Jesus is the promised Savior, fulfilling God's covenant and offering redemption through His life, death, and resurrection. He is not here to serve our whims or grant us fleeting desires like a genie, but to restore our relationship with God and offer eternal life.

He is the nourishment we need for both our physical and eternal well-being. Defining Him in this way encourages us to follow Him with full devotion, recognizing His divine authority and the life-changing power He offers, rather than treating Him as a buffet line or genie.

So what does this mean for the upper story-

What this means for the lower story-

Application

The way we define Jesus MATTERS!

Jesus is the Bread of Life. The only one that can satisfy our hunger and thirst

Jesus is calling us into a deeper relationship with him. He wants every part of us not Just bits and pieces

Let’s pray