IS IT A BLASPHEMY CALLING JESUS THE SON OF GOD?
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IS IT A BLASPHEMY CALLING JESUS THE SON OF GOD?
IS IT A BLASPHEMY CALLING JESUS THE SON OF GOD?
CALL TO WORSHIP
CALL TO WORSHIP
Numbers 6:24–26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
John 4:23–24 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.””
Oh, Lord our God! Be with us in our worshiping place so that we may worship you in spirit and truth.
CONFESSING SIN
CONFESSING SIN
Our Father we confess that we did not love you with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength and that we did not love our neighbor as ourselves. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us with the blood of Jesus.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Last week, we shared the promise of eternal security. We heard from Jews and Muslims that Jesus had never said that he was the Son of God. And we heard that calling Jesus the Son of God is a blasphemy. Are they true? Let’s see.
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
He said them plainly. And the works that he did in his Father’s name bore witness about him. But,
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”
The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
They did not deny the works of Jesus. But they thought that Jesus’ making himself God was a blasphemy.
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
Jesus clearly said “I am the Son of God.” So the Jews thought that Jesus was blaspheming. And when his disciples called him the Son of God, Jesus did not rebuke them. One of the example is like this:
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And the previous verse was quoted from psalm.
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;
God called them gods to whom the word of God came. But Jesus is superior to them. The Father consecrated him and sent him into the world. Was it able to be justified blaming Jesus as a blasphemer? And Jesus never denied that he had said “I am the Son of God.”
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Nicodemus confessed like this:
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”
Is it not reasonable thinking?
And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.
It is the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Even opponents of Jesus never denied his miraculous works. Even non-believers acknowledged his works. His works were speaking to them that Jesus was Christ and the Son of God.
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.
He came back to the place where his public ministry began.
And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
What was everything that John said about him? Let’s go back to chapter 1.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
Thinking these things, let’s go back to chapter 10.
And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
Jesus plainly said that He was the Son of God. And his works testified that. He witnessed that. And His works testified that. And there were so many witnesses, John the Baptist the last prophet before Jesus, Jesus’ disciples and many Jews. The claim that Jesus had never said him as the Son of God was wrong. And the claim that calling Jesus as the Son of God is a blasphemy is wrong. He plainly said,
I and the Father are one.”
And he asks us:
do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
No one could deny his works. Even his opponents could not deny his works.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Grace and truth are NT version of God’s mercy and faithfulness. Most prominent characteristics of God in OT are ‘hesed’ and ‘emet.’ Hesed means the steadfast covenantal love of God. And ‘emet’ means God’s faithfulness, truthfulness and truth. Jesus was full of grace and truth, hesed and emet.
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The only God who is in the bosom of the Father has made him known. He is full of hesed and emet.
Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
OT is full of this confession. And John testified like this:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
And,
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
How has he made him know?
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
He became flesh and sacrificed himself as a eternal perfect substitutionary atonement. He is full of grace and truth, of hesed and emet.
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The only God who is in the bosom of the Father has made him known. It is not a blasphemy calling Jesus the Son of God. Jesus plainly testified that. And he did not rebuke anybody who confessed this confession. And his works, his disciples and many Jews testified that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God.
Prayer for Offering and Benediction
Prayer for Offering and Benediction
Our Father, we confess that all we have came from you by this offering. Please bless all hands that offered this and make good fruits of this. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Grace of Jesus and the Love of the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you from now on forever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
