Who is Jesus? - Matthew 22:41-46

©Copyright October 8, 2015 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

We are used to filling out forms for just about everything. You are asked your name, address, phone number, account numbers, and with government documents you are also asked for your social security number. This is valuable information which is why it is so traumatic when companies that store this information, are compromised. There is the chance to use this “vital information” to get into bank accounts and steal identities and what we have all worked hard to gather.

As vital as all this information is, none of it will be of any concern when we stand before the Judge of the universe. Only one question will matter: “Who is Jesus?” The answer to that question will be the determining factor between Heaven and Hell.

This morning we are going to look at a time when Jesus turned the tables and was the one asking the question. It only took one question to confound the leaders of Israel. He asked, “Whose Son is the Messiah?” He received the standard answer: “He will be the Son of David” and then Jesus pushed a little further to show that the Messiah would be more than “just a man”. He showed that the Messiah (Jesus) was not just the son of David, He was also the Son of God!

41Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They replied, “He is the son of David.”

43Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,

44‘The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’

45Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”

46No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The answer “the Son of David” was the standard answer. The Bible said often that the Messiah would be of the line of David. Let me give you one example. In Isaiah 11 we read these words,

1Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—

yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

2And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3He will delight in obeying the Lord.

He will not judge by appearance

nor make a decision based on hearsay.

The answer given was correct, but also deficient. Jesus pushes them (and us) to think more deeply. To understand what Jesus is saying we need to take a careful look at Psalm 110. The Psalm was widely recognized as a Psalm referring to the Messiah. David is the one speaking. Let’s start with the key verse, verse 1:

The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies,

making them a footstool under your feet.”

Notice the first LORD is all in capitals and the second Lord is not. This is the translators’ way of telling us that the first LORD refers the Hebrew name for God Yahweh (when God told Abraham that His name was “I Am” (meaning the eternally present one). The second “Lord” referred sometimes to a human being (master or superior) but most of the time to God. There are two beings . . . both referred to as God. The issue Jesus raises is this: “Why does David refer to his descendant as Lord instead of “son”. Especially in that culture, a Father would not call his son, “Lord.”

The point is that this was no ordinary son. He is superior to David. If you read the rest of Psalm 110 you will see that this son is unique. There are at least four traits mentioned.

First, (110:1) He will sit on God’s right hand (a position of power) until he vanquishes his enemies. He would be a co-regent with the Father.

Second (110:2) He will extend his mighty empire beyond the nation of Israel.

Third (110:4) He will be an eternal priest. It was impossible for an earthly King of Israel to also be a priest. That is because a King had to come from the tribe of Judah and a priest had to be from the tribe of Levi.

Fourth (110:6) He will judge the nations. This reminds us that this one to come is God Himself. He will be mysteriously both God and man.

Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to see that the Messiah was more than just a descendent of David; He is God become man.

Who is Jesus to You?

The most important question for us in life is the question of who is Jesus to you? There are three dimensions to this questions.

Theological

There is an academic dimension to the question. Do you understand who Jesus is? Do you see that he was more than “just a man?” Many are content with a Jesus who is an exemplary man. He is man at his finest. He is a leader, a man of compassion, a great teacher . . . but just a man.

Jesus is much more than this. He is the One David referred to as Lord. Hebrews tells us that “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.” In Colossians Paul declares,

15Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

16for through him God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him.

17He existed before anything else,

and he holds all creation together.

18Christ is also the head of the church,

which is his body.

He is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.

So he is first in everything.

19For God in all his fullness

was pleased to live in Christ,

20and through him God reconciled

everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

In John 1 we read these familiar words,

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

2He existed in the beginning with God.

3God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

4The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

These are some lofty claims about Jesus. And he made lofty claims of Himself

He claimed the power to forgive sins, heal diseases, and cast out demons

He exercised authority over nature

He said He existed before Abraham (John 8:58)

He said He was one with the Father (John 10:30) and that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father (John14:9).

C.S. Lewis draws the clear conclusion

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, 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.”

The first question then is this: Do you recognize the person of Jesus? Do you understand that He is unlike anyone who has ever lived? Do you understand why He came to earth? He came to give His life as payment for our sin. Do you see why the cross was necessary and the resurrection was the ultimate declaration of victory?

Personal

The second question is: Who is Jesus to you personally? It is possible to see Jesus academically as the true Savior of the world without ever receiving Him as YOUR Savior. Do you see that the sin He died for was yours? Have you come to Him and confessed your sin and received Him as the One who died for YOU?

It is somewhat like a person who has a degree in nutrition who eats horribly. You know what is good for you and what is not. You have all the right information. You just aren’t applying it to your own life. There are people like this who call themselves Christians.

In Matthew 7 we looked at the warning of Jesus.

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

These people knew about Jesus but had never come to Him personally. It was all academic rather than personal. It is possible to go to church and Sunday School . . . it is possible to teach Sunday School and even be a Pastor yet never take Jesus personally as the Savior of YOUR life. We must come to grips with our own sin and confess it before Christ. It is then about trusting that the work of Jesus was sufficient for MY sin. So, let me ask again: Have you come to Christ personally? Have you ever confessed that you need Him and that you choose to trust and follow Him now and forever?

Practical

Third there is the question: “Who is Jesus to you practically?” In other words: Since you know who Jesus is and have come to Him as your Savior . . . how is it impacting the way you live your life?

It is a sad reality that many in the church are better at professing faith than they are at living by faith. We are better at academic Christianity than we are at “feet on the ground” faith.

Not that many years ago there was a debate about whether a person could come to Jesus as their Savior yet not follow Him as their Lord. Some genuine Christians said you could be a genuine child of God yet live as if you were not. They argued that coming to Christ was a two-step process: you receive Him as Savior and then you receive Him as Lord. In their mind, it could be years, or a lifetime, between those choices, but you were headed to Heaven no matter what.

The other side (the one I think is more Biblical) said, “You can’t separate Christ. If you come to Him as Savior you also acknowledge Him as Lord.” Jesus talks about his followers “bearing fruit”. In other words, the true believer is the One that walks with Christ throughout life. Yes, it is a learned process and something we must work at but in Romans 8 Paul writes,

29For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

God’s purpose in bringing us to faith was to help us become more like Jesus. The Lord came to help us find who we really are. He came to begin to restore us to the person we were created to be.

Suppose you interviewed for a job. The company offered the job and you accepted. Now here is the question: are you an employee if you never begin working? You may call yourself an employee but you will never receive a paycheck until you do work for the company.

In my mind this is the same thing with being a child of God. Being offered salvation is not enough . . . you must start living on the basis of what you say is true. Again, let’s stress that this is not punishment . . .this is the beginning of the salvation that Christ brings us! When we trust Christ, we become children of the King. God calls us to start living like we were part of His kingdom!

Two sociologists have given us the category "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," which, they say, largely dominates the religious life of American young people from a wide variety of religious affiliations I suspect that MTD, as it is called, captures a much wider span of ages than youth alone. The five tenets of MTD are: (1) A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth. (2) God wants people to be good, nice, fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions. (3) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. (4) God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem. (5) Good people go to heaven when they die.

In other words, utilitarian narcissism reigns triumphant: God exists, but only to make us happy and nice, which is the aim of existence. Otherwise God minds his own business.

(D. A. Carson. The Intolerance of Tolerance (Kindle Locations 1290-1291).

This attitude leads to the appearance of faith but is fraudulent. It is a faith of convenience rather than devotion. It leads to people who may be “slightly wrinkled” rather than those who are transformed. The person who genuinely sees and trusts Christ will follow Him out of gratitude and trust.

Conclusions

Let’s try to draw a few applications: First, we need to think carefully about who Jesus is. The difference between a true believer and a false believer is how they view Jesus. Even some churches that call themselves Christian are also presenting a false Christ.

Some of this is because of the pressure of our secular world. Saying “Jesus is the only way” to be right with God, is seen as “narrow-minded” or even “bigoted”. Rather than stand by the only truth that can make people right with God, Pastors and boards decide they would rather water down the truth than “offend someone.”

May I ask a simple question: “What is more offensive than having a way to rescue someone who is dying and refusing to say anything?” We must be discerning in this critical topic.

Second. . .once you have examined carefully the person of Christ; examine yourself. Are you a student or a follower? Are you walking with Jesus or simply cheering from the stands? Have you ever come to Christ and confessed your sin asking to Him to forgive you and transform you? In other words, have you made it personal?

This is the decision that will have the most influence on the rest of your life. It is not an easy decision. It means giving up all attempts to save yourself. It means surrendering your agenda to His. It means making decisions on His Word and not the “wisdom” of your family, friends, or culture. It means waiting on the Lord instead of trying to “fix things” on your own. It is not about “saying magic words.” It is about being honest with the Lord about your life and your need for forgiveness and a new beginning.

Jesus said many on that day will come to Jesus and profess to know Him. The question however is this: Will he recognize you as one of His family or only as a member of His fan club? We are identified by all sorts of data, but there is no data that is more important than your relationship with Jesus.