His Identity in Scripture

Introduction

Video

Good Morning, well I am excited as we are starting a new series this morning. Many of you probably remember how last year we tackled something called the Gospel Project, where we spent the entire year working our way through the Old Testament and seeing all the places where the Gospel was pointed to. We saw the message of the Gospel shine:

In the stories of God’s relationship with his chosen people.

In the way God stepped in to rescue and save them.

In the way that God warned them and then judged them

And maybe most clearly in the many promises of a coming Savior who would put an end to the many cycles of sin and selfishness that were destroying God’s good creation.

So even thought we were studying in the Old Testament, we talked about Jesus every single week, because the message of the entire Bible points us to Jesus.

Tension

So this year as we move forward into New Testament, it may seem like those connections will be so much easier, but that is not necessarily the case. Sometimes those things that are the most familiar to us are the things that are hardest to really learn from.

Because we know the story of Jesus, right? As those phrases appeared on the screen just now most of us were easily able to place them in the events that they spoke of…but does that mean that there is nothing else to learn there? Could it be that we have nothing more to learn from the story of Jesus as the Bible presents it to us?

A couple of years ago I read Eric Metaxes biography on the great reformer Martin Luther. It is a fantastic book, but not a short one so if you are an avid reader we do have a copy in the Church Library and I would recommend it to you. One of the things that really stuck out to me was the steps involved in Luther became a priest. Early on when he was just a Monk they were encouraged to read and study the Bible, but when they moved on to become a priest they were told to put the Bible aside because they had little need for it anymore. Now that he was a priest, all he needed to know was how other priests had behaved and so the focus was on the historical teachings of the Catholic Church. This may not be new information to some of you, but having no Catholic background myself I was amazed to learn that the role of the Bible could take second place to anything else. But apparently it has, so it can.

And the Reformation was aimed in part at reintroducing God’s people to the message of Jesus as it is presented in the Bible. And my hope is that in some way that will happen for us in this coming year. Not that we have laid aside the Bible, but that maybe the story of Jesus has settled so deeply into the familiar, that we have forgotten how far into our lives it is designed to reach. In that case, we could benefit from being reintroduced to Jesus.

A great place to experience this would be to hear how the Apostle John introduce Him in his telling the story of Jesus, so open up with me if you will to John chapter 1, it is on page 886 in the Bibles in the Chairs. I’ll pray, and then we will seek to be re-introduce to the most significant person who has ever walked the earth.

Truth

So of the four biographies of Jesus that are found in the New Testament, John is by far the most unique. So much so that many people believe that Matthew, Mark and Luke all used similar resources to compose their accounts because so much of the wording is the same. But not John. The words that John used put him in a class all by himself.

This is how he begins his account of the story of Jesus...

John 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

So if you have spent some time if the Church these words may not sound so odd, but imagine that you are being introduced to Jesus for the very first time. You would probably read these words and be like...huh? What is John talking about here? Or Who is he talking about here?

Maybe the best question way to answer those questions is to begin with “Who is John talking to, here”

Because what might sound to be strange wording to us today was a very intentional, although poetic, attempt on John’s part to reach a wide audience. Of the four Gospels in the Bible, The Gospel of John was the last one that was written and because he knew that many people knew the facts of Jesus’ life from the other three that were widely read, he set out to do more than just get the facts right. He wanted to introduce Jesus in a way that everyone in his diverse audience would be intrigued.

The first words that he uses here would have instantly connected to the Jewish audience. “In the beginning...” sounds pretty familiar to us today too doesn’t it? Where do we find that phrase? In the first verse of the first book of the Old Testament - Genesis 1:1 says:

Genesis 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

So right away John is connecting with the Jewish portion of his audience through linking Jesus to the very first words of the Torah.

But then he says, “… was the Word”. So he brings us to the beginning of time and then places “The Word” there. This sounds strange to us but would have been a very familiar idea to the Greek thinkers in John’s audience.

The Greek word that is translated in our Bible to read “Word” is the word “logos” and in Greek philosophy this was a word that meant more than just a word that you might say, that was the Greek word “rhema”. According to Greek philosophers like Aristotle “logos” was a “reasoned discourse” or the knowledge base that surrounded a particular topic.

You might use this word more than you realize as “logos” is a common suffix added to many different fields of study.

Psychology - The “word” or study of the mind

Biology - The “word” or study of life

Theology - The “word” or study of God - and so on.

And John says that “the Word” has personhood. Notice that it is capitalized and that John uses the pronoun “He”. John is not talking about some life force or energy - but a person. A person who was there in the beginning with God. A person who was God.

So John’s introduction of Jesus gets everyone intrigued in that he claims that...

We can trust our lives to Jesus because He is God, __________ and ____________

that is the first blank, but then John goes on...

John 1:3–4 ESV

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Some of us may have never understood this about Jesus, but Jesus was instrumental in all of creation. Nothing was made that Jesus didn’t have a hand in it. This will blow you mind if you let it! He created everything and then he “took the form of a servant and was born in the likeness of men” as it says in Phil 2:7. Jesus was born in a manger, but He did not begin in a manger. He always was and he played a part in creating every aspect of this world…that he subjected himself to. It is mind blowing how he grew in his knowledge of this world as he grew up here, but He was also the one who helped think it all up. Ultimately what this tells us that...

We can trust our lives to Jesus because He is God, and because he is Creator

and last in the list...We can trust our lives to Jesus because He is God, Creator and Savior (John 1:1-14)

John 1:5–14 ESV

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 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.

A couple of familiar salvation verses are found here in this section. Can you imagine how John 1:12 would be received by the Jewish part of Johns audience. Scandalous. How could you say that those who were not even Jewish could be called God’s children? Well, because you did not receive Him and they did. They believed in His name.

One of the other unique things that John does outside of his use of poetic language like “theWord” and the use of “light” is that in speaking of our relationship with the Gospel, He never uses the noun “faith”, but only the very “believe”. It seems that even early on in the Christian Church people were willing to ascribe to a “faith” that was static and stoic, instead of dynamic and tranformative. Something we could learn to apply from John’s account of the story of Jesus.

Another familiar salvation verse is John 1:14, even as it draws us back to the “logos”. The word used here for dwelt is literally “Tabernacled” or to pitching ones tent. And that is what Jesus did. He pitched his tent in the midst of our World, much like how God pitched His tent, or Tabernacle with his people in the Old Testament. A quick connection for the Jews…even as the many uses of the term “light” would have spoken to the Greeks value of seeking “enlightenment”.

The big idea is that John works hard to introduce the Story of Jesus in a way that those who may have heard parts of it before, might be drawn in again to get the rest of the story. I am hoping that many of us will be drawn in a similar way over the next many weeks. Especially as we hold fast to the truth that...

We can trust our lives to Jesus because He is God, Creator and Savior (John 1:1-14)

We can trust our lives to Jesus based on the credible testimony of others (John 5:31-47)

According to Jewish Law, you could not be recognized as a Rabbi, Prophet or Spiritual Leader unless someone else gave credible testimony on your behalf. You couldn’t just gather a following and then proclaim yourself a Spiritual leader. According to the Law, someone else had to vouch for you.

Certainly the Apostle John was doing just that here in his Gospel account - but he gives us an account of how Jesus followed this part of the law by backing up his claims with the credible testimony of others

We already read of John’s description of the first credible witness, but lets read of how Jesus talks of him. Turn with me a couple of pages to John Chapter 5 where we find Jesus giving a list of those who bear witness about him.

John 5:31–35 ESV

31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

The John that Jesus is speaking of here is John the Baptizer, not John the Apostle who is writing this book. This is the wacky guy who lived out in the desert in a cloak of camel hair eating locust and wild honey, and in the beginning people were flocking to him. There had not been a prophet in Israel for over 400 years, so when John came on the scene it made headline news. Everyone was talking about this wacky guy and they heading out in droves to hear him speak and then get baptized by him.

The Jews thought that John might even be the Messiah, but he was the forerunner that God appointed to come and prepare the hearts and minds of His people for the arrival of Jesus. So when John saw Jesus on the banks of the river he declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Not that Jesus needed the approval of a man, He knew who Hew as, but all this had to happen to fulfill all that God had planned.

Even more significant than John the Baptist was the testimony of God the Father as he spoke through the many miraculous works that Jesus was able to perform among the people.

John 5:36–37 ESV

36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

God often used miracles to prove that He was with one of his prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament would do things like heal the sick, command the waters, multiply food, and even raise people from the dead. Any of that sound familiar when you think of the story of Jesus.

Back in John chapter 3 an important religious leader named Nicodemus asked to meet with Jesus, but he was fearful of the other Pharisees so.

John 3:2 ESV

2 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.”

That is how this Pharisee opened up the conversation. You see even some of the Pharisee were able to recognize that because of the miraculous signs that Jesus did, God was with Jesus. So Jesus has the acclaimed prophet John and God the Father, but is there more? Not that there would need to be, but Jesus also speaks of The Scripture itself as a credible testimony for him. Continuing in the second half of verse 37 it says:

John 5:37–40 ESV

37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

God the Father was testifying through Jesus’ miracles, but His Word also bears witness. And remember at this point the “Scriptures” primarily meant the Old Testament, and we spent last year in the Gospel Project discovering how Jesus was pointed to throughout the Scriptures. These men were searching the Scriptures thinking that they were the source of salvation - but in truth they only pointed them to the source of salvation. As Paul told Timothy, even the sacred writings of the Old Testament “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

So Jesus presents the credible testimony of:

1. John the Baptist (5:31-35)

2. God the Father (5:36-37a)

3. The Scriptures (5:37b-40)

and finally, the one human leader that every Jewish person loved and trusted, He says that

4. Even Moses (5:41-47) testified of Jesus.

John 5:41–47 ESV

41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

That is quite a team of witnesses that Jesus is using to defend his claim, isn’t it.

We can trust our lives to Jesus because He is God, Creator and Savior and we can trust this to be true on the credible testimony of

God the Father (who did miracles through Jesus while he was on earth

The Holy Scriptures (as they prophesy of Jesus)

John the Baptist (whose words and presence as the promised forerunner affirm Jesus)

and even Moses (because Jesus was the only one to follow the law perfectly)

Gospel Application

Have you ever had the opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus for the first time? You might start by asking them what they believe about Jesus already? It’s a pretty fun way to start a conversation because there are so many possible answers and most of them sound pretty good. You often get harsh replies if you ask what they think of Church, but hardly anyone dares to say anything horrible about Jesus.

Even the various religions around the world hold Jesus in high regard. Muslims teach Jesus to be a great prophet and wise teacher. Hindus consider Jesus to be a holy man, a wise teacher and even “a god”. Buddhists refer to Jesus as an “enlightened man” who was a wise teacher. Even the New Age movement acknowledges Jesus as a wise, moral teacher.

And that all sounds good, but the problem is that Jesus never left any room for us to consider him a wise teacher. C.S. Lewis popularized an argument that says that Jesus must be considered either a liar, lunatic or Lord. Why would he say this? Because Jesus claimed to be God, our Creator and Savior. In his book “Mere Christianity” He said it like this...

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.

As we begin this journey in deeply studying the story of Jesus over the next year we must remember the significance of what the Bible claims about Jesus. The Bible affirms Jesus’ claim to be God, nothing less than that can be accepted, and we can trust it to be true on the credible testimony of Jesus himself, God the Father, John the Baptist, The Holy Scriptures and Moses.

Landing

I remember the first time that I was a witness in a legal trial. I was a young college student and a good friend and mentor of mine was accused of doing something that he did not do and his lawyer asked me if I would be one of his character witnesses. I had to ask what that was, and basically it meant that after I was sworn in I would answer a couple of questions about my relationship with my friend and if I could ever imagine him doing what he was accused of doing.

I was crazy nervous when my name was called, but caring for my friend I went up to the stand and laid my hand on the Bible and answered the questions from his lawyer. And it all went smoothly…and then the other lawyer got to ask me questions. I was even more nervous then, probably because I had watched too many courtroom dramas, (you want the truth…you can’t handle the truth..) but he only asked me one question:

Where you there on the day in question to see what happened?

And my answer was, “No”.

You see I was just a character witness, not an eye witness. I wasn’t there so I could only speak to what I knew of the character of my friend, not what I saw happen on the day in question.

And as I prepared for this message, it occured to me that in a way we are in a similar situation today. To understand what Jesus did while He was here on earth we have to rely on the eye witnesses accounts of others. We have to trust in them as they are laid out in the Scriptures. We weren’t there, so we can’t speak to what happened exactly... but we have credible testimony from those who were.

But I believe that we can serve as “character witnesses”. We can speak to what we personally know of the character of Jesus. As we have walked with Him. As we have learned from Him. As we have followed his gentle correction and loving rebuke. Our Jesus, the Word of Life is alive and working in His people. And the entire world is waiting to see and hear us tell of what we know of Him.

Shouldn’t that drive us to strive to live our lives as better testimonies of His faithfulness every day?

I think it should. Let’s pray.