The Story Ch 25 : Jesus, the Son of God

Cold Open

Heyy Dublin Powell youth happy fall! We are continuing our study of the story on this crisp autumn day with a climactic season of Jesus’ ministry as the time comes to reveal to the disciples and to the world just who he is. The savior’s time has come. Today is Sunday, October 4th 2020, let’s get into it.

Intro Videos

Intro

So we’ve been been studying Jesus’ life on earth for 3 weeks now, from his birth in Bethlehem, to the start of his ministry with his baptism, to the calling of the disciples and his miracle ministry. But even as all of this was going on Jesus did not share explicitly who he really was! Now, anyone who was paying attention would start piecing it together, but it wasn’t time yet for Jesus himself to reveal who he was to everyone.

Revealed to Disciples

But one day, with his disciples, Jesus asks his closest followers… “who do people say that I am?” And they say “oh well some say you’re John the Baptist, others say Elijah, most likely because of Malachi 4:5-6 which says

Malachi 4:5–6 NIV

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

But, as we’ve discussed previously, that passage in Malachi was referring to John to Baptist, who was sent before Jesus appearing very similar to Elijah as a wild man in the wilderness, teaching repentance and baptism and talking of a savior that was to come. So Jesus asks his disciples “ok so the people kinda missed it a little bit, who do you say that I am?”

And Peter nails it, he says

Matthew 16:16 NIV

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

But Jesus tells them not to tell anyone else just yet, and then he tells them for the first time that he is going to have to be killed, but he will rise again in 3 days. Even though Jesus speaks plainly, the disciples don’t understand and Peter even tried to rebuke him!

Transfiguration

So they go on and about 6 days later, Peter, James, and John went to the top of a tall mountain with Jesus, and as if to confirm the faith that Peter had placed in Jesus to call him the messiah, Jesus was transfigured, his face shining brightly, and his clothes shining bright as well. This is a lot like how Moses looked after he saw the glory of God pass by at Mount Sinai, so from that I would infer that Jesus was reflecting the glory of the Father to his 3 close disciples. And speaking of Moses, he was there too! As well as Elijah. The bringer of the law and the wild man who proclaimed the sovereignty of God over the Baals.

Of course, the disciples freaked out a little bit at this, not really knowing what to do! Then, just like at Jesus’ baptism, the voice of the Father speaks over Jesus

Matthew 17:5 NIV

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

And the disciples fell down on their faces in fear, and when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone.

Then they go back down the mountain, and Jesus tells them not to speak about what they saw until he had risen from the dead, but the disciples still didn’t grasp what he was talking about.

Jesus would tell his disciples one more after they passed again through Galilee that he would die and then rise from the dead and still they did not understand! And after the dressing down Peter got when he rebuked Jesus, they were afraid to ask! One theory that the resurrection the Jews were familiar with was the resurrection of all mankind at the end of this age, after the coming of Elijah as predicted in Daniel, and that the idea of just Jesus raising from the dead just didn’t mesh with that idea. Whatever the reason, the disciples just didn’t get it.

Explicit Declarations

Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem for the festival of the tabernacles, and Jesus sneaks into the city and teaches publicly in the temple with great authority! The people were also amazing by his teaching in public because at this point it was common knowledge that the leaders of the temple wanted to kill Jesus! The Pharisees challenged him while he was teaching, and we get Jesus’ most explicit public claim to divinity when he says

John 8:54–59 NIV

Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

And this stirred up the mob against him because Jesus had no publicly claimed that his life had no beginning, that he always is, that he is the son of God! The moment had finally come, and the truth about Jesus was known! Now, Jesus had to leave the city lest they kill him before he complete his biggest miracle yet!

Lazarus

Jesus had raised the widow’s son, and a dead girl in Galilee, but both of these occurred very shortly after their death, before burial. We know today that it is possible even for an average person to revive someone who's heart has stopped by administering CPR, death somehow doesn’t feel as permanent until the deceased is interred.

But when Jesus went to see Lazarus, whom he loved, and who had died 4 days before Jesus got there, Lazarus was already buried in the tomb, in fact, he’d been in there so long that when Jesus told Martha, Lazarus’ sister to roll back to stone and open the tomb, Martha warned him that there would be a bad odor as the body had been in the tomb for 4 days! Jesus says to her

John 11:40 NIV

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

And so they open the tomb, and Jesus says “Lazarus, come out!” So he does, still wrapped in linen with clothes over his face, probably looking like the most confused mummy in history, he was just dead!

Surely, this power over death had to help the disciples understand what Jesus meant when he said “I will rise from the dead”.

Jerusalem and Betrayal

About 5 months after Jesus had taught in the temple during the festival of the tabernacles, Jesus and his disciples head back towards Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.

As they go, Jesus warns them once again about his coming death, assuring them that 3 days later he will rise again.

And so Jesus goes down into Jerusalem, riding a colt that his disciples had borrowed for him, and the people formed a great procession with him, spreading their cloaks and palm branches before him on the road calling out “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” and “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

But not everyone was happy to see Jesus back in Jerusalem, and the chief priests and teachers of the law conspired to kill Jesus for all he had said and done, especially for proclaiming his divinity during the festival of the tabernacle. And scripture says that Satan entered Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, who went to the temple officials and offered to help them capture and kill Jesus without a crowd present who might try to help him.

Jesus is Lord

The truth is finally out! Jesus is God the Son, who was in the beginning, and is now! The Son of Man’s time has come, which is GREAT news for us! Because Jesus came to fulfil his mission and destroy our sin debt, creating a path for us to be forgiven and to have fellowship with God! But.. unfortunately for the disciples, they still have some dark days ahead that will test and nearly break their faith before this is all finished. We’re coming up on that finish line though, and we will pick up there next week!

Outro

Let me pray for us before we go, Lord we give you praise and glory today, you are our God and we love you, we put our faith in nothing else. Thank you for the work that was completed in your son Jesus, thank you for the forgiveness of our sins. Lord continue to bless and protect this group of Christians who seek you and want to serve you. Give us opportunities to share the good news of the finished work of Christ with someone who needs it. Thank you for everything you provide for us Lord. We pray in Jesus name, amen.

Thanks for studying with me this week y’all, and have a great week. Grace and peace.