We Want to See Jesus
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People Want to See Jesus
People Want to See Jesus
Over the course of your life was there someone you heard such great things about that you really wanted to meet them?
Opportunity to meet Alex Cora.
Today we hear of two geeks who want to meet Jesus. They have heard of him and the awesome things he has done and want to meet him.
God through Christ is drawing all people to himself. There are many in the world today who still desire to see Jesus. As followers of Christ, as the church the body of Christ at work in the world, we bare the responsibility of showing Christ to them.
There are a couple of quotes I have seen over the years two attributed to Ghandi
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
“If it weren’t for Christians I’d be a Christian.”
Another quote by Brennan Manning
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. -Brennen Manning
Brothers and sisters the message God has for us this morning is this, God through the work of Christ on the cross is drawing all people to himself. Because Christ sacrifice has torn the veil that separated people from God, all people can come meet Christ. We the body of Christ have the responsisiblity of showing and introducing others to Jesus Christ. May we be a people who allow the love, mercy and grace of God displayed in Christ show through our lives.
The hour has come
The hour has come
The Greeks
Our gospel reading for today begins with Greeks, gentiles wanting to come meet Jesus. They have possibly heard of him raising Lazarus from the dead. This was why, for the religious leaders of Christ day, the world had gone after or followed him.
We also see a stark difference in responses. Those who represent access to God for the people, the scribes, pharisees and religious leaders begin, at the raising of Lazarus, the plan to have Jesus arrested and killed.
These gentile Greeks on the other hand are eager to meet Jesus. They approach Philip and ask to see Jesus. Philip approaches Andrew who then goes to Jesus and asks. The response was interesting. We don’t know if these greeks actually were able to meet Jesus but what we do know is that they signaled to Jesus that his hour has come. This signaled the beginning of Isaiah’s prophecies on gentiles coming to Christ.
6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
The hour has come
The hour for the new covenant spoken of In Jeremiah has come.
33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
Jesus must deny what his humanity desires in order to take up his cross. Jesus laid down his life in order that we might have life in his name. Anyone who wants to be Christ disciple must follow in Christ footsteps. We must lay down our lives to embrace the Christlike life God has made possible for us.
The hour of God’s judgement
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
Now Jesus is about to stand in our place on the cross and pay the price for the sin of all humanity. In Christ death the judgement of God was satisfied. The barrier that kept people from God’s presence was torn in two. All people through the shed blood of Christ can come boldly to his throne of grace.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
-Jesus reveals his death to be the hour of judgement for humanity, the defeat of satan, and a magnetic force drawing all to himself.
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Brothers and sisters hear the good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. God in his love grace and mercy for the whole world sent Jesus Christ into this world to bare the penalty for our sin. He has flung wide the doors to his presence that all people may come to him and believe the good news.
Show them Jesus
Show them Jesus
We are ending where we began. People today like the two greeks from the Gospel passage are still seeking Jesus. We the church find ourselves in the position of Philip and Andrew to make the introduction. Actually we more than make the introduction we show them Jesus in how we live our lives.
What others like Ghandi and those who turn to Atheism because of how some Christians behave don’t understand is that we are all sinners saved by grace. That grace is a journey, that journey is Christlikeness. None of us have arrived we are all still works in progress.
What I tell people who say things like Ghandi did is, don’t base whether you follow Christ or not on a bad interaction with Christians. Base it on who Christ has revealed himself to be in scripture and join me in the journey of being made like Christ.
23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?