Jesus Proving His Authority As God
Notes
Transcript
Miracles
Miracles
I want to invite you to consider the most amazing thing you have ever seen done. It could be watching someone excel at a sport by shattering a record or an artists masterpiece or a certain piece of music. We are captivated, in awe of what we are seeing, how incredible it is even thinking how is this even possible.
Several come to mind for me but one recently was at US Olympic swim trials. I was watching the 800 meter womens freestyle. These were the best swimmer in the entire country in this event. In the finals Katie Ledecky just kept pulling further and further away from everyone else. I don’t know if I have ever seen someone so dominant in an event—she is the world record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500 meter events. She has 5 gold medals. In the trials she beat the field by over 5 seconds and now owns the top 23 fastest times in the world. She is absolutely dominant.
It really is incredible to see. Today we are going to look at a couple stories in the gospel’s that left all around speechless, Jesus did things that left everyone amazed, whatever you thought of in your mind pailed in comparison to what he did.
We are going to look at three specific stories in which we see Jesus exercise his power to prove he was God.
Jesus power over sickness
Turn with me to Luke chapter 7.
We are introduced here to a doubting disciple. To be honest it was a surprising one, John the Baptist. John’s resume was strong; he had done everything that was asked of him—he paved the way for Jesus, told others that he was coming and even declared that Jesus was here. He event baptized Jesus.
And yet John had a time of doubt, even intense doubt.
We see in verse 20
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?’ ”
Are you really him? Are you even the Messiah? Or should we keep looking? John doubted that Jesus was the one they thought he was. Why all of a sudden does it consider this?
There are several reasons John might have doubted:
John was going through great personal trials at this point. He was imprisioned with no hope of release. He was faithful to his task, did what was asked and even had great success and yet he sat behind bars where he would remain until he was executed.
True Messiah? John longed for and waited eagerly for the coming Messiah, and he even celebrated the arrival of Jesus. However his confidence began to wane and wonder if this was really him. The Messiah was supposed to come to crust Israels enemies and establish his kingdom. Jesus had done nothing to hint at him being this conquering deliverer.
He didn’t have all the information. John knew his old testament scripture and knew that the Messiah was coming as both the suffering servant and the conquering king. What he didn’t know is that there was a time period between the two. Remember a couple weeks ago Jared showed the two mountaintops with the idea of the suffering servant on one and the idea of a conquering king on another. John didn’t know the valley that was between the top peaks.
He had wrong expectations. John preached as a fiery evangleist who warned of a coming judgement and called people to repentance. He expected that the Messiah would come and do the same. Jesus brough healing and compassion, could this really be the Messiah?
John had these great doubts. And that is okay, because what did he do with them—he went straight to the source. He couldn’t literally go because he was stuck in prison, so he sent his disciples who had been following Jesus and reporting back to John.
He approaches through is disciples almost like the father in Mark 9
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Lord I believe, help me with this doubt!
One commentator noted: “Jesus blesses those who continue to believe in him even if they experience some doubt along the way. What a tender and compassionate Lord! Do you have doubts? You can safely bring them to Jesus. Do you have questions? You can raise them in the Scriptures…The Lord is the kind of Messiah that doesn’t simply talk about being the Messiah; Jesus will prove it to you be raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, preaching the gospel to the poor, and giving evidence on which to base our faith.” -Thabiti Anyabwile
How does Jesus respond? Graciously and yet without words but rather actions:
In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight.
He responds gracefully but in great power. He heals people from diseases, plagues, spirits and even gave people sight.
You want to know if I am the Messiah, watch this!
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;
Talk about a sign, he clearly proves that He is God and that he is the fulfillment of the prophecies. He gets to work showing, not saying, his great power.
This wasn’t the only time Jesus was asked to prove he was God. The Pharisees asked several times including
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
They came to him and said show us you really are God. He refused, they came in unbelief.
But John comes as a broken, needy man asking his Savior, Lord show me, are you really who I thought you were.
Jesus responds defeating sickness. Quickly he works through the crowd leaving no ailment uncured.
And then he turns to those who posed the question and responds:
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.
Go—tell him what you have seen. Tell him, as I know you will with great excitement, that I am the Christ, the Messiah you long awaited!
Jesus undoubtably had power over sickness
2. Jesus power over nature
Turn with me to the next chapter Luke 8. We are going to be primarily in this chapter but this story is also recorded in Matthew & Mark and so I am going to bring elements from all three accounts.
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,
They get in a boat after a long day of travel and work and head out the cross the sea. Mark tells us that their were other boats with them. They were on the Sea of Galilee which was roughly 700 feet below sea level, making it the lowest fresh-water lake in the world. (See map) To the north was Mt. Harmon which is 9,200 feet above sea level so roughly 10,000 foot difference between the two in just 60 miles or so. To the east was the desert.
So you have cool air coming down from the mountains meeting warm air near the sea coupled with winds from the desert to the east you get large, violent, sudden storms on the sea. One storm recently created 10 foot high waves that crashed onto the coastal towns.
And so they get into the boat and suddenly there is a storm, but what is Jesus doing? He is asleep.
and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
Jesus again showing he was fully man—he was tired and need to rest. He had a long day, he was weary. We see this in John 4.
Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Jesus grew tired just like the rest of us and so he went to sleep.
But it quickly went from tranquility to a powerful storm.
and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
The wind came down, from the mountain like I talked about, and there was a great storm.
Matthew calls it a “great storm” Luke a “windstorm” and Mark a “great windstorm”
They were suddenly in the thick of it. These were no amateurs, these were experienced fishermen. There is no doubt they had been in this situation before, certainly wasn’t their first storm, they knew what to do.
And yet this one was bad, they begin to panic. They start to freak out.
The boat begins to take water. Luke says they were filling with water, Matthew says “swamped with water” and Mark the water was “breaking into the boat.”
They were in trouble, they were sinking!
Luke goes on
And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Jesus is still asleep despite the howling winds and the crashing waves.
The disciples wake up, yelling, Master, we are perishing!
Matthew put it this way, “Save us Lord!” while Mark says “Teacher, do you not care we are perishing!”
They all have different accounts probably because there were different responses. They think they are going to die, they are crying out, MASTER, LORD, TEACHER!
Save us, help us, seriously you don’t even care we are about to be thrown into the sea!
Master, were dying!
How does Jesus respond?
“Hush, be still!” “Peace!”
Luke doesn’t record what he said just that he rebuked the sea and the wind stopped, the waves ceased. Matthew says there was a “great calm”
Mark is the one that records the Lord’s words, “Peace! Be still!”
The creator spoke and stopped the wind and the waters in its track. Doubters would say that the storm could have stopped as quickly as it ended.
Have you ever been in a wave pool? Even after the source of the waves stops there is a long time that the waves keep going, they get littler and littler but they don’t just suddenly still to a glassy calmness. Only the supernatural work of a miracle worker could do that.
This too was predicted by the way, the OT pointed to a coming Messiah that even nature responded too.
By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,
You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Jesus responds to his disciples—where is your faith? Trust the Lord even in severe and threatening circumstances.
The disciples were fearful and amazed, they marveled!
The only thing scarier than the winds and waters that were crashing outside of the boat was the creator and controller inside of the boat.
Who is this? The disciples who of all people should have known this was the Messiah still doubted. They still marveled at his power.
Even the wind and the waves obey him! Wind & waves don’t have minds, they do not think or reason, they don’t have ears to hear, they don’t make decisions and yet at the sound of his voice they obeyed and ceased.
This man not only has power over sickness but he has power over nature.
3. Jesus power over death
Turn with me to John 11.
We are introduced in the story to the sickness of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus. Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus send for Jesus to come quick, save him! This is the same Mary who anointed Jesus with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. Jesus hears about this and his response was to delay, he stayed two days longer where he was.
Then he says he wants to go to Judea to go see Lazarus, but his disicples try and talk him out of it. Wait! Isn’t that were the Jews wanted to stone you and are waiting for you! You want to go back there!
Yes, he wanted to go back.
After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
The disiciples didn’t understand. They thought, oh, whew, good, he just fell asleep. That’s not a problem
The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
We don’t need to go there, he will be fine, clearly he will recover.
Jesus says no your not understaning, hes dead!
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
So they decide to go.
Look at verse 17
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Martha is waiting for him, he had been buried for four days now. She had been grieving. She meets him outside the city and has a reasonable compliant: Lord, if you would have been here you would have saved him! She had doubt in the Lord’s plan and yet she still acknowledge him as Savior and sustainer.
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Martha thought she knew what Jesus meant, that Lazarus would one day be with Jesus when he reigns as conquering king.
Jesus knowing her confusion declares,
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Another powerful “I am” statement, he was the resurrection and the life. Death no longer is final, those in Christ have life through him. Do you believe this.
Yes Lord! I believe! You are the Christ! You are the Son of God!
But she still didn’t get what was happening fully.
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Now Mary is brought along and she has the same response! Lord, where were you? You could have saved him! As we continue on we see Jesus response
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus is standing before the tomb, his friends sisters weeping next to him, the Jews surrounding him also mourning. Jesus cries. He lost a friend, his friends sisters were in deep mourning.
But why was Jesus crying? After all he knew he was about to raise him from the dead?
“The Greek word here has the connotation of silently bursting into tears in contrast to the loud lament of the group. His tears here were not generated out of mourning, since he was to raise Lazarus, but out of grief for a fallen world entangled in sin-caused sorrow and death. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3)” -John MacArthur
We have a God who can understand the feelings of our troubles.
Jesus didn’t intervene here for a specific purpose. He could have come and healed Lazarus while he was still living.
As a matter of fact the Jews were split in their response to Jesus here in the story: some said wow he really loved him while others are saying, “why didn’t he save him, couldn’t he had done that?”
But could have, but he didn’t.
“Do we sometimes feel God is too passive in connection with our trials? We cannot know all the particulars, but we know his delays are for our ultimate development. We also know that when affliction comes, we can pour our hearts out to him honestly and with no fear of rejection or reprisal, and he will weep with us.” —R Kent Hughes
One of the reasons Jesus didn’t save Lazarus was to show his ability to relate and weep with us.
But that wasn’t the only reason, there was a far greater reason.
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
Take away the stone! Mary & Martha still had doubt. Lord, don’t do that! It will certainly smell! Its been four days! Please don’t make us do that. Please don’t make us see our decaying brother.
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
Jesus didn’t back down, didn’t I tell you you would see my power on display! Roll away the stone.
Jesus begins to pray audibly for all the hear
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Father, thank you! You knew that I knew you hear me. I knew you always hear me! But this isn’t for me, this is for them, that they might believe you sent me!
When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
Lazarus, come out!
He shouted for all to hear. A bold, declarative statement from the suffering servant that he was also the conquering king. He had total power of death.
“The dead cannot hear, but Jesus wants those present to see that God’s voice can raise the dead. This divine call that gives life to the dead vividly illustrates God’s call to the spiritually dead that raises them to spiritual life, enabling them both to hear the Shepherd’s voice and to follow him!” -RC Sproul
This wouldn’t be the last declarative statement about Jesus by the way. We see on the cross the last words Jesus spoke before he died, “It is finished!”
And again the angels at the tomb: “He is not here, He has risen!”
Lazarus comes out of the tomb. This was foreshadowing of two things:
Jesus will defeat pain and sorrow!
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
There is no more crying, no more death, no more mourning! Not on this earth, but one day there will be no more crying, no more pain!
2. Jesus will defeat death!
This was a foreshadowing to his death on the cross and specifically of his resurrection. Mike preached on this last week, he defeated death in rising again. It could not hold him down!
Mary and Martha thought that Jesus had to come and heal Lazarus, that’s why they called for him, but Jesus didn’t want to heal him, he want to save him. He wanted to show his power over death.
“This miracle was about something bigger than removing their grief. This miracle was about the power of Jesus over death. They were intimate witnesses to death’s demise. It was high noon, and they were lining the streets to watch the duel between Jesus and death. That never would have happened if Jesus would have submitted to the sisters plan.” -Matt Carter
Jesus has total power over sickness, over nature, over death. Do not lose hope. You may have times of doubt like John the Baptist and the disciples. But do not lose heart. Our God is able to conquer and he will rule and reign!