God's Chosen Messiah
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Introduction
Introduction
The text that we come to this morning in our study of the Gospel of Luke is really a climactic point in the ministry of Jesus in the Galilean region. It’s also an important point in terms of the theological development and progression in Luke’s Gospel as he seeks to demonstrate to his reader who Jesus of Nazareth truly is.
The question that our text deals with this morning is, who is Jesus? Who is he truly? And in light of that, how ought we to respond to him.
And the question is applicable to each one of us today. Who do you say that Jesus is? And how ought you to respond to Him in light of that truth?
Recall that after Jesus had sent out his disciples with power and authority over sickness and demons, and with the task of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, word had come to King Herod about what was going on, and Herod had asked the question, “Who is this?”
Herod wanted to understand who Jesus was. And as I said when preaching on that text, that was the right question!
We know well from our study in Luke thus far that the disciples were seeing the wonderful works that Christ was doing. They had a good sense by now of His power and authority. They themselves had even had the opportunity to experience what it was like to receive at least some measure of that power themselves, as they were sent out.
But so, too, the reader of Luke’s Gospel has been put into the picture of who Jesus is through the manner in which Luke has recorded these events.
But in our passage under consideration this morning, comes a truly significant moment wherein the disciples will need to state unequivocally who they confess Jesus to be.
Notice firstly with me from our text…
1. The Confession of the Messiah (vv.18-20)
1. The Confession of the Messiah (vv.18-20)
In verse 18 we read...
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
Now, we need to keep in mind the present context of all that has just unfolded. In the immediate context is the miraculous working of Jesus as he fed the 5000. He had fed them by multiplying the loaves and fish in order to make provision for their physical needs. This would have been a very striking demonstration of the power of Christ.
But keep in mind as well, that in this very act of multiplying the loaves and fish, and so providing for the needs of the people, he would also link his ability to provide for every need of man, even beyond physical dietry needs.
3 “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.
Was not Christ even in this instance demonstrating to the people that he was the one that would provide them with what they need. Indeed, in John’s Gospel we read that he had confronted the people when they sought him out, by saying to them that he was in fact the bread that had come down from heaven. He would go on to say to them that unless they ate of his body, and drank of his blood, they could not be considered to be children of God.
Christ was the bread of heaven come down.
The people, however, did not comprehend the true nature of Jesus. They did not truly understand who he was. But that is not to say that they had lowly thoughts of him. In fact, the crowds in general thought very highly of him!!
They thought that he was a powerful person. In fact, the parallel accounts in John’s Gospel particularly indicates that following that miracle, the people in fact spoke of Jesus as “the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (Jn 6:14) On account of this, they attempted to take Jesus by force in order to make him king.
But even in this case, they did not have the correct concept of who Jesus was. They saw in him a potential earthly king! But their conception of him was as someone that could provide for their physical needs, and could be an earthly deliverer from other nations. But this was not who Christ was.
He was so much more.
And so Jesus had slipped away from the crowds, and had gone to a remote place in order to pray. And this is where verse 18 of our text finds us. He has gone away to pray by himself, and now he poses a question to his disciples, who evidently had followed him.
“Who do the crowds say that I am.” We see the response of the disciples in verse 19...
19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
We see from the responses that the disciples give to Jesus, that the people to whom Jesus had been ministering were filled with grand ideas and notions of who Jesus was. In every description that is given here, there is a sense of importance in the title given.
John the Baptist was a person that was greatly revered by the people as he had come preaching a message of repentance, and all of Judea had gone out into the wilderness in order to be baptised by him. Some were of the opinion that Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist (clearly they weren’t there when John had baptised Jesus in the Jordan!!) But it does go to show how rumours can spread.
Others thought that this was the great prophet Elijah that had risen. Elijah was a highly respected Old Testament prophet within the Jewish mind. He was prominent in their thinking. They recalled the great miracles that Elijah performed, and the way in which God had used Elijah to conquor the prophets of Baal. But they also knew that he was a compassionate man who cared for people.
And they remembered that the prophet Malachi had stated that Elijah would return and bring with him a spirit of reconciliation, with the hope that God would relent from bringing disaster. This is essentially what closed off the Old Testament.
Many people were of the thinking that this was Elijah that had come as promised. We know that John the Baptist was in fact the Elijah that was to come. But the people of that day thought that perhaps Jesus was him. But they still had the wrong ideas about what this Elijah would come to do.
Besides these, there were many other opinions about who Jesus was among the broader community. “One of the prophets of old has risen again.” In every instance here, the people certainly believed that Jesus was a prophet from God.
Based on all of the responses given, we see that there was a great respect among the people for the person and work of Jesus.
But however great their respect was for Jesus, it fell far short of the true nature and person of Jesus Christ. And we must see the significance of this, even for us today!
It is one thing to claim that Jesus was a great prophet. In the Muslim faith, they believe that Jesus was such a great prophet, and they have great respect for Jesus as a prophet and a man that spoke from God. But their conception of Jesus is a false one, and in fact one that cannot bring any salvation to them, because they do not believe in the true person of Jesus.
Other people today claim that Jesus was a great teacher. Many religions, even atheists will look to Jesus as a great teacher for moral advice, or as an example for how to live a life that is kind and loving towards others. They think that by living like Jesus, they can attain to some moral excellence that will enable them to be ushered into God’s presence, or to reach some hightened spiritual state.
But we must note that all of these views of who Jesus is, are severely diminished, and in fact are utterly worthless, if that is where they end. Believing all these good things about Jesus, but failing to come to the final conclusion of who Jesus truly is, will lead to very disastrous eternal consequences, ultimately, for those who cling to them.
But this leads to the all-important question…
20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
It’s one thing to know and to be aware of who other people say that Jesus is. It’s fine and good to be able to speak about who Jesus potentially is based on the talk of the town. But the real question for each and every person is this, “Who do you say that Jesus is?!”
This is precisely the question that is posed by Jesus to his own disciples. They have seen his miracles, his power, his authority, him raising the dead, healing people, his authority over demons, his authority over the elements of nature. They’ve heard his teaching and ministry, how he used the Scriptures to teach the truth of God.
And based on all of their experience and learning, Peter responds with an accurate answer, provided to him only by revelation from God himself.... “The Christ of God.” We need to understand that this would have been the position of all the disciples, not merely Peter. He was the spokesperson of the group. But they were confessing that Jesus was indeed the Christ of God.
But what does this term mean?
In the Old Testament Scriptures, the Hebrew word for Christ was primarily “Anointed” - this would be the one that was anointed. But there was much that was bound up in this identity of the Lord’s anointed.
Firstly, there was a kingly role involved as the anointed of God.
The Psalms had spoken about this anointed one…
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One.
Later in that same Psalm, the Psalmist writes....
6 “I have installed my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
The Christ of God was to be the anointed king that would rule on the throne of David.
But further to this, the Anointed one would come as the true Prophet of God.
He would come as a prophet for the people of God. In other words, he would come as one that would speak the very words of God. He would be a prophet far greater than any than had gone before…
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
In the New Testament, the writer to the Hebrews confirms Jesus as the one through whom God would finally and fully bring His completed revelation…
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
The Christ of God, the anointed one, would come as the messenger of God.
But Thirdly, the Christ of God would be a Priest on behalf of the people.
He would also serve as a High Priest for the people.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
Christ in the New Testament is confirmed to be this high priest…
20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
What Peter here declares to Jesus is that they believe him to be this very promised prophet, priest and king. They were placing their hope in Him as the promised deliverer that would rule forever.
Notice that Peter calls Jesus the “Christ of God...” This was the one sent by God himself into the world!! This was God’s chosen Servant!
What a glorious thought!! Peter and the disciples properly acknowledged, accurately asserted the true nature of Jesus.
This does not mean that they fully understood the nature of the work that Jesus was to do. They still had earthly conceptions in terms of the work of Christ. These would change dramatically after His death and resurrection. But they had no doubt that Jesus was the Christ of God.
And friends, we are called to do the same, and to worship Jesus in light of His true nature. We are never to allow reduced conceptions of Jesus to be entertained in our minds. We are never to consider Christ to be anything less than the true Christ of God, who came into the world and spoke the very authoritative words of God to the world, so that the all people may be called to live in obedience to Him. He is Lord.
The question is, have you confessed Jesus as the Christ of God? And are you prepared to confess this in a world that is in opposition to Jesus Christ? Increasingly so…
As we go out into the world, we are not to proclaim Christ as a great moral teacher that has some ideas that are helpful, but if it doesn’t work for you, well then just ignore the bits that you don’t like, take the words and actions you do like.
We are to proclaim Christ as Lord, the true and only Messiah, the only One through whom man may be saved and reconciled with God. We have an unashamedly exclusivistic Gospel message. We have the very words of God through Christ, and we must not shy away from proclaiming this truth, even in the face of much persecution and suffering.
Now, let us be sure that we are to speak the truth in love. But the truth must be spoken. Who people say that Jesus is, is the most important thing about them.
As we go on in our passage, we see secondly…
2. The Condemnation of the Messiah (vv.21-22)
2. The Condemnation of the Messiah (vv.21-22)
Even as the disciples confess that Jesus is truly the Christ of God, the one that was to come as the deliverer, Jesus issues a warning to his disciples…
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.
22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
The first part of the warning is for them to not tell this to anyone. Christ tells his disciples to keep this truth to themselves - if only for this moment in his ministry.
I would suggest to you that the reason for this is that this would only fan into flame the enthusiasm of the crowds to take him by force and make him a political Messiah. Already we read in John 6:14 that the crowds wanted to set him up as king. If the message went out that this was the king to sit on David’s throne, no doubt the people would have started a war against Rome in order to have their true king put in power.
Do we not see such strange political battles being fought even in our day?
Christ was indeed the king. But His throne would not be on this earth, in this world, but rather it would be in the heavenly places at the right hand of God himself! The disciples were called to exercise restraint.
Notice what Christ goes on to say. He tells his disciples that he must suffer many things, and be rejected by all the religious leaders, and be killed and then raised up on the third day.
We must note some important points regarding this declaration of Christ.
Firstly, he very clearly speaks about the suffering that he must face. He has acknowledged to them that they have rightly discerned him to be the Messiah (see Mat.16:17-19). But he tells them plainly that in spite of who he is, he will face suffering and persecution. He was graciously and kindly warning them of what was to come.
He was also showing to them that those who claimed to be the defenders of God and His true worship were in fact those who would be opposed to the Christ of God. In other words the religious leaders were in fact in opposition to God.
In all of this, it would have been a startling statement by Jesus. It would have shocked his disciples. In fact, no sooner had Jesus made these comments, than Peter would oppose him to his face, and tell JEsus that he would not allow this to happen. And Jesus would need to rebuke Peter for his words.
I say this so that we may be encouraged to consider the words of Jesus as He has truly given them to us, and not on the basis of our own understanding and perceptions and human wisdom.
And as we continue, we will see that this is truly important for us.
In light of who Jesus is, as confessed by the disciples, we consider thirdly...
3. The Calling of the Messiah (vv.23-27)
3. The Calling of the Messiah (vv.23-27)
When Jesus is rightly confessed and acknowledged according to who He truly is, then it will lead to a life of absolute submission to and following of Him.
Notice what Jesus himself says. In verse 23,
23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
One comment before I delve into the actual words of Christ. Mark’s account of these words of Jesus demonstrate that he spoke to a large crowd, and not merely to his disciples.
We must also keep in mind that there were many people “coming after him” in that they were following him around wherever he went. They had run around the Sea of Galilee when Jesus had tried to get away with the disciples. They had come back to Capernaum when he had traveled back there. They were following him.
What Christ is then speaking to here in this context is not merely a coming after Jesus as most of the crowds were doing, but rather a following after Jesus in true fashion. Jesus is saying here that if you want to be a true disciple of me, then there are certain things that will form part of that.
With that in mind, notice that the first aspect of Jesus’ call to those who would follow him, the Christ of God, is that they are to deny themselves...
The first thing that Jesus says to those who wish to follow him is that they will necessarily be required to completely and absolutely surrender their selfish wills and desires.
There are two dimensions in which we must understand this call to self-denial.
The first dimension is that we are called to a radical self-denial of outright sinful conduct and thoughts in our lives.
8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
All of these are sinful practices that are contrary to the way of God. Following Christ will necessariy flow out of a recognition of the sinfulness of such practices, and will result in a person seeking to put these selfish, sinful practices away.
But further to this, we need to recognise that Christ’s calling to self-denial also requires a putting away of the desire to be your own Saviour. This is what the Pharisees and religious leaders were so adept at seeking to do. They wanted to earn their righteousness before God, and display it before men. Their goal was their own exaltation!
Christ comes in and says that unless you utterly deny yourself and any innate ability to earn righteousness before God, you cannot follow me.
This is both exceedingly difficult to do, and exceedingly liberating for the one who does it!
It is exceedingly difficult to do, because by nature we want to look good. We want to look like we’ve got things together. We want people to think we’re great people. And so we hide the true nature of ourselves. And we seek to hide our true selves even from God, by saying to him that we long to find our own way to please him. Or at the very least, we feel that we must play our part in salvation - being the best version of ourselves that we can be, and then letting God make up the deficit in order to save us.
The Scriptures teach us that we are unrighteous, and that even our most righteous deeds are as filthy rags before His perfect holiness. And we have a difficult time accepting that.
But it is also exceedingly liberating for the one who does it. When we finally come to that place of truly understanding our unworthiness before God, and just how extensively sin pervades our lives and our very being, it is exceedingly liberating to know that Christ came in order to fully accomplish on our behalf what we could never accomplish on our own.
All my sin and shame, all my failures and short-comings, all my lack of ability, all of the definciencies in my life, that which I seek to hide from others, and deny their very existence… Christ paid the penalty. And when I humble myself before him, and confess my own unworthiness, I am liberated from trying to perform in order to please...
I want to encourage every one listening… I think this is often so much part of who we are that we don’t even realise it. We so naturally try to look good in front of people, that we place this heavy burden on ourselves that never ends. People-pleasing is a trap. And as much as we try and wear a mask in front of people, God knows our hearts. He knows our shortcomings. He knows our failures. And He bids us to come to Him in repentance and faith… denying our own efforts… and He will graciously receive us.
The Gospel is liberating!
1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Returning to the words of Christ in verse 23, we see that Jesus goes on to say here that we are to take up our cross daily. The picture is one of the condemned criminal of the day, picking up their cross in order to carry it to the place where he will be executed on that cross.
What Christ is saying here is that the person who truly follows him will become the object of scorn and shame, and ultimatley even possibly death in the face of persecution, if need be, but that they are to do this willingly.
This is the calling of the ordinary Christian life. This is the calling of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. In the days of Jesus, and particularly as he spoke to his own disciples, he was teaching them a very important truth. That if they were going to be true disciples, then they were of necessity agreeing / accepting that they would suffer.
And suffer they would!! They would eventually be strongly opposed by the religious leaders. They would be hated even by the ordinary citizens of soceity. The disciples themselves would, for the most part, be martyred! The calling to follow Christ was a calling to follow him on the path of suffering and death.
But this is no different in our day! The same calling stands today! By God’s grace, we don’t face persecution nearly to the extent that the disciples of Jesus’ day did. But the times are indeed changing. There has been a sharp rise of liberalism, promoting teachings that are antithetical to the Gospel.
In some places in the world, to be a Christian by default puts your life at risk.
The fact is, the call to follow Christ is a call to accept persecution for the sake of Christ. When the world would seek to persecute the church, even as we live our lives doing good to all, serving all people in humility and love, we are to endure that for the sake of Christ!
20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
Just as a practical exhortation. There are some who are obnoxious in their obedience. Sometimes the suffering that they face is due to their own hard-headedness and stubbornness. They will claim that they face persecution and suffering for the sake of Christ. But sometimes they have actually brought the name of Christ into disrepute.
If you read through the exhortations to the church in this regard, we always find that Christians are to live humble lives. We are to be gracious, full of mercy and good fruit. Peter addresses this for example when he addresses slaves that are mistreated.
They must submit to their masters with all respect. (1 Pe 2:18)
Christian wives that face persecution should be submissive to their husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of their lives. (1 Pe.3:1)
In summary...
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
But friends, we must recognise that irrespective of how well we treat other people, persecution will be faced for proclaiming Jesus Christ, and what it means to live in a manner that brings honour and glory to Him.
When we take a stand on the moral issues of our day - abortion, sexuality etc. we will face persecution… and increasingly so. Christ has told his disciples that this will take place.
I want to take this matter of taking up your cross just a step further. We should not limit that statement to outright persecution.
When Christ took up the cross and walked to calvary, he was doing it in order to serve and to give his life for the benefit of those whom he would redeem. In other words, he humbled himself, became obedient to the point of death, for our sake.
When we consider what it means to take up our cross, we must recognise that this means that we are to obey the words found in Philippians 2...
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Notice also that he says that we are to take up our cross daily. This is not something that we do once-off, as an event. It is something that we do from day to day. We are called to humble ourselves, and to sacrifice personal desires and selfishness for the sake of loving and serving others.... and this is to be done daily. Every day.
Finally in terms of the call from verse 23, note that Christ says that the true disciple is to follow Jesus. The true disciple will keep on following Jesus. In other words, in all of life, the true disciple of Jesus must live in the manner that Jesus lived. The true disciple must live in obedience to him.
14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.
The calling of a disciple of Jesus is a high calling. To follow Christ is to live a life that runs completely contrary to our own sinful, self-centred, natural manner of life.
In that sense, we must depend upon the gracious working of God for this. We have a responsibility - let us not seek to avoid that. But we must live in dependence upon God. We must humble ourselves before him, and pray for his gracious working in our lives in order that we may live in this manner.
As we look back to our text, Jesus gives the basis for his command to true discipleship. He does this by presenting three statements in verses 24-26 that begin with the word “For...” (will use the NASB… brings this across much better)...
24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
If any person desires to save his mortal soul, and yet seeks to do so on his own terms, apart from the work of JEsus Christ and his utter ability to save, he will lose his life. It is only in dying to self, and surrendering to Christ and the Gospel, that salvation may come.
Apart from this, there will only be death - eternal death and condemnation.
The second “For…” statement…
25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
This brings into mind the self-centred life, as a person seeks to establish themselves in this world with little regard for others. They chase after material goods and worldly comforts, prioritizing these over Christ himself.
The rich young ruler must come to our minds. He wanted to find his way to heaven. He lived a life of much diligent obedience to the law of God. But when Christ called him to give up everything, and to follow him, he would not. He could not.
His heart was far too attached to this worldly wealth, and this would lead him to forfeit his own soul.
And the third “For…” statement...
26 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Here is the simple summary statement by Jesus, but also a very striking one. We are not to be ashamed of Jesus. We cannot separate the words of Jesus from the person of Jesus. We cannot claim to follow Christ, unless we embrace all that He has taught in terms of following him and living in obedience to him.
If we are ashamed of Jesus in this life, and so continue to live in a manner that is inconsistent with that which He has taught us, deliberately so, then let us be sure that he will be ashamed of us - meaning he will reject us - when the day of judgment comes.
The calling to be a true disciple of Jesus is not a calling to perfection in order to be accepted. But it is a calling of complete surrender to Jesus Christ. It is a calling of deep humility before God. It is a calling of absolute trust in Christ for His ability to save. It is a calling to daily following after him, in love for him, and in love for others.
The life of a disciple is a life of humble service and love for others.
27 “But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
I won’t delve into all the possible interpretations of this final verse. There have been many. My concern is that we may become too distracted from the thrust of Christ’s teaching here.
The fact was, the kingdom of God was at hand. In the next passage, Luke outlines the transfiguration event, where Peter James and John would see the glory of the Saviour revealed.
The disciples would also be witnesses to the death, resurrection and ascension of himself, and also to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.
The kingdom of God was truly at hand. And the king was standing before them, telling them what it meant to be a true disicple, and calling them to follow.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Have you considered carefully His true nature and character?
He is God’s chosen Messiah.
Has that truth gripped your heart.
And then, have you considered his call to you.
In many respects, it is not an easy call.
But it is a liberating call.
And it is a call that will result in eternal joy, happiness, contentment and peace for eternity.
It is a call that, when obeyed, will result in the praise of God’s glory.
Let us obey, dear friends, and let us do so with much joy and gratitude!
We serve a good and gracious Saviour!