014 (883) What Did Jesus Say about Himself Pt.1
Notes
Transcript
15 The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. 19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
-Song...
- Imagine at an intersection there is an accident. Cars were well banged up.
- There were four witnesses, one on each corner. onewas a Lawyer, one a race car driver, one an interior decorator & one a panel beater.
- Now will those different people give the same witness/report? - Probably not!
- Would they describe the very accident that happened – yes, they would.
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- However, each of those witnesses would describe the incident from their own experience.
- The lawyer is thinking of the lawsuit that would ensue against the driver who was wronged
- The race car driver was more interested in telling his story about how fast the cars were travelling
- The interior decorator very much noticed the colour and shape of the car
- Whilst the panel beater emphasised the damage done & the difficulty of repairing those vehicles.
- As you can see, 4 different, but complimentary perspectives.
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- In the Gospels, you will find slightly differing accounts about the life, death & resurrection of Jesus
- One thing for sure is that they all agree on the truths of Jesus & what He did on the cross, His death, His resurrection from the dead & His ascension to heaven
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- However, you will get different emphases from each Gospel writer
- For example, Mark was writing to the Romans, so Mark made sure he brought out Jesus’ power & authority – that is what mattered to Romans
- Luke, a Gospel to Gentiles along with Matthew’s with its Jewish flavour
- They don’t cancel each other out but they do present Jesus from their own perspective – that is, what most appealed about Jesus to them
- They don’t lie about Him nor make up stories, nor bend the truth, but they do highlight those aspects of His life that were critical to those to whom they were writing
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- Today, we look at Christology – a word on Christ (the study of Christ)
1. Jesus the God-Man
1. Jesus the God-Man
- We know that Jesus is both God and Man
- He came from God & in a supernatural way was born to the virgin Mary – the reason given is that He would be known as the Son of God, not the Son of Joseph
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
- This is what we refer to when we say that Jesus is God incarnate
- The incarnation is God becoming man
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
- That is the most part of the Nicene Creed of 325 AD
- It makes clear that Jesus is not half man & half God, but all man and all God
- It is a divine mystery how God could become Man, but it speaks volumes to us that God has visited us & has experienced all things that go with life in a sin-ravaged world
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- In other passages Jesus is known as the son of Joseph ONLYbecause it is to demonstrate that He was born in the line of David (that is so important – Joseph had the privilege of being a direct descendant of King David)
- Remember God gave an unconditional promise to King David
- It is commonly called; the Davidic Covenant & this Covenant continues & extends the Covenant of Abraham where God says that “all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed”
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- God promises David that His kingdom will be a never-ending kingdom & that His sons would have a never-ending reign
Ps 89:3–4 —3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, 4 I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all generations.”
2 Sa 7:12–13 —12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
2 Sa 7:16 —16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
2. Jesus Is the Christ, the Son of God
2. Jesus Is the Christ, the Son of God
- I hope that most of you understand what Christ means
- It is important that you do
- Christ (Gk: Christos) means “anointed one” & it has reference to the anointing/installing a King (He’s an anointed one)
- In the OT which is written in Hebrew, the word for “anointed one” is Messiach which in English is “Messiah”
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- So Christ is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah
- Both mean the same – they are synonymous with each other
Jn 1:41 —41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
- So to say Jesus is the Christ is EXACTLY the same as saying Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, the King – in the line of David
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- Jesus has been born in the line of David which means He qualifiesto receive the unconditional promise of God to King David
- That is why many people in the NT ascribe to Jesus the title, “Son of David”
- The sick and lame cry out to Him, “Son of David” have mercy on me
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- I’d like us to look at this Psalm of David
Ps 110:1–3 —1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.
- It speaks of the blessing of God on the rule of His King & it’s one of the reasons that people rejected Jesus because they only could conceive of God’s Messiah being an all-conquering King – knowing the blessing of God almighty on Him giving Him victory in battle
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- Jesus was certainly not acting like a king – a ruler who would subdue the enemies of God
- After all, this Psalm clearly has God on the side of His king &, in fact, fighting for him - “...until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”
- Unfortunately, they failed to understand that the Servant of the Lord that Isaiah speaks about is also the Messiah of God
- The Servant of the Lord is the One who is pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities
- He is One who was despised & forsaken of men; a man of sorrows & acquainted with grief
- He is the One whom the Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him
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- But Israel was so fixated on this one thing – greatness, conquering, winning
- Jesus in His first appearing came to deal with our inner enemies & became the sacrifice for sin so we could be reconciled with God
- But oh, when He comes again – look out BIG TIME – He will not be coming as meek Jesus & a suffering servant
- He will come as that all-conquering King who will put down His enemies
- This is the Messiah the Jews were looking for & they missed Him
- To be sure, they will not miss Him when He comes as conquering King
- But by then, it will be too late for them
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- Let’s get back to this Psalm
- Jesus throws a spanner in the works by challenging the people’s notions of who this “son of David” would be
Q. Is He divine or human?
Mt 22:41–46 —41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET” ’? 45 “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
- In other words, Jesus challenged the underlying assumption that the Davidic King would be merely human
- Jesus made no bones about the fact that God is His Father & that He Himself was the Father’s divine Son
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- The enemies people see are the ones who control with brute force
- Physical power is their only compass – yet what do you do with those hidden, inner, enemies?
- Psychologists & mental health workers are trying to help people gain victory over their inner enemies
- But they are woefully & inadequately equipped
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- For starters, the enemies our Lord & His apostles identify are spiritual enemies – that of sin, Satan, & the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places as the apostle Paul talks about
- Unless their help points people to Jesus Christ & His sacrifice for sin, the help is only superficial – band aid stuff
- It is like using toothpicks in trying to defeat men with swords
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- Humanistic substitutes for spiritual matters are nothing but another way the enemy is outwitting people – where is the Gospel???
- Jesus Christ came from God to deal with our sin – the Son of God was crucified for our sins – that’s how important is this battle
- Only Jesus could gain true victory over the true enemies that people face
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- Jesus demonstrated that He is the Son of God through all the miracles & signs that He performed – including His resurrection from the dead
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- He healed the sick, the demon-possessed, the blind, the lame; He raised people from the dead & demonstrated His power over nature, over the elements & over the laws of physics
- He could feed a stadium full of people with nothing but a basket of fish & bread; He could walk on top of water & stop a storm in its tracks
- Jesus gave these signs or signposts to point the way to all concerned that this person, Jesus & Jesus alone, is THE Son of God
Jn 20:31 —31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
- That not only speaks of true quality of life, but of everlasting life since this person has been reconciled with the creator of the universe