MCS Chapel: What is Jesus like?

Jesus, His Person: What is Jesus Like?

Text: Hebrews 2:9

What is the goal of this message?

That the students would be humbled by the humility of Jesus Christ.

How will you meet this goal?

By expositing the humility of Jesus from Hebrews 2:9 and applying this exposition to every person.

Why is this message necessary?

Because without Christ-caused humility, there is no salvation.

Because true humility is truly attractive and effective.

Because we are acquainted with Jesus but we need to look closely into his person that we might be change by Jesus.

How will you go about explaining this humility of Jesus sermonically?

By showing Jesus’ humility through answering the question:

“What is Jesus like?”

Big Idea:

Jesus is the most humble, self-giving person who has made Himself known to mankind. Jesus is like Jesus, and there is no one more desirable than Him.

Preview:

(1) What Jesus could’ve done

(2) What Jesus actually did

(3) What this means today

(1) What Jesus could’ve done - But we see Jesus...

He could have remained completely hidden and apart from mankind.

Illustration: Have you every seen a celebrity visit someone who was dying? There is a bit of sympathy that we feel when we see that because we know that the celebrity both had the right and ability to NOT make the visit just as much as the opposite.

Jesus, being far greater than any celebrity, could have remained anonymous and unknown. Why? Because of Who He is. Hebrews 1:1-3.

This means two things: (1) The Son had the right to remain anonymous. To say that he has the right means that he has the authority as God. (2) The Son had the ability to remain anonymous. To say that he had the ability is to say that he had the power to remain anonymous.

Jesus is astonishingly humble.

What could Jesus have done?

He could have remained completely hidden and apart from mankind.

The humility of Jesus cannot be understood without taking a look at what He could have done. Philippians 2:5-11.

App:

Someone who has right and power, but is willing to restrain both of the sake of your life, is the kind of Person that is truly attractive. Why? Because many people use right and power to abuse others for their own benefit. To manipulate someone with power and right for your own purposes is pride, and pride is to consider yourself better than them.

Illustration: No one wants a friend who uses, abuses, and trashes them. We all want a friend who has our best interest in mind. When we say that Jesus is humble, what we mean is that though he had right and power, he still considered others better than himself.

What kind of friend do you want to be?

(2) What Jesus actually did - But we see Jesus...

Jesus refused anonymity and chose vulnerability.

Illustration: Some might think that Jesus was like Undercover Boss, but really Jesus displayed who He was.

He actually put himself in a place to be witnessed. The self-revelation of God is an act of his grace. He wants to be known. In addition, it is not just THAT he revealed himself but HOW he revealed himself:

for a little while made lower...

to be made lower is to add to himself what he was not: humanity.

to add humanity to himself is to take on vulnerability.

to take on vulnerability is to humbly accept limitability.

The limit of power

The limit of knowledge

…than the angels...

this statement is to show the depth and specificity of his humility.

Depth - how far down did he go?

Specificity - who did he become? (1st Adam & 2nd Adam)

…crowned with glory and honor...

this is the humility of a lesser glory and a lesser honor than what he left.

it is a lesser glory of mankind, because the son had glory as the Creator.

it is a lesser honor because while mankind is an image-bearer, Jesus does not just bear and image, he is the Image of God.

Why was it important that Jesus did reveal himself in this way?

For Jesus to reveal himself this way is to point to the credibility to his Person.

That young man was Flavius Josephus (ca. 37-–ca. 100), who ultimately became the greatest Jewish historian of his time....One of those works is his now-famous Antiquities of the Jews, which he finished in about A.D. 93. In book 18, chapter 3, section 3 of that work, Josephus, who was not a Christian, wrote these words:

At this time [the time of Pilate] there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good and (he) was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.1 [Geisler, Norman L.; Turek, Frank. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Foreword by David Limbaugh) (pp. 221-222). Crossway. Kindle Edition.]

(i) Historically (In a particular time) - at this time

(ii) Geographically (In a particular place) - the time of Pilate

(iii) Biologically (Physically) (not an apparition or ghost) - there was a wise man

(iv) Ethnically (As a particular ethnicity: Jew) - And many people from among the Jews...

(5) Anthropomorphically (as a human - no reincarnation) - there was a…man...

What did Jesus actually do?

He refused anonymity and chose vulnerability.

The humility of Jesus is seen in all that he submitted himself to in order to reveal himself in very particular ways. You can deny Jesus, but the evidence for His Person and the kind of Person He was is overwhelming.

App:

Jesus is not an imaginary friend or person though you cannot see him right now.

Do you want a Person who says they are humble or proves they are humble?

(3) What this means today - Hebrews 2:9.

Why the humility? What does all of this mean?

It tells you that God is gracious because He has given you something you could not get on your own. - so that by the grace of God...

Secondly, it tells you that God has paid for what he is offering to you - he might taste death for everyone...

Why grace and why substitution?

Because everything we have said about this Jesus is everything we are NOT and everything that God rightly requires.

Ill: When we are seeing these truths about Jesus, we are looking at a mirror reflection where we are upside down and Jesus is right side up.

Conclusion:

What is Jesus like? Jesus is like Jesus? There really is no good comparison. If you don’t have Jesus, then you do not really have anything.

Illustration: Have you ever been around someone that was just better than you in every way? Their looks, their talk, their money, their words, their skill…When you are called upon to do something in front of them, you become more self-conscious — meaning you become aware of your shortcomings.

The difference with Jesus is that he has humbly paid the price and extends Himself to you. You can have Jesus, and He wants You.

Jesus is the most humble, self-giving person who has made Himself known to mankind. Jesus is like Jesus, and there is no one more desirable than Him.