09-18-2022: Jesus

We believe…

In my conversations the past few weeks, when I’ve told people I’d be preaching, of course they’d ask, “well what are you going to preach about?”

To that, I’d reply, “Jesus.”

We Believe… in Jesus

That’s when the funny looks start…

The faces that scream, “I want to ask for more info, but….” Or the snarky, “isn’t it all about Jesus?”

To which I reply, “yeah, so you see why I’m having such a hard time with it…”

They just look at me more confused…

It’s all good, we are going to talk about Jesus today. However, I feel the need to start with…

A Disclaimer…

And it comes straight from Scripture, so you can’t say I’m making stuff up… yet anyway.

John 21:24–25 NLT

This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate. Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

So, even with my plan to keep this short and get you out of here by around 3:00, there’s just no way we can cover all the amazing things about Jesus today.

So we’re going to start from the article, and then see where that takes us. Sound ok?

The article (Part One)

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father;

that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.

I’m going to stop here for a minute… this is what happens when academic theologians write things…

Now, you’re all thinking of a superhero, or a comic book character - yes there is one, I checked. I couldn’t being myself to share a picture of that one..

God Man

But even this is what we sometimes may think about when we hear words put together like God-Man.

So let’s not be thinking superhero, and I’m actually going to steer clear of using the term God-Man.

What I am going to say is this. Jesus is fully God - we established that last week - and by virtue of his incarnation and birth, fully human.

We’ll come back to that, just needed to address the potential spandex-wearing elephant in the room.

You good? We good? Moving on…

The Article (Part Two)

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins (Fully Human), and that He truly arose from the dead (Fully God)

and took again His body (Fully Human), together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature (Fully Human), wherewith He ascended into heaven (Fully God) and is there engaged in intercession for us. (Fully God)

We Believe… In Jesus

John’s Gospel

John 1:1-18 - Read by

John 1:1–18 NRSV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

We Believe… In Jesus

There’s a little bit to unpack here, and we’re going to reinforce things with some other Scripture passages as we go.

So as we look at this second article of faith, the first thing established is that Jesus is

fully God.

Eternally one with the Father,

present at creation - He was part of the ‘Let Us’ make human beings in our likeness…

ever existing…

(slide)

So this is really a recap from last week, right?

Fully God.

Jesus was also

fully human.

In the Article of faith, we read,

“He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary (slide), so that two whole and perfect natures…are thus united in one person…”

He became incarnate - ok, the theologians are using big words again.

What does it mean to become incarnate?

Well, Mirriam-Webster (for you younger folks, us older people used to have these big books called dictionaries. We’d go into them to learn definitions, and how to pronounce words) - Now, I guess you can just ask Siri or Google for that…

Anyway! Incarnation is defined as “invested with flesh or bodily nature and form”(slide)

That’s so good, right? (Slide)

INVESTED - God is so INVESTED in creation that he became one of us in order to save us.

So invested in humanity that he put together a rescue plan like the world had never seen before.

Invested in relationship with us, regardless of the cost.

Amazing, isn’t it?

We’re also told that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary

(Slide) Why is this important?

Well, it’s important for two reasons.

One, it fulfills prophecy. Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus birth, wrote a message of hope about a messianic king

(Slide) It says:

Isaiah 7:14 NASB95

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Immanuel, God with us…

invested in us…

present with us…

- a sign from the Lord Himself.

fully human.(slide)

The second reason the Virgin Birth is important, to put it plainly… it’s messy

Birth is messy. Humanity is messy. Personhood is messy.

God chose then and chooses now to be with us right here, in the mess.

Jesus meets us in the mess. God reveals himself to us fully in the form of a “Son of Man”.

Consequently, the editors of the Common English Bible translate that phrase “Son of Man” to read, “Human One” - not to deny an aspect of divinity, but to emphasize just how fully human Jesus is.

God chooses to reveal Himself fully to humanity in the only way that humanity can truly understand… looking like us, in the middle of our mess, on our turf…

John says,

(Slide) John 1:9

John 1:9 NRSV

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

(Slide) John 1:14 NRSV

John 1:14 NRSV

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

(Slide) John 1:14 MSG

John 1:14 The Message

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

Jesus is...

fully God.

fully human.

fully revealed!

Fully revealed, but not fully recognized...

John 1:10–11 The Message

He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.

Fully revealed

to a nation suffering under roman occupation. The “Roman Peace”, (the pax romana) didn’t really extend all the way to the edges of the empire.

On the fringe, peace was maintained through force.

Through soldiers and centurions, through oppressive taxes, and through systems designed to keep the poor and less fortunate… well poor and less fortunate. Sound familiar?

Fully revealed to a culture led by people who believe impurity, or uncleanliness, or sin is contagious…

The culture of God’s chosen people - correction, the self-proclaimed holiest of God’s chosen people don’t recognize the arrival of their own promised and prophesied Messiah.

And man, how wrong did they get it?

Because the truth of the matter is this…

Jesus comes to usher in a kingdom where it isn’t sin, but holiness that is contagious…

the light that can’t be overcome by the darkness…

Jesus reveals to us a kingdom that doesn’t make sense. It’s upside-down, favoring the least of society.

He doesn’t come to minister to the religious leaders, or hang out with the king.

Instead, He ministers to the outcasts, lepers, sinners, and tax collectors.

We start to see this almost immediately in Jesus ministry.

He starts by calling fishermen and a tax collector to be his disciples.

He heals lepers by touching them!

He heals with spit and mud on eyes, and touching tongues.

For a culture that values ritual purity and cleanliness… this is shocking and scandalous!

What’s even more weird is that this made him popular!

We have several sources in the Bible that tell us about Jesus, each written from different perspectives,

but they all reveal the almost instant response to Jesus’ popularity…

In the Gospel of Mark, we’re told, after Jesus healed the leper...

Mark 1:44–45 NRSV

saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

As word got out about this new prophet in town, people gathered to hear him teach and to seek healing. News of his ministry traveled fast...

A lot of people quickly grew to know about Jesus, but was he...

Fully Known?

Crowds gather, He teaches them, He feeds them miraculously, he heals the sick and disabled and demon possessed…

but do they really know Him?

They lay their coats in his path and wave palm branches with shouts of Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

But do they really know Him?

They missed the point. Some were expecting that donkey ride to end with a turn right up to the gates of the palace.

They were expecting a conquering, messianic king would would fight the battles in the earthly realm.

Instead, by the end of the week, the one they thought would be the conquering king was arrested, abandoned, beaten bloody, humiliated, crucified, dead, and buried.

Fully Human.

Isaiah 53:5 NLT

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

His battle wasn’t here on earth. It was in the unseen realm.

Fully God.

Even his closest friends - Jesus calls them friends in John’s Gospel - even his closest friends abandon him and deny knowing him.

When Peter says for the third time, “I’m telling you, I do not know the man!”

It is possible that was a confession and the cry of his heart?

We’ll come back to Peter in a few minutes...

We know the story, later that day, Jesus died a criminal’s death on the cross.

Fully human.

It seemed like the end. It seemed like a loss.

How could there possibly be victory in death?

But we know that wasn’t the end.

We know that after the deafening silence of Saturday that Sunday came.

We know that the women found an empty tomb.

We know that Jesus was resurrected by the power of God, defeating death and redeeming and restoring creation into oneness with God.

We know that Jesus appeared to the disciples… more than once!

We know he ate with them, and was present with them.

We know that Jesus ascended to heaven, body and spirit.

He took his humanity with him! Hanging onto the identity of the slain lamb that we read about in Revelation.

We know that he advocates for us!

We know!

Do we know?

Or do we just know about?

After Jesus resurrection, he appeared to his disciples.

They were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And as Pastor Des would say, Jesus shows up, and he’s all “Shalom Y’all - got any fish for breakfast?”

He takes Peter aside and asks him three times, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

I’ve been learning a little Greek in my spare time… though this one isn’t really new info…

Three time Jesus asked “do you love me?”

Three times Peter answered “yeah Jesus, I love you”

In English, it sounds all good, but get this…

They’re totally different words in Greek - check it out

Agape /Philio Slide

When Jesus asks, love is agape - he saying, “Peter, do you love me unconditionally?”

And Peter is replying, “Yeah Jesus, I’m your bro”

Peter’s work is Philio - like Philadelphia - brotherly love.

Totally not the same thing…

It’s like dating someone for three months and you work up the courage to say I love you, and the other person replies, “aww, I love spending time with you too!”

Alright maybe not exactly the same, but you get it...

Peter didn’t totally get it. The disciples didn’t totally get it...

We don’t always totally get it.

Fully Known? (Slide)

The reality for us in all of this,

The place where we find ourselves as a church and as a people today, is not all that different from the people in Jesus’ time

Most of what we’ve talked about so far this morning is what I would put in the category of knowing ABOUT Jesus.

We can know a lot about Jesus and still not know Jesus.

Even as I’ve prayed and prepared to share this message, I’ve asked myself, do I know him well enough to preach this?

Even if I do truly know Jesus, could I know Him better?

Knowing about Jesus is probably enough to get you into a seat on a Sunday morning.

Really knowing him will change how you do the rest of your week.

Knowing about Jesus might even call you into service, thinking that the work will draw you closer.

Really knowing Jesus will make the time when you’re not doing the work even sweeter.

Knowing about Jesus gives you something to talk about with your family and friends.

Really knowing Jesus shows even when you don’t use words.

Do you know Him?

Listen to these words from John’s first letter...

1 John 1:5–10 NRSV

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Only knowing about Jesus could still leave us walking in the darkness.

Only knowing about Jesus is maybe a like being a branch, severed from the Vine.

Only knowing about Jesus doesn’t require a commitment…

(V8)If we say we have no sin… All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All… It is just a fact.

But the next lines are where we get real with ourselves, and with God.

(V9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is not sin that’s contagious in Jesus’ upside-down kingdom… it’s holiness!

John 1:12 The Message

But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

This flows right back into John’s first letter, where he writes...

1 John 2:1–6 NRSV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

Do you know Him?

Do you know you know him?

Do you know that knowing Him doesn’t require perfection?

just obedience

Do you know Him?

Do you know that He gives us all we need when we obey his call to “follow me”

Do you know Him?

Do you know Jesus?

As we close our time together, let’s bow our heads and close our eyes.

If you are maybe saying for the first time that you want to KNOW Jesus, would you acknowledge that by raising your hand, so I can pray for you?

If you are feeling like you’re asking yourself, “Do I really know Jesus?” or feeling like you want to know Him more, to grow in a deeper relationship with Him, would you slip your hand, so I can pray for that too?

As the worship team comes up, and as we sing this closing song, the altar is open. If you want one of us to pray with you, just make eye contact with us.

PRAY