WHO IS THIS JESUS? Part 5 (John 8:48-59 September 26, 2004)

Transcription

1 WHO IS THIS JESUS? Part 5 (John 8:48-59 September 26, 2004) When I was at seminary I took a class called Old Testament Survey. We covered the 39 books of the Old Testament at a frightening pace. When we were done I could tell you about Obadiah and Zephaniah but what I realised was that I couldn t tell you what God was doing in the Old Testament as a whole. We had focussed so much on each individual part that for me at least, I missed how all the parts fitted together what the big picture was. Missing the forest for the trees is a real danger we can miss the big picture in the midst of all the little pictures and in working our way through chapters 7 and 8 of John this is a danger. This morning we come to the end of a series of sermons dealing with Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles. And I want to make sure that no one misses the power and majesty of this section as a whole. These chapters have a message a crucial message. In May the Coorparoo homegroup had our camp and we watched the entire Gospel of John on DVD in that weekend. Seeing and hearing this Gospel in one hit was powerful. And this section was particularly powerful because of the relentless theme of Jesus as God and faith in Jesus as God as the only way of salvation. Let me remind you of where we have been. In the chapters leading up to this event the crowds were captivated by the miracles of Jesus. They flocked to Him. They knew that He was special but they never accepted the truth that He was God. Then we come to chapters seven and eight. Jesus is at the great feast the Feast of Tabernacles. There, He performs no miracles. But He makes claims that are unmistakeable. He claims to be Messiah and He claims to be God. And what we have seen is that the crowds and even the rulers are torn by this claim. It is as if there is a part of them that hears the claims of Jesus but then some other part that cries out don t listen it simply can t be true! No man can be God! His claims just cannot be true! It is as if they can t believe their ears. It is as if they must have misunderstood Him. So in chapter 8 verse 25 they ask Who are You? In chapter 8 verse 53 they ask Just whom do you make Yourself out to be? You seem to be claiming to be God surely that can t be what You are saying! So just what is it that you claim about Yourself? 1

2 And throughout this section we see this tension, this confusion, this debate over who Jesus is. We see the crowds and the leaders torn over who Jesus might be. Just listen to a few verses from these chapters. Chapter 7 verse 12 some were saying, He is a good man ; others were saying, No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray. Chapter 7 verse 20 others declare He must be possessed by a demon to make such claims. Chapter 7 verse 31 some began to wonder could He be the Christ? Chapter 7 verse 40 others declared He is most certainly the Prophet. Chapter 7 verse 41 some declared He was the Christ while others denied He could be the Christ. Chapter 7 ends with the crowd divided some want to kill Him others want to find out more. It ends with the leaders also divided the Levitical guard heard Jesus teach and wanted to hear more the chief priests and the Pharisees denied all of His claims. Then we came to chapter 8 Again we see some come to believe in Him as One sent from God but they won t take that next step and trust Him as God. And because Jesus will accept nothing less than faith which declares that He is God He refuses to accept these as disciples and finally they too seek to kill Him. You need to read these chapters over and over to see the tension here. Jesus relentlessly claiming to be God. Using terminology and titles that belong to God alone. He claims to fulfil Scriptures and ceremonies that are fulfilled only by God. And Jesus relentlessly claiming that eternal salvation is only for those who believe that He is God. And what we find is that some simply refuse to even consider His claims. Others know there is something special about Him. They will name Him as a King, a prophet, a worker of miracles even the Messiah. But Jesus knows this faith will not save anyone. He will not accept anything less that being worshipped as God. He is not just a king not just a prophet not just a worker of miracles not just Messiah He is God! And only this faith can save. But it is also true that throughout these chapters you feel the confusion of the crowd. How can a man be God? How can God be born and sweat and eat? 2

3 How can we see and touch God? We know where He is from. We know His family. So how can He be the eternal God? And yet how do I explain the miracles, the teaching, the Scriptures, the sinless life? Just what am I to make of Jesus of Nazareth? And then into the midst of this confused situation Jesus lobs a grenade. In John 8:24 He said this: Unless you believe that I am unless you believe that I am God you will die in your sins you will die eternally. Jesus is so relentless because the question of who Jesus is this is no mere academic doggerel. This is eternal life and death. This is the reason you exist. This is the watershed of your lives. The great question that separates heaven and hell is this who is Jesus? This question dominates the Gospel of John. John says he wrote this Gospel so that: You may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31). Now before we move on I want to give you the full picture here. I want you to understand why we have to be as relentless as Jesus in not allowing the gospel we proclaim to be watered down. Many have argued like this. When we go out into the world with the gospel no one will believe it. It is too hard to bring men and women to faith presenting the gospel in its fullness declaring that a carpenter who died 2000 years ago is God and the only way of salvation. So what we should do is adjust the gospel take all the harsh, rough edges off it. Make it more palatable. Don t talk about sin. Talk more about Jesus as Saviour than as God. And then when people are hooked and interested then slowly lead them into the full truth. In 1925 three quarters of a century ago, Bruce Barton wrote a book titled, The Man Nobody Knows: A Discovery of the Real Jesus. The book opens by quoting Jesus Wist ye not that I must be about my Father s business? And from this word business he concludes that Jesus was the consummate business entrepreneur. He states that Jesus was the equivalent of the contemporary businessman in the modern day marketplace with a product to sell and that product is the gospel and He will do whatever it takes to sell that product. 3

4 Barton was one of the early pioneers of the church growth movement. But many have since walked in his footsteps and seen the gospel as a product to market. This idea of the gospel as a product to market hit the mainstream in George Barna s 1988 book Marketing the Church. Here is what he said: It is critical that we keep in mind a fundamental principle of Christian communication: the audience, not the message, is sovereign. Our message has to be adapted to the needs of the audience. 1 In other words, if we want the people out there to accept our message we have to tailor our message to make it acceptable to the audience. Make it palatable. He also writes this: To successfully market your product, you have to identify its prospective market. By matching the appeal of your product to the interests and needs of specific population segments, you can concentrate on getting your product to your best prospects without wasting resources on people who have no need or interest in your product. By knowing the product s market, the product itself can be developed to address the special needs of that segment, and the entire marketing effort can be designed with maximum efficiency. 2 The gospel is a product to be marketed. Find out what they want and give it to them. Listen to these quotes again: And: Our message the gospel has to be adapted made palatable to the needs of the audience. By knowing the product s market, the product itself the gospel can be developed adjusted, tailored, made palatable to address the special needs of that segment. I am not suggesting that these men deny they deity of Christ or the sinfulness of man. What I am suggesting is that they don t make these the central tenet of the gospel presented to a lost world. And what I want you to notice in this passage is that Jesus never fails to make these prime facets of the gospel the central message. He refuses to compromise. He refuses to adjust His message. We have seen that He continually has hordes of people wanting to follow Him. In chapter 6 thousands rallied to proclaim Him King. But Jesus refused to simply be 1 Barna, Marketing the Church (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1988). P George Barna, Marketing the Church (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1988). pp

5 honoured as King. When He showed that they must honour Him as God and giver of life they all walked away. He never tailored His message. He proclaimed it even more forcefully. Now, here in verse 31 more Jews wanted to believe Him. But He will not allow faith in Him as anything other than God. He pushes this truth relentlessly until finally, they take up stones to kill Him. Jesus never tailored His message to His audience by making it more palatable. Instead of attracting the followers He ends up repelling them by the stark reality of the true gospel. Why doesn t Jesus listen to Barna and other church growth gurus and tailor His gospel? Why not let them follow Him as King and Prophet? Because, this can detract from the one truth that can save men. Only faith in Christ as God saves. That is the emphasis of this entire book. That is the emphasis of these chapters. Jesus knew that if He held Himself out as a King as the Messiah they wanted many would follow. But that would not save them. And you can t later just say great now you are My followers let Me tell you a little more by the way I am God. That is the classic bait and switch. Present the truth up front Jesus is God and the only way of salvation. Don t get me wrong. I feel the disappointment of having men and women reject the gospel. I feel the pull of wanting to make the gospel more palatable. But what we have to realise is this humanly speaking no one will accept the truth of the real gospel. It is only when we water the gospel down that men will embrace it and what they embrace won t save them. What we must proclaim is found again and again in John. Jesus is God who became man to die for the sins of the world. In John we encounter a God who becomes flesh and blood. The true God who is born and who dies. He lives among men as a man and yet, He says You must believe that I am God Yahweh the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the God who is without limit the God who has always existed who created all things. Believe this and live. And the question raised again and again is this how do you believe this? How does anyone believe this? And the answer consistently given is this humanly speaking you can t! This is a truth outside our ability to grasp. 5

6 Imagine that you and I are on top of a burning building. The flames are coming. And I pull out a little pouch and say Don t worry I have pixie dust. A little of this and we will fly off the roof to safety. Trust me this will save us. How easy would you find it to leap off that building into thin air? Everything inside you would scream there is no such thing as pixie dust and there is such a thing as the law of gravity. In the same way everything inside the natural man screams there is no such thing as a man who is God. But the paradox is that this is the only way to salvation. Chapter 9 is where this conflict is resolved. It deals with how God overcomes this natural resistance to the truth that Jesus is God. But chapters 7 and 8 show us just how powerful that resistance is. And what I want you to grasp is this. The answer is not to dumb down our message to make it more palatable. The answer is to pray for God to do the impossible and make the truth that Jesus is God live in the hearts of men. So with these thoughts before you look at this final amazing interaction between Jesus and the Jews. We ended last time at John 8 verse 47 where Jesus said to the Jews: He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. These Jews were certain they were of God. They were Abraham s heirs so God was their father. But Jesus said they very fact that you cannot hear Me and cannot accept My words shows that you are not of God. God has not opened your ears and eyes to the truth. To their ears this was so outrageous that they responded with absolute scorn. Verse 48: The Jews answered and said to Him, Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon? The idea that anyone could challenge the fact that the Jews Abraham s heirs were not of God was so ludicrous so incredible that only a half-breed Samaritan or someone possessed by a demon could make it. I have seen this reaction many times. The true gospel has an amazing simplicity faith in Jesus as God faith in Jesus death to pay for sins. 6

7 But man being man wants to detract from this simplicity Make Jesus less than God like the Mormons. Add human works to faith like the Jews Jesus faced. And then when you say no you have missed the simplicity of the gospel we are accused of being insane of being misguided or even demon possession. When I had only been a Christian a few months I received a knock at my door one evening. It was a youth pastor I knew. He came in and said that he was concerned about me. He said that he had come to make sure that I spoke in tongues that I had the sign that the Holy Spirit dwelt in me the sign of true conversion. I had never heard of speaking in tongues before that night. He left me with a tape that explained about tongues and at the end it actually said that if I couldn t speak in tongues then I should clear my mind and just start saying banana backwards. Repeat a-n-a-n-a-b a-n-a-n-a-b a-n-a-n-a-b over and over and the gift would come. To cut a long story short I examined the Scriptures and came to the conclusion that it just didn t support what he was saying. Faith in Christ alone was sufficient for my salvation. He disagreed. He said my faith was not enough unless it had tongues. Years later I was in the city and saw a small Christian bookstore. I walked in, was browsing around when I heard CRAIG, CRAIG! It was that same youth pastor. His first question was not How are? How is your walk in the Lord? It was Have you received the gift of tongues yet? I told him no. Then it got bizarre. He encouraged me to sit down and called his wife to come. They started shutting up the shop and closing the blinds. I asked what was going on. This is basically what he said, You still don t speak in tongues! then you are not a Christian there can be only one reason for this you must be possessed by a demon. I am going to cast the demon out of you. All I remember is getting up and running out the door and down the street. For this man speaking in tongues was the sign of being filled with the Holy Spirit and true salvation. Faith in Christ as God was not enough. And nothing would change His mind. It seemed so clear to him. He was so convinced of what he had been taught. The fact that I disagreed could mean one thing that a demon had influenced me. 7

8 In the same way Jesus saying that faith in Him was the only way to salvation. To a Jews who was convinced being a descendant of Abraham was enough it seemed so ludicrous that He must be influenced by Samaritan lies or demons. But the gospel is wonderfully simple. Verse 49: Jesus answered, I do not have a demon; but I honour My Father, and you dishonour Me. Jesus speaks the truth. He speaks only what honours His Father. And to reject His words dishonours Him and God who sent Him. Verse 50: But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Jesus did not come seeking His own glory. Everything He does is to honour and give glory to the Father. It is the Father who seeks His own glory and Jesus life and ministry do give glory to the Father. In John 4:23 we are told that the Father seeks true worshippers. God is honoured when sinful men and women come to repentance and come to worship Him. And the only way this can happen is through faith in Christ as God there is no other path so Jesus will not concede one iota of ground here. At this point I want you to notice something that Jesus does. The Jews are attempting to move the debate away from sin and judgment and the way of salvation. Jesus won t let the conversation drift. Look at what He says. God not only seeks His glory God is the judge. Then verse 51: Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death. The only way for men and women to escape the judgment of God, to escape eternal death is through believing the words of Jesus the One who has eternal life. Believe that He is God. Believe His death pays for sins and live. Brothers and sisters When we share the gospel those we share with are so often like worms trying to wriggle off the hook. They want the conversation to end. They want to sidetrack the gospel What about the pygmies who have never heard? What about aborted babies? They want to move away from sin and judgment and salvation. We have to follow the lead of Jesus and continually move the conversation back to the ground of the gospel. Accept the word of Jesus and live reject it and die. That is where the gospel is won and lost. But, also realise men won t like this. Verses 52-53: 8

9 The Jews said to Him, Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death. Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be? Abraham spoke with God and he died. Abraham kept the word of God and he died. Abraham is the father of the Jews and he died. Now you are saying that you have a word greater than that given to Abraham a word that can cause men not to die? Who do you think you are someone greater than Abraham greater than the prophets? Wow! It shows how little they understood. First, Jesus wasn t talking about dying physically He was talking about not dying eternally of escaping the wrath of God the judge. And second every word Jesus has uttered has said that indeed He is greater than Abraham and the prophets every word is a claim to be divine. So Jesus reiterated all He has said with final clarity. Verses 54 to 55: Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God ; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. By speaking the truth about Himself, Jesus is not seeking to glorify Himself it is God who sent Him, God who testifies of Him, God who will raise Him up and God who glorifies Him in all things. And it is this God, the One they claim to know and worship He is the One who glorifies Jesus. The very fact that they doubt Jesus shows they don t truly know God. They are liars whereas Jesus knows God and keeps His word. And now Jesus gets very specific. Verse 56: Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. When God made a covenant with Abraham He promised that a descendent would come who would bless all the nations. The king, the promised seed, the Messiah. On Mount Moriah God supplied the lamb for the burnt offering and again promised that through Abraham s seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. 9

10 Through the promise, through the land, through the birth of a son Abraham saw the dawning of the covenant that would lead to Messiah. In this sense He saw the coming of Christ s day the dawning of Messiah s kingdom and he rejoiced. If Jesus is the One promised to Abraham then all that Jesus has said about Himself is true. Abraham would have believed Him. So how did the Jews respond? Verse 57: So the Jews said to Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? Jesus didn t say that Abraham had seen Him. He said Abraham had seen His day the dawning of Messiah. But the Jews wanted to discredit Him. Hey Abraham has been dead and buried for two thousand years how old are You? Thirty certainly no more than fifty. And Abraham saw You and You saw Abraham? And I suppose you were on the ark with Noah and in the garden with Adam too? But just as Jesus won t let them see Him as merely a king or a prophet nor will He let them see Him as claiming to be merely a man even a man who has lived for many years. Jesus was with Adam and Noah and Abraham and Moses because Jesus is God. And He tells them so: Verse 58: Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. If Jesus merely wanted to say that He was alive before Abraham was born there are many ways He could have said it: Before Abraham was born, I was born. Before Abraham was, I was. I was alive before Abraham was born. But that is not what He said. He said: Before Abraham was born, I am. This is the third time in this passage Jesus has referred to Himself as I am. He used the title in verses 24 and 28. Throughout this Gospel Jesus repeatedly refers to Himself as I am! 10

11 To any biblically literate Jew this term would take them back to Isaiah where God repeatedly refers to Himself as I Am. Just listen to two of these occurrences. Isaiah 41:4: I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am. I am timeless. I am before the first and after the last. I am. I have always existed I will always exist. I am God. Isaiah 43:13: Even from eternity I am. I exist outside of time. I am God. I have no beginning and no end. I am God. No wonder Jesus could say: Before Abraham was born, I am. And no wonder the Jews understood that He was claiming to be God. Throughout this chapter this has been the relentless, unifying beat. Jesus claim to be God. Jesus refusal to let them consider Him as anything less than God. And this message did get through. Verse 59: Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. The ones who wanted to believe in Him as a great man from God now want to stone Him. They understood He was claiming to be God. But instead of listening to the testimony of God, to the testimony of the Word, to the testimony of His sinless life, to the testimony of His miracles they said it is impossible You are blaspheming and the penalty for blasphemy is death. Brothers and sisters. Learn the lesson from these chapters. The gospel is beautiful in its simplicity. Jesus is God. Jesus is the God become man to die for our sins. Believe this and live. Believe anything else and you die. I know this can seem absurd to rational minds. I know unsaved men and women can t grasp this. I know that men with wicked deceitful hearts refuse to accept this truth. 11

12 I know the lure of dumbing down the gospel. Presenting Jesus as a good man, a superb teacher, a prophet, a leader. And then later drop in the fact that He is also God. But the true gospel the truth that saves must never be changed. Present it right up front. The gospel is not a commodity to be marketed it is a truth to be proclaimed and rejoiced in. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach God become man to die for the sins of the world. And what an awesome truth this is. Christ, by highest heav n adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the Virgin s womb: Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th incarnate Deity, Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King. Hail the heav n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Ris n with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King. 12