I Am He [Jesus Christ] Mark 1:14-15; Luke 11:20

Transcription

1 Sunday Worship Service July 16, 2017 Rev. YoungMin Kim I Am He [Jesus Christ] Mark 1:14-15; Luke 11:20 (1) Last Sunday, I shared two different understandings of the Kingdom of God: the Future Kingdom of God, which will be given by the grace of God in the near future if we repent and believe that Jesus is our Lord who was crucified on the cross for our sins, and the Present Kingdom of God, which will be established here and now if we practice and realize Jesus teaching on earth. We, as Christians, have to embrace both kingdoms in our minds, hearts, and souls. But, it is really hard to balance between two kingdoms. It is possible to assume that some of us tend to focus on the Present Kingdom of God, so we want to participate in helping people and doing good deeds in the name of God. On the other hand, others of us tend to focus on the Future Kingdom of God, so we want to look back upon our lives and faith. And we will ask ourselves, Do I truly believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? and Do I truly believe that Jesus died for me and I am saved by His blood so that can I go to the Kingdom of God? Last week, we sent our beloved friend in Christ, Richard Ashworth, to his eternal home. I truly believe that we all see him again in the Kingdom of God with Jesus Christ, our Lord. Jesus Christ is the key word throughout the Bible from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament to the book of Revelation in the New Testament. We call Jesus by many 1

2 different names. For example, we say Jesus our Savior, Jesus our Friend, Jesus our Lord, Jesus our Redeemer, and so on. Among them, we repeatedly call Jesus the Christ. At the end of our worship service, we affirm our faith with the Apostles Creed, saying, I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus CHRIST His only Son our Lord. We call Jesus the Christ at least once a week. By the way, have you ever thought why we call Jesus the Christ? For two weeks, I will give sermons about Jesus. As the first sermon, today, I will approach Jesus whom we believe in by share the meaning of Christ and how our faith toward Jesus Christ is closely related to the first part of our vision. (2) The word Christ comes from Greek word Χριστός (Christos) and its meaning is Anointed One. Anointing and baptism seem very similar. We all know that baptism is performed with water, like the picture on the left. Any believer can be baptized. However, anointing in the Old Testament was performed with oil, like the picture on the right (the anointing is Samuel and the anointed is David). And only three types of people were anointed: King, Prophet, and Priest. First, kings were anointed. Israel, in the Old Testament, was a tribal confederacy, and all Israel tribes were directly led by God through prophets until all tribes were united as one nation. However, Samuel became old, and his sons did not follow his ways. Thus, all the elders of Israel gathered together and asked Samuel to appoint a king to govern them like other nations (1 Samuel 8:5a). God allowed Samuel to do so, and Saul was chosen and anointed as the first king of Israel. First Samuel 10:1 says, Samuel took a 2

3 vial of oil and poured it on his [Saul s] head, and kissed him; he said, The Lord has anointed you Duties of the anointed Israel kings were to rule over the people of Israel, reign over the people of the Lord, and save them from the hand of their enemies all around (1 Samuel 8:5b). Second, prophets were anointed. In the Old Testament, prophets were chosen people used by God to communicate His message to His people. There were four major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel and twelve minor prophets. First Kings 19:16 proves that prophets were anointed. You [Elijah] shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah as prophet in your place. In addition, Isaiah 61:1a says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me [Isaiah], because the Lord has anointed me The major duty of the appointed prophets was to let the people of Israel realize their sins against God and make them return to God. Malachi 3:7 says, Even since the days of your ancestors, you have turned aside from my laws [statutes] and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord the hosts. Third, priests were anointed. Priests were mediators between God and the people of Israel in the Old Testament. The priests were divided into two positions: high priests and subordinate priests. The office of the high priest was traced from Aaron, the brother of Moses, and was succeeded to his sons and ancestors; subordinate priests were traced from the Levite tribe. They were also anointed; Exodus 29:7 says, You shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him. 3

4 The most important duty of the anointed high priest was (to conduct the service) on the Day of Atonement. Only the high priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place behind the veil to stand before God. Having made a sacrifice for himself and for the people of Israel, he brought the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14-15). He did this to make atonement for himself and the people of Israel. (3) So far, we examined the meaning of Christ the anointed one and that only kings, prophets, and priests were anointed in the Old Testament. At this moment, a question comes up in our minds. Jesus was baptized with water by John the Baptist, but He had never been anointed with oil by anyone. Nevertheless, why do we call Jesus the Christ? Not only do we, but also Simon Peter said, You re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16; The Message). Not only Simon Peter, but also Jesus Himself said, I am he [Messiah who is called Christ] (John 4:26b; NRSV). Here is the reason: Jesus is Christ because Jesus was the king, the prophet, and the priest. First, Jesus was the King. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2a; NRSV) Most Jewish people at the time misunderstood that Jesus would be the king of Israel, overwhelm the Roman Empire, and give the people freedom. But Jesus said, You say that I am a king (John 18:37), but my kingdom is not from this world (John 18:36). Jesus definitely came as a King for the Kingdom of God, but not an earthly kingdom. 4

5 Second, Jesus was the Prophet. The Son of God was a spiritual being and became flesh to come down to earth to reconcile us to God. We remember Jesus first proclamation in Galilee: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15; NRSV). Seeing His proclamation, people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets (Mark 8:28). Jesus wanted the Israelites to recognize and repent of their sins and return to God. Third, Jesus was the High Priest. Jesus, as the High Priest, did not conduct the service on the Day of Atonement. Instead, He offered Himself as a sacrifice for not only Israel, but also all people around the world in the past, present, and future. John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared, Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; NRSV). (4) Now, we realize that Jesus deserves to be called the Christ because He was the King, Prophet, and Priest. If so, what is the relation of Jesus Christ to the first part of our vision forming, deepening, and maturing our Christian faith? First, our faith is believing that Jesus is our King. The Kingdom of God started when Jesus came to earth over 2000 years ago and it will be completed when Jesus second coming is realized. We do not know the time. No one knows the day. Once the kingdom comes, our King Jesus will reign over us and save us from the hand of our enemies in the kingdom. This is the reason why we have to have eschatological faith. 5

6 Second, our faith is believing that Jesus is our Prophet. Our Prophet Jesus still proclaims to us, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15; NRSV). As a mediator between us and God, He wants us to recognize and repent of our sins and return to God. Let us listen to His proclamation and reconcile with God. Third, our faith is believing that Jesus is our High Priest. Due to our sins, we deserve death. However, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3:16). This is possible because our High Priest Jesus sacrificed Himself, and as a result, atonement was realized. (5) The first part of our vision is to let us be disciples of Jesus Christ by forming, deepening, and maturing our Christian faith. And we all agree that the core of our Christian faith is to recognize Jesus as the Christ. From now on, let us remember three positions in Jesus Christ and confess and affirm faith that our Jesus Christ is our King, our Prophet, and our High Priest. Amen 6