Jesus Messiah

INTRODUCTION

• Over the past few weeks, we have been looking that some of the sermons preached by the early church, specifically from the Apostle Peter.

• The focus of the sermons we have examined thus far was on the fact that Jesus was resurrected from the grave; therefore, Jesus is alive and can be a great blessing to us yet today!

• In our passage today, we will notice a shift of focus from the preaching of Peter to Paul's messages.

• The theme of the resurrection will still be a vital foundation for the messages; however, this week, we will see a shift in emphasis to a major ramification of the resurrection of Jesus.

• One of my all-time favorite movies, the 1999 film The Matrix, shows a dystopian world where people are held captive in chambers.

• They are oblivious to the reality that they live in a fallen world, ruled over by machines that use their life force as the power source for their technology.

• The people are oblivious to this reality because their minds are continually plugged into the Matrix, a computer-simulated reality.

• Some humans have escaped or been set free, and one group of them, led by the character Morpheus, is searching for “the One.”

• The One has been foretold in prophecy to deliver humanity, setting them free from the rule of the machines.

• This is an example of a Messianic-style prophecy.

• There is something in the theme of Messianic prophecy that deeply appeals to the human psyche.

› Our big idea for today flows from the proclamation from the early church and see that one crucial element of the early church’s proclamation was that Jesus is the Messiah!

• Let’s turn to Acts 13, we will begin in verses 23-25!

Acts 13:23–25 CSB

23 “From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel the Savior, Jesus.

24 Before his coming to public attention, John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 Now as John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. But one is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’

SERMON

I. The message of John the Baptist.

• I want to give you a little background before we dive deep.

• Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark left Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.

• PAPHOS TO PERGA RED LINE. GREENLINE IS JOHN MARK GOING BACK TO JERUSALEM. MAP!!!!

• In Perga, John Mark (author of the Gospel of Mark) leaves Paul and Barnabas to go back to Jerusalem, which later causes a temporary rift between Paul and John Mark mot likely because Paul felt John did not have a good reason to run home and leave Paul and Barnabas.

• From Perga, Paul and Barnabas head towards Pisidian in Antioch. MAP!!!

• Once in Pisidian, Paul, and Barnabas head to Pisidian.

• As I said earlier, by Acts 13, the focus has shifted from Peter to Paul. Paul and his companions have arrived in Pisidian Antioch.

• On the Sabbath day, they attend a synagogue service. After reading Scripture, the leader invites them to speak, and so Paul gets up and addresses the congregation.

• Fitting the context of Jews and gentile converts to Judaism (God-fearers), Paul steeps his message in the Scripture they know: the Old Testament.

• Paul knew how to capture the attention of his Jewish audience so he started with something the Jewish people loved to hear, their heritage.

• When we share the gospel, we need to find something that connects with the person or people before us. If we cannot capture their attention, they will not listen to the message,

• Paul goes over four important events in Jewish history, and his message culminates in a declaration of messianic hope (v. 23).

• This is the one; he proceeds to point out that John the Baptist testified (vv. 24–25).

• John the Baptist was extremely well known; even in Acts 19Paul encounters people in Ephesus who were followers of John the Baptist.

• So Paul uses John the Baptist as his launching pad from Old Testament Scripture to the Messiah Jesus.

• In verses 16-22, Paul sets up what he is about to share by offering a brief history of Israel from the time the nation was in Egypt to the time of King David.

• This takes us to verses 23-25, where we are told the Messiah would come through the line of David, the man Jesus!

• Paul proclaims that Jesus is the one of whom God spoke!

• Now, this brings us to John the Baptist.

• John’s job was to prepare the way for the Messiah with his baptism of repentance.