Why Jesus Part 3
Scriptures: Isaiah 52:13-14; Isaiah 53; Matthew 16:26; Revelation 3:20
Introduction
Last week I shared with you the prophecies pertaining to the Messiah’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the prophecies pertaining to His betrayal. I then took you to the New Testament Scriptures showing you how Jesus fulfilled each and every one of those prophecies. When I closed out my message on last week, I asked each of you to go home and chew on the thought of what would your response would be to a UPS man who came to your doorstep and asked for identification before allowing you to have your package that you ordered or was shipped to you. I asked you to consider the fact that you had shown him not one, but eight different pieces of evidence that you were who you said you were. I asked that you consider that once you proved it he still refused to give you the package because “he” needed more proof. He does not have the authority to make you prove anything, but he held your package hostage because he could. I asked you to chew on what you would do. Would you allow him to walk away with “your” package or would you forcibly take it from him? Did you think about it this week? Did you chew on it for a little while?
To date I have shared with you eight different prophecies pertaining to the true Messiah that only Jesus fulfilled. No man has come close to fulfilling any of them as Jesus did. Jesus has to be the Messiah? How do I know it can only be him? There have been only two men created without an earthly father – Adam and Jesus! There has only been one man who did not have the DNA of an earthly father but was born of a virgin – Jesus the Christ! Jesus the Messiah! If there is a man who is to be considered the Messiah, he would have to be born of a virgin and to date, not one of the prophets, leaders, or founders of other religions can make that claim. If they were not born of a virgin they could not be the Messiah! So considering this fact, I asked you last week to chew on what God’s response is to us when He has identified Jesus as His Son, as the one and only way into heaven with eight separate pieces of evidence and we still do not believe? Why would He feel any different than how we would feel if the UPS driver refuses to accept our evidence? God is done proving who Jesus was and is! God has done His part, now it is really our choice as to what we choose to believe.
This morning we will continue with the prophecies. Since we are celebrating Easter, you know that Jesus rose from the dead. So based on your understanding of this, I will focus primarily on the prophecies versus their fulfillment. Please turn with me to Isaiah chapter fifty-three. In Isaiah chapter fifty-three we are given an overview of the Messiah’s life and death. After Isaiah, I will read a few other Scriptures to you from the Old Testament that speaks of the Messiah’s death and resurrection.
I. Isaiah’s Summary of Jesus Life
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence. Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring. He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53) (Four Gospels)
There are several prophecies captured in this chapter in of Isaiah. He prophesied that people would not believe or accept Christ; men would hide from being associated with Him; His sacrifice would be a source of our healing from sin; He would be silent in front of His accusers; would be our sacrificial Lamb; killed and buried in a rich man’s grave; resurrected and intercede to God on behalf of mankind. When you read the four Gospels and the other books/letters of the New Testaments, you will find that each of these prophecies was fulfilled in Jesus. Let’s continue
II. Other Prophecies Pertaining To His Death & Resurrection
Disciples Desert Jesus
“My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off.” Psalm 38:11 (Luke 23:49)
“I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons.” Psalm 69:8 (Luke 23:49)
When Jesus was arrested, the disciples scattered. In the Gospel of Luke chapter twenty-two, Peter followed where they took Jesus and denied knowing Him (verses 54-62).Luke chapter twenty-three and verse forty-nine explains that when Jesus was crucified his acquaintances were standing at a distance seeing those things.
He Would Be Beaten and Mocked
“Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Thus He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.”
Isaiah 52:14-15 (Matthew 27:27-30)
“I also have become a reproach to them; when they see me, they wag their heads.” Psalm 109:25 (Matthew 27:39-40)
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter twenty-seven beginning at verse twenty-seven, it records how Jesus was mocked, beaten and spat upon. He had been beaten so badly that He was unable to carry His own cross. A man from Cyrene (North Africa) named Simon was made to carry His cross for Him. As He was hanging on the cross, people passed by and hurled abuses at Him and wagging their heads (verse thirty-nine.)
People Would Gamble For His Clothing
“They divide my garments among them. And for my clothing they cast lots.” Psalm 22:18 (Matthew 27:35; John 19:24)
Also in this same chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, it is recorded that the soldiers who crucified Him divided up His clothing and cast lots for them. The nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John adds more to the story by explaining that Jesus had a tunic (an outer garment) that had been made of one piece of cloth. The soldiers did not want to tear it apart so they cast lots to determine who would get it.
Given Vinegar In Thirst
“They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Psalm 69:21 (Matthew 27:34; John 19:29)
The twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew explains that when they offered Him sour wine mixed with gall He did not receive it. This mixture (wine with the gall) was given to those being crucified to deaden their pain. Jesus refused this mixture and endured the fullness of His suffering. However, in the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John it is recorded that when Jesus said that He was thirsty they gave Him sour wine to drink he did receive it. This is not a contradiction of what happened in Matthew as this was a separate act.
Body Pierced But None Of His Bones Broken
“For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.”
Psalm 22:16 (John 19:34; 37)
“He keeps all His bones, not one of them is broken.”
Psalm 34:20 (John 19:33; 36)
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”
Zechariah 12:10 (Luke 23:27)
In the Gospels of Luke and John (chapters 23 and19 respectively) it is recorded that when they nailed Him to the cross the nails went through His hands and feet. After a while the soldiers would make rounds to determine if the crucified person was dead. If they were still alive, the soldiers would break their legs so that death would come more quickly. When they came to Jesus, they found that He was already dead so they did not break His legs. However, they pierced Him in the side to ensure that He was dead fulfilling what had been prophesied about the Messiah. The soldiers could not have known what they were doing to Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecies from the Old Testament!!!
Body Would Not Decay In The Grave – The Resurrection
“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; neither will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Psalm 16:10 (Acts 13:34-39)
Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning. In Acts chapter thirteen records Paul’s statement that God raised Jesus from the dead and that His body did not see decay. We always talk about how our bodies return to dust when we lie in the grave which is absolutely true – but not in the case of Jesus. Jesus was not in the grave long enough for His body to start the decaying process. This is why we are here to day! This is what we are celebrating!!!
III. Jesus Is The Only One Not In A Grave!
We are celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. We are celebrating that the grave could not hold Him and early Sunday morning Jesus got up out of the grave and appeared to His disciples. We are celebrating the fact that we have a Savior, who became the last sacrifice for sin – PERIOD! We are celebrating Jesus’ resurrection! There are approximate 2 billion Christians celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. You can’t accept Jesus as you Savior if you do not accept the fact that He and only He died for your sins. It’s just not possible. Jesus was buried in Jerusalem on Friday and left the grave on Sunday!
There are approximately 1.2 billion worshipers of Islam who worship God (Allah). Their founder was Muhammad. When Muhammad died he was buried in the Mosque of the Prophet in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. His body is still there where they placed it! He did not rise from the dead. He is not at the right hand of God interceding for us! From everything I have read he sincerely worshipped God, but he was not The Christ!
There are over 820 million worshipers of Hinduism who worship three separate main gods. It could be said that we too worship three Gods (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) but the Bible makes it clear that they are one. They believe that the soul never dies (which we too believe) but is reborn over and over again. Although they do not have a single founder, each individual person that had an impact of its development died and did not rise again! They do not know the one true God. I cannot imagine what they think or feel when they leave this world only to find out that they are not coming back and their once chance to accept Christ is forever lost.
There are over 360 million worshipers of Buddhism who worship Buddha. The Buddha did not teach a personal deity. They believe a person received true happiness by eliminating their attachment to worldly things – sound advice but as Christians we are not called to a life of “happiness.” We are to have joy, which is not based on our being happy. Some of the things we must experience for Christ will not make us happy. I do believe that we are too attached to worldly things, but I also believe that only through Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit can I get to where I need to be in Him. I cannot do this on my own. When the Buddha died his body was cremated and it stayed cremated. He was just a man.
There are over 15 million worshipers of Judaism who worship God (Yahweh) only. Their founder was Abraham. They believe their Messiah is yet to come. Their Messiah has come!
There are over 6 million worshipers of Confucianism. It was founded by Confucius who is viewed by many worshipers as a god. They teach social order, harmony and strong family relationships – all of which we too should believe. However, there is no belief in a higher being other than Confucius himself. His grave is in the town of his birth in China. His body is still there because he too did not rise from the dead. While his teaching as it relates to how we get along with others is worth noting it does not bring us to God. It does not matter how good and wonderful we are if we are still separated from God for an eternity!
The other religions of the world make up less than 10 percent of the world’s religions. Each was founded by a man or woman who had nothing more to offer than ideas based on human experiences and supposed enlightenment. When each of them die, they too will remain in their grave! They might have accomplished great things on this earth, but still they will die separated from God if they do not accept Christ. Jesus said “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) What we accomplish on earth without Christ will stay on earth when we depart. What we accomplish on earth with Christ will follow us when we depart. Only what we do for Christ will last!!!
Someone said, “Religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Jesus is God’s attempt to reach man!” This is Why Jesus!!! We attempt to find our own way to God through our own definition. God sent Jesus so that we do not have to “redefine” something that has not changed. God has not changed!
He’s Knocking
As I close this morning I ask that you consider what you’re thinking. Jesus said “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20) Jesus said that He is standing at the door knocking. He came to us!!! Last week I asked you to consider the UPS man who would not deliver the package to you because he needed some identification. Well, this morning I want you to consider the UPS man who is trying to deliver the package and is knocking on your door. You go to the door, you look out and see that it is in fact the UPS man with a package and yet you refuse to answer the door. You understand that what He has for you is for your good, but you can’t seem to bring yourself to open the door. This is how we reject Jesus – we refuse to open the door to our hearts, our live and our circumstances to Him.
Also imagine that you know and trust the UPS man to the point that when he has a package for your neighbor who refuses to answer their door, he comes to you for help. He asks you to accompany him to your neighbor so that you can introduce him to your neighbor so that your neighbor will accept what he is bringing. Your neighbor opens their door because of their relationship with you and thus through you they allow themselves to receive the package from the UPS man. This is why Jesus needs us!!! We are the neighbor to the world and He needs us to make those introductions for Him. Are you willing?
Why Jesus? Because He Is The Only Way!!!!!!!!!!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
