Jesus is____
CCCAG May 6th, 2018
That video of the Gospel of John shows us today’s scripture found in
Scripture- John 5:17-47 (Title- fill in the blank)
It shows us Jesus’ reaction to an accusation thrown at Him by the religious leaders of His day-
? The Accusation- “Who are you to break our religious tradition?”
Who are you to upset 1500 years of solidified practice
Who are you to tell us, the religious elite of our time that we have it all wrong?
Jesus spends the rest of John 5 telling them exactly who he is, and why He has come.
Prayer
Jesus begins His defense by establishing who He is regarding God the Father that the pharisees claim to know.
Jesus starts with explaining-
I. His relationship with the Father
17In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
A. Jesus is one with the Father
John 10:30 I and the Father are one."
Have you ever sat back and watched people around a new baby? After all the oooing and the ahhing and baby talk. After the child is passed around, the inevitable comparison’s start-
He has his father’s eyes
She has her mom’s mouth
Look at the dimple- that looks just like his dad when he was born.
As the child gets older and starts developing their personality, and some of those negative traits start to show, the grandparents will start reminding the parents that they were just like that when they were that age, and the old parental curse comes to mind-
“I hope your kids are just like you!”
While that is usually said in frustration about our own kids, in Jesus’ case it’s very true.
Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.
The people that say how much they love Jesus but don’t like God miss the point of the entire bible- that it is HIS story. Jesus is God and God is Jesus. The are the same exact being.
That’s why the idea of trinity is so hard to explain and understand.
We have no other thing on earth that matches the oneness that Jesus has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
That is why
B. Jesus conforms to the Father
Verse 19 “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
Several years ago I was having a talk at work with someone who is raising several children and about how to influence their behavior. One of the sons had gotten caught using his school issued laptop to look at rated X websites and how she had now grounded him and was very disappointed him because they had taught him better than that.
I knew a little about this couple, and they have an open relationship, so I asked her “Do you or your husband have pornography in the home, even if you think you have it hidden somewhere?”
A long silence. I said, “You don’t have to answer that question, but I will tell you that children learn 80-90% of their behavior by what is caught in the home, not what is taught. If caught doesn’t equal taught, they will be even worse then the lifestyle shown to them by their parents both good and bad.” People think they can hide their sin, but what they can’t hide is what spirit they allow into their lives that will now have free reign on everyone around them.
Think about that from the perspective of Jesus. We can’t wrap our human brains around the relationship that exists within the trinity because imperfect human language will never be able to adequately describe the perfect.
Jesus has never seen deceit in the Father
Jesus has never heard, “Do as I say, not as I do”
Jesus has never been disappointed in the actions of his Father
Has anyone ever seen those picture puzzles where they put two pictures side by side that look exactly alike, but once you really study the pictures you see the little differences and the goal of the puzzle is to find them all?
Jesus is the image of this invisible God and the exact representation of HIS being. IF you had a picture of Father God and Jesus next to each other they would be exactly alike.
That is how Jesus lived a perfect life because he conformed perfectly to God’s image. Jesus lived in the exactness of God’s plan because
C. Jesus communicates with the father
30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Jesus’ oneness with the Father allowed Him to flow in God’s will. Since they had spent eternity past with one another, Jesus was able to know God’s heart and plan for every situation.
Let me illustrate this a little- Tammie and I have been together for 27 years. If I’m out and about around supper time, and Tammie messages me and said, “I don’t have anything thawed for supper, could you pick up some food. I text back and ask if she wants anything in particular. The reply will probably be-You know what I like”
I like mushrooms on things like hamburgers or pizza but Tammie hates mushrooms, so if I bring home a mushroom swiss burger, or a pizza covered in mushrooms, she is going to be upset because after all this time, I should remember that she hates mushrooms. I know this from 27 years of being with her.
That’s just one little fact I know.
Imagine if God gave us 10,000 years together what we would know about each other.
Now imagine eternity past. That’s the relationship that Jesus came from with God.
But even with all that past, with all that closeness with God, Jesus still frequently withdrew from life to go spend time alone with the Father.
That’s a lesson for us, and a question-
Why do we have such a hard time putting aside time to pray.
Lack of prayer is like a husband and a wife saying, “Well, we have been together for so long we know each other well enough…let’s just live apart now and never see or spend time together.”
We call that divorce.
But for some reason we try to live like that with God. We live like a couple that says- “We still love each other, but lets see different people on the side”
That is not what God wants for us, and it is not what Jesus showed us while HE was on this earth.
Jesus had that constant communication with God because He chose to spend quality, alone time with His Father
Jesus existed constantly in the manifold presence of God. That’s how people were able to be healed by just touching him.
When Jesus was transfigured- it wasn’t like God came upon Him in a special way, God simply allowed Peter, James, and John to see Jesus as He looks like in the spiritual realm- full of the radiance of God’s glory.
Because Jesus is one with the Father, conforms to the Father, and exists in perfect communication with the Father, Jesus is able to say with all confidence that-
II. Jesus refers to the Entire Bible as His Story
19 “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
Jesus is referring back to the entire biblical history up until right now. Everything you saw God do in the OT was illustrating humanities need for a savior.
Think about the first 5 books of the bible and how they point to Jesus-
The protoevangelium- God speaking that Eve’s descendant will crush the work of the devil
Jesus is Noah’s ark that saves us from wrath of God, and not a single thing inside the ark was harmed when the flood came
Jesus is the one who stayed Abraham’s hand when he was ready to kill Isaac in obedience to God’s command. Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac is a beautiful foreshadowing of what God would do to Jesus, except in that case, the knife fell in the form of the cross.
Jesus wrestled with Jacob known as deceiver to secure His destiny and changed his name to Israel which means God wins every battle.
Jesus was the dream giver to Joseph
Jesus called to Moses from the burning bush
He destroyed Egypt with 10 plagues, and then drowned their army in the Red Sea
Jesus led them for 40 years as a pillar of flame during night and a cloud by day.
During that time Jesus instituted the Levitical form of worship to point us toward him-
Everything in the later chapters of Exodus, then Leviticus, Numbers, and Deut points to Jesus
The sacrifices
The prescribed manner of worship
The high priests garments
The construction of the tabernacle
All of 613 laws given to Israel have two critical functions- to point us to Jesus and show us our need for HIM.
After they got out of the wilderness
Jesus appeared to Joshua as the commander of heaven’s army
He is the one worshipped by David in the Psalms, the one called Wisdom by Solomon, the one proclaimed by the prophets, the one hope for Israel, born to Mary, worshipped by Simeon in the temple, walked on the water, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, died between two thieves and rose again to save us from our sins.
This whole book is HIS Story. His story is continuing to be lived out here and now in those who will believe in Him, follow him, trust him, worship him, and yearn for his quick return.
Every time you pick up this book to read it, your prayer should be- God, let me see Jesus in it’s words. Illuminate my heart to worship Him through his revealed word. Use it to correct me, encourage me, focus me, and give me the very words of life to nourish me for this day.
Jesus is His word
But if you need more proof, Jesus tells you to believe in what others have said. Jesus provides 3 witness, the Jewish minimum for establishing the truth of a matter.
III. Testimony’s
A. Moses
45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
Jesus said that Moses would judge them. He was not only talking about the man, but the law that Moses gave because all of that law, all of that ceremony, all of the sacrifices, and all of the intricate details found in the construction of the tabernacle pointed to Jesus.
Note I said tabernacle and not temple. (A slight detour here)
There is a reason God chose a tent and not a stone building.
The book of Acts poses a very interesting question to us-
‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Acts 7:48 NIV
I recently read of a tour you can take throughout Europe that would visit the great church cathedrals built during the middle ages. Their builders had it in their heart to show everyone how great God was by creating huge stone buildings that people would stand in awe of God and his glory.
However, Israel was never commanded to build a stone temple to God, but rather a tabernacle made of animal skins- in other words a tabernacle of flesh. The idea for a temple came out of David’s guilt over his palace being so luxurious while the tabernacle of God was a simple tent.
God never really wanted the temple, nor did He command it to be built. The reason is because the whole purpose of Old Testament history was to point us toward Jesus, and surrounding God’s presence in stone doesn’t do that. When we talk about surrounding a person in stone we are talking about a crypt or mausoleums that we put the dead inside.
Our God is alive, and that is why he wanted a tabernacle made of Flesh to remind us of that.
The tabernacle was meant to point us to is this incredibly important truth. This is vital to understand the salvation history found in the bible.
The human heart has always been the tabernacle God has desired to dwell inside. Humanity was made for that very purpose. Adam and Eve’s rebellion destroyed that tabernacle, but Jesus restored it through His suffering and death for our sins, and now through the resurrection restores those who will believe in Him and follow Him.
The entire law of Moses is supposed to show us that, and that is what Jesus is referring to when he said that Moses would be the judge of those who prefer dead religion over living relationship with God.
The second witness Jesus calls is
B. John the Baptizer
“You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.
John the baptizer was unequivocal when it came to His mission, and who he was proclaiming.
John was a herald. In ancient times, a herald would come out and proclaim the greatness of the person who was coming next. The herald was the opening act for the main performer and their job was to get people ready to experience the awesomeness of the person who was coming after him.
John said, “I am a voice crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the LORD!” John said he was so insignificant that he was not even worthy to touch the feet of the one coming next. John testimony about Jesus shows us how great He is.
The third thing Jesus calls to testify about who He are the miracles he did-
C. Miracles
The miracles of Jesus show us exactly who Jesus is claiming to be. A miracle is a supernatural intervention that could not have happened without God’s power.
Jesus is God, and because HE is God, Jesus has all three divine qualities.
Because Jesus has these divine qualities, the miracles prove the three required to be called God.
1. Show Jesus has the divine attribute of omniscience (all knowing)
Jesus frequently tells people things that he couldn’t possibly know if he was human. You remember the woman at the well- Jesus knew her past, he knew when she would be at the well, and spoke directly but with love at her greatest need. Jesus also foretells the future, speaks as an eyewitness to the past, and talks of historical people as personal friends- that he existed when they did.
His miracles also show
2. Show Jesus has the divine attribute of omnipresence (everywhere at once)
Omnipresence and Omniscience go hand in hand. Jesus’ receives news of his friend Lazarus being ill, and even seems to know the exact time he died. Jesus is able to know all things because He is everywhere at the same time.
Because Jesus is God, he is able to know the exact number of atoms in a clam in the south Pacific Ocean, the temperature of every star not even known to us yet, and see you when you would rather have him not looking.
But he is also able to know and see your every struggle, hear your every prayer, dry your every tear, and strengthen your every weakness. That is what Jesus miracles tell us about him, and why Jesus calls our attention to them to prove He is who He says he is.
3. Show Jesus has the divine attribute of omnipotence (all powerful)
Most people will acknowledge that in order to be God you have to be all powerful. But what does that mean for you and me living life day to day?
Oswald Chambers said this about the Omnipotence of God-
“When obedience is in the ascendant (when you are living to please God), God will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist you with all His Almighty power.”
Consider how God used his power for people who loved him-
Clothed a physically and now spiritually naked Adam and Eve with an animal He just recently created.
Stopped the earth’s rotation to enable Joshua to win a battle
Reversed the earth’s rotation to encourage Hezekiah without destroying all life on the planet.
• Think about that- Earth spins at 1000 miles per hour in order to go around once a day. That came to a sudden stop and reversed.
• Even if you stopped the rock, the wind would keep going and wipe out all life on earth. We would all be liquified into chunky salsa on the nearest wall before it also blew apart.
• That doesn’t just affect this planet, but the moon and rest of the planets. They are all balanced perfectly to keep this planet right where it is to support life as we know it.
Yet God stopped and reversed it for one person. He put the entire solar system at risk to simply encourage a frightened King.
That’s the power available to you and me…
That’s the power Jesus calls to testify as to who is.
The title of the message this morning was “Jesus is______”
In John 5, Jesus answers that question- I AM God
And that makes Him worthy of your worship.
All Stan
Altar Call-
The discouraged
The Unsaved
