In Jesus Holy Name June 16, 2019
Text John 8:12-13a Redeemer Trinity Sunday
“The Claim of Jesus… ‘I Am!’”
“Things aren’t always what they seem”. Even Jesus isn’t always what He seems. Ask the average Joe or Jane to describe the Savior and they will come up with a most interesting list. They will tell you He was good, kind, gentle, caring, compassionate, forgiving.
In truth, you and I are not what our “public image” projects. Our insides don’t often match up with our outsides.
We diet. We exercise. We wear makeup, color our nails, brush our teeth, fix our hair. All to help our outsides look good, but no diet has been developed which can shape us up on the inside. We may work hard to live in the right
neighborhoods, drive the right cars, dine at the right restaurants, sent our children
to the right schools, and have the right people invite us to the right social events, but there is no amount of work which can make the real “us” really right before God.
During these past few Sunday’s our messages have centered on the words or miracles of Jesus from the Gospel of John. There are constant challenges by the Pharisees who were disappointed that Jesus did not fit in their theological box.
His first miracle was perhaps the strangest of all. At that the age of 30 or so he showed up at a wedding that ran out of wine. In the village life of Galilee a wedding brought celebration to a new level. It lasted a week. The bride and bridegroom made a gala procession through the streets. Think of the scenes you see of weddings in the Italian villages. Dancing. Platters of Food. Jugs of Wine. Music & laughter. Then John tells us there was a moment of social crisis and the whole wedding nearly ground to a halt. The wine ran out.
“The Jesus I Never Knew” Philip Yancy p. 167
Jesus turns the water in jars meant for purification into wine.
The miracle of changing water into wine was a one-time event. Each Gospel records the healing of many sick people. What began as a tragic tale of a man born blind ends in his healing and the Pharisees are blind to “who” is in their midst.
A paralyzed man was forgiven his sins and healed of his disease. Jesus was censured as a heretic because the man was healed on the Sabbath. This opposed a grave threat to official doctrine. Jesus has stepped outside the correct theological box. The Pharisees could not disprove the miracles but they remained blind to the reality that God was walking the streets of their holy city.
We know that Jesus was a great story teller. He said he was like the gate for sheep. He was like a shepherd who would lead his flock to pasture, and if one was lost he would seek it out and carry it home on his shoulders. The Pharisees knew he was quoting the words from Ezekiel 34. God promised that if the ordained religious shepherds ever failed to take care of God’s children of Israel…then He himself would come.
After feeding the 5000 by the Sea of Galilee Jesus told the disciple to cross the lake. He went up on the mountain side to pray. A frightening storm blew down across the lake. The disciples were rowing all the way. Late at night Jesus joined them by walking on the water. It was in that moment the disciples realize that they were in the presence of God. (Matthew)
The next day the people wanted more food…They wanted one more miracle. They wanted to make Jesus their king. That would fit their theological box. In the end Jesus was not their kind of Messiah. He would not provide bread and circuses on demand. Ibid. p. 177
The miracles attracted crowds and applause, but rarely encouraged repentance and faith.
In the winter during the feast of Hanukkah the Jewish religious officials asked Jesus: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.” Jesus said: “I did tell you. I showed many miracles that could have only been accomplished by God Himself. You have chosen not to believe, because you are not my sheep. My sheep know my voice… and I give them eternal life. My heavenly Father, Your heavenly Father and I are one.
“Whoa” …they said. They began to pick up stones to stone Jesus. He said: “I have shown you many great miracles…for which ones are you stoning me?” They said: “We are not stoning you for any of these…but for blasphemy, because you a mere man claim to be God.”
It wasn’t long, just a few short months and we find Jesus raising Lazarus from being 4 days dead. That was the last straw. Jesus had to be stopped.
Philip Yancy in his book: “The Jesus I Never Knew” writes: “the resurrection of the one man, Lazarus, would not solve the dilemma of planet earth. That would take the death and resurrection of one perfect man, Jesus. “so, from that day forth they plotted to take the life of Jesus. His signs and wonders stopped. They reappeared when His risen Spirit gripped the disciples on the day of Pentecost.
The preaching of the disciples was clear. “This Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and sings which God did among you through him….He was handed over to you by God’s foreknowledge and put to death by nailing him to the cross. God raised him from the agony of death. He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father.” ( Acts 2) What you see now is His Holy Spirit poured out Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the Holy Spirit.
Now Jesus was, most certainly a disappointment to many of the Jewish population. He had not been born to feed their bodies with heavenly manna. He was born to nourish their souls, and promise the gift of eternal life.
Did it ever occur to you that Jesus was crucified because those around Him thought He was too dangerous to let live? A true Jewish Rabbi would up hold O.T. laws and never talk to a Samaritan woman, nor touch a diseased person. Jesus was in the temple courts in a serious discussion with the Pharisees regarding his offering forgiveness to a woman caught in adultery. Then Jesus looking at the Pharisees said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Notice, Jesus did not say” “I am A light.” He did not say: “I know where light can be found.” He did not say: “I am one of many lights”. He said. “I am the light.” Before Abraham was born I existed.
Now that’s the problem for the Jewish Rabbi’s. Proverbs 6:23 clearly reads: “These commands (of God written in the Torah) are a lam, the teachings of God in the Torah are light.” If you follow them you will not walk in darkness.
Jesus the upstart Rabbi, who claimed that he was present at the creation of the world, said: “You Pharisees read the scriptures but you can not see that your Holy Torah, The Word of God has become flesh.” The scriptures point to me. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through faith in me.
That’s why He was too dangerous to let live. This is the difficult “doctrine of the Trinity” God, the Creator of the Universe has become visible. The first 5 books of the Bible are now visible in the person of Jesus. When Jesus forgave sins, He was claiming the words of God to be His own authority. His disregard for the Sabbath scandalized the Pharisees. Breaking the Sabbath rules of Moses was a capital offense. Jesus was a threat to the sacrificial system, the temple, kosher food regulations, and kosher people.
In other words, Jesus is walking the streets Jerusalem and villages of Galilee claiming that He is replacing the first five books of their bible. It did not go over well, no matter how many miracles He did. It got worse when Jesus told His critics the was without sin. (John 8:46)
Not a single person offered any criticism. No body opened a catalogue of His transgressions. Is your slate that clean? Well neither is mine. That is why you and I need a Savior. That is why God came to the planet He created, and to the people He created.
After the religious authorities arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
he went through six interrogations, some conducted by Jews and some by the
Romans in less than 24 hours. There was no fancy TV Perry Mason nor “Bull” to create a perfect jury. Not a single witness rose to His defense. In the end an exasperated governor pronounced the harsh verdict of death on a cross.
We will never understand the Christian faith without understanding the cross of
Christ. We will never understand the cross until we see God’s hand at work in Jesus’ death on the cross.
“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.” The phrase “sacrifice of atonement” translates a Greek word that means “propitiation.” Few people have ever heard the word propitiation, and fewer still understand what it means. Here’s a simple definition: To turn away wrath by the offering of a gift. In this context it means that the death of Christ turns away God’s wrath.
When Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). In that moment all the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus. He became sin for us, and all of your broken commandments and all of mine, and the sins of the whole world were poured out on Jesus. In that moment God turned his face away from his own Son. When a sinner stops trusting in his/her good deeds and begins to trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus God in love transfers the righteousness of Jesus to that individual who grabs hold of the cross.
When Jesus was crucified and buried the Pharisees thought that would be end of His story. His message silenced. His ideas put to rest. His promises buried in a borrowed grave. Things are not aw they always seem to be. Three days after his crucified corpse was shut away, sealed behind a guarded stone, Jesus came
back to life. His resurrection has changed human history. Your life and mine.
The Apostle Paul wrote: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” It is the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It is that same Holy Spirit of the risen Jesus that now enables my heart and your heart to believe the resurrection truth. Jesus promised that His Holy Spirit would be His physical replacement in the world, “convicting the world of sin”, then coming to dwelling in each believer.
His Holy Spirit would throughout our lives produce “spiritual gifts” to expand the work of God on earth. His Holy Spirit would change our heart so that our outsides would not need make up, pretend kindness. No our outward character on display would, by His Holy Spirit produce goodness, sincere kindness, gentleness, joy, peace and faithfulness.
As an imitator of Jesus…. Go and Do!
