“Who Is Jesus?”
Luke 9:18-22
A sermon for 1/23/22
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor John Bright
Luke 9 “18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
We seem to have reached a turning point in the events that have gripped the whole world for almost two years. Lately, I have noticed more and more reports of medical folks saying we will have to learn to live with this virus just like we live with seasonal flu. That may not be turning point you have been hoping for but it’s the only one we seem to be getting.
I bring up this turning point because we have come to a turning point in the Gospel of Luke. Today’s passage has Jesus describing the suffering that is to come. He is sharing it with them – His inner circle – and even warned them not to tell others (v.21). We have seen those who questioned Jesus claims before:
• Luke 4 – Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth – “22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
• Luke 7 – Jesus raises the son of a widow – “16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
• Luke 8 – Jesus calls the storm – “5 …And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
• Earlier in Luke 9 – Herod wonders who Jesus might be with an answer that sounds like the report we get from the crowds - 19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
I want to be super clear – Jesus is NOT John the Baptist. Remember, they were cousins. Jesus is NOT Elijah. Many Jews believed that Elijah would return to herald the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. At the Passover meal, there are four cups that proclaim the past redemption of God’s people. Then there is one more cup from which they do not drink – Elijah’s Cup – that cup points to future redemption. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/117141/jewish/The-Silent-Cup.htm
Jesus is NOT one of the Old Testament prophets. There is only one Christ!
Who do you say that I am?
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
Luke uses the Greek word here (“christos”) that is the same for the Hebrew word for Messiah. Both these words literally mean “anointed one.” In the Jewish tradition the king would have oil poured over his head when he was chosen. After the Kingdom of David ended and Israel was divided, the Old Testament prophets foretold of the anointed one/Messiah that would come from the line of David. Jesus fulfilled those prophecies. Actually, the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies recorded in the Old Testament.
That is an amazing fact and very hard for it to be simply a random occurrence, according to Professor Peter W. Stoner was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College. In his book, Science Speaks, Professor Stoner outlines the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of the most clear and straightforward Messianic prophecies - the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017 (that’s a 10 with 17 zeros added on – a trillion has 12 zeros). Hard to imagine a number that big. Stoner gave this example – take 1017 silver dollars and cover the state of Texas. They would be stacked up 2 foot thick. Mark one of these and randomly place it in the pile. Then blindfold a person who is told they can go anywhere in the whole state of Texas and pick up one coin. When he increased the number of prophecies fulfilled to 48, the probability went up to 1 in 10157. WOW!
People today are not looking to what the Old Testament has to say about Jesus. They are going by what they have heard or seen on YouTube. Most often folks will say He was nothing more than a teacher of good lessons we should try to follow. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis speaks to this directly: “I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher ... You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool ... or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
What can we, living in the 21st century know about Jesus?
Jesus was a human being that lived in what is modern day Israel about 2,000 years ago. Both Roman and Jewish historians wrote about Him. We also have the most complete description of Jesus in the historical documents known as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Are you surprised I call these “historical documents”? They were written between 40 and 100AD. There are over 15,000 Greek and Latin texts from the period between 130-350AD – some are individual books, but most are the entire New Testament. There are only minor differences in all these early copies. This means we can trust what we read according to the science of Textual Criticism.
If we can trust it – then we find a Jesus who was human like you and me.
• He had a human body that got tired – “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.” (John 4:6)
• He had the human emotion of anger – “15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Mark 11:15–17)
There are plenty of other examples because all the Gospel accounts of His life portray a man who walked the earth like we do and navigated relationships with family and friends. But wait… there’s more!
The one who fulfilled over 300 prophecies was both man and Messiah. Jesus was a baby born in a Bethlehem barn and the Son of God who died as the “spotless lamb” for you and for me. He made some very exclusive claims when He spoke:
• John 10 “24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
• Mark 14 “61…Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
The Suffering Servant
“21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
In that day, it would be typical to think of the Messiah as a great military leader that would deliver the Israelites from the Romans. He would be blessed by God. Back then, like today, people will connect suffering to a lack of blessing by God or even as evidence of sin. The friends of Job had the same view that many of the prosperity gospel preachers have today – the blessed life is free of suffering.
This declaration by Jesus that the Son of God and Messiah would suffer and die a cruel, painful death must have been a “hard pill to swallow.” Jesus reminded them of the teaching from Isaiah 53, which contains one of the four “Suffering Servant Songs”:
“3 He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
In Matthew 16, Simon Peter has a hard time with Jesus’ saying He will suffer – “22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” When will we realize that suffering is not optional in our lives nor in the life of Jesus?
Jesus at the Turning Point
What was Jesus doing at the turning point in Luke’s Gospel? Asking questions? Yes. Telling them He will suffer? Yes? What else? Did you miss it? 18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him…” There are more references to Jesus’ prayer life in Luke than any of the other gospels. Why do you think this human and Son of God needed to pray? Of course, as a Jew, there were prepared times of prayer and certain prayers to say – but Jesus goes off by Himself to pray on a regular basis. I guess nobody told Him to pray in the car at stoplights😊 Jesus seems to need this time to make sure He walks in the Will of God. Remember, it was not just about doing or saying the right thing. It was about the relationship.
The most important relationship for Jesus was the relationship within the Trinity between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That’s why we must not miss the first verse where we find Jesus in prayer. If the Messiah of all humanity needed to look upon the face of God and renew the most precious of relationships with the Father and the Holy Spirit, how much more do each of us need to find the time to rest in Him and seek His face? A practice I recently learned was repeating this little prayer during the day – “Jesus, I am loved by you.” In that prayer I seek to discover (not invent) the loving relationship that already exists. There is love in the Trinity. There is love between God and humanity. There is love for the Bride of Christ - the Church – you and me. There is love in the flow of grace by way of the Holy Spirit. That’s what I want to find in my day-to-day prayer life. I hope you want the same! Amen.
TEACHING SHEET
date
Luke 9:18-22
“Who Is Jesus?”
Today’s passage has Jesus describing the suffering that is to come. We have already seen folks struggle to understand who is this Jesus:
Luke 4 – Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth – “22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Luke 7 – Jesus raises the son of a widow – “16 Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
Luke 8 – Jesus calls the storm – “5 …And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”
Earlier in Luke 9 – Herod wonders who Jesus might be with an answer that sounds like the report we get from the crowds - 19 So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Eli-jah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
Who do you say that I am?
20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies recorded in the Old Testament. That is an amazing fact and very hard for it to be simply a random occurrence. In his book, Science Speaks, Professor Stoner outlines the mathematical probability of one person in the first century fulfilling just eight of the most clear and straightforward Messianic prophecies is 1 in 1017 (that’s a 10 with 17 zeros added on – a trillion has 12 zeros).
What can we, living in the 21st century know about Jesus?
Jesus was a human being that lived in what is modern day Israel about 2,000 years ago. Both Roman and Jewish historians wrote about Him. The New Testament was written between 40 and 100AD. There are over 15,000 Greek and Latin texts from the period between 130-350AD – some are individual books, but most are the entire New Testament. There are only minor differences in all these early copies. This means we can trust what we read according to the science of Textual Criticism.
If we can trust it – then we find a Jesus who was human like you and me. He had a human body that got tired (John 4:6). He had the human emotion of anger (Mark 11:15–17). The one who fulfilled over 300 prophecies was both man and Messiah. Jesus was a baby born in a Bethlehem barn and the Son of God who died as the “spotless lamb” for you and for me. He made some very exclusive claims when He spoke - John 10:24-30 and Mark 14:61-62.
The Suffering Servant
“21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
Isaiah 53:3-6 – One of the Suffering Servant Songs
Jesus at the Turning Point
18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him…” If the Messiah of all humanity needed to look upon the face of God and renew the most precious of relationships with the Father and the Holy Spirit, how much more do each of us need to find the time to rest in Him and seek His face? The Beloved Prayer - “Jesus, I am loved by you.”
