Jesus—Did He Lie To Us?
7/8/2001 GNLCC John 5:16-23 1 John 5:1-12
There was a movie in which two men were held as prisoners of war in the same cell during the Civil War. The interesting thing was that they were almost identical in appearance. The one man was poor, kind, and a drifter. The other man whose name was Somersby, was abusive, cruel, and from a wealthy family in the south. During their time in prison, the poor man enjoyed listening to Somersby talk about his family, his town, his friends and more. He got to the place where he could tell the stories as well as Somersby could. Eventually Somersby, the abusive man died in prison, and the nice guy decides to claim his identity. He goes back to the Somersby’s home town hoping to get everybody to believe he’s Somersby.
He learns that his father has died, and all the slaves are free. His wife strongly dislikes him, and has him sleep in another room.. The only one who knows that he is not really who he claims to be is the dog. But he tells the former slaves and hirees, that if they work for him, he would give them all part of the land. At first nobody wants to trust him, because they knew of his reputation of being a cheater and swindler. But his nice personality wins them over, and even the woman who is supposed to be his wife falls in love with him. Everybody is one happy group on the huge farm, until somebody thinks nobody can change as much as this guy does.
One person goes on a vendetta to prove this guy is a fraud. Everybody on the plantation stands by the man they think is Somersby, insisting he is the real Somersby. They know instantly that if this man were proven to be a fraud, they would lose everything, because he would not have been the true heir to the farm. They stand behind him, wife, children, and all the workers.
But then, one day federal marshals show up to arrest Sommersby for a murder the real Sommersby had committed in Louisiana and was scheduled to be hanged for it. A trial is held to determined if Sommersby is real or is he a fake. If he tells the truth during the trial, he can go a free man, but all his friends would lose all that they had. If he lies and continues to pretend Sommersby, they keep everything but he will be immediately hung by a rope. What would you have done if you were the guy pretending to be Sommersby?
Even though all those people wanted him to be the real Sommersby, and many believed in their heart that he was, the truth is, he was not who he claimed to be. We can recognize that even though he did some good for the people, they were not entitled to the property he had given to them, even though they worked for it, because it was not his to give.
All of Christianity hinges upon one issue and one issue alone. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Now most people do not think of Jesus as a liar. Even people who are not Christians will not argue that Jesus went around telling lies to people. They will say that Jesus was a good moral person who went about helping others. The only problem is that what we think Jesus said, and what Jesus actually said are not in agreement with each other. Our problem is not rooted in Jesus speaking in a mysterious language which is hard to understand. Our problem is we simply do not take the time to read the bible. As a result, we can be tossed back and forth by the many different philosophies that came our way.
There is a gospel according to the world that goes like this. If you are nice and kind to others, respect everybody and do the best you can, you will make it to heaven. The tragedy is that this is what many who claim to know Christ believe. The world likes this gospel because it allows us all to be one happy big planet. Nobody judges anybody, and everybody is accepted. The true god of today’s age is tolerance.
Everybody’s position is of equal value, and noone can claim to have something better than someone else. The goal is not truth, but rather whatever works for you. Now people who preach tolerance of welcoming everybody, is happy with everybody except with those who disagree with them. Anybody who disagrees is prejudiced, bigoted, narrow minded, and hateful.
If we look at Jesus, and what he really said, based on our society’s standard, Jesus was prejudice, bigoted, narrow minded and hateful. Can we put our faith in such a person? Let’s look at how Jesus was prejudiced. One day he was talking with a woman from Samaria. Their discussion turned to religion, and this woman wanted to impress Jesus with how her people worshiped God.
Jesus told this woman, in John 4:22 “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” Wait a minute, with all the religions going on at the time, how prejudice could Jesus be to tell a whole group of people, “you are ignorant about God.” Jesus has the audacity to claim their religion is false, and that if salvation does not come through the Jews it will not come at all. A statement like that today by any national leader is reason for crucifixion by the press.
On another occasion Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus expected the man to change his lifestyle, whatever it was and start to keep the commandments of God. But the man quickly went into a life of sin. Jesus found the man in the temple and had the boldness to tell the brother he needed to get his act together and start living right. Is Jesus being a bigot, thinking his way of living is better than this guys way of living? Jesus tells him in John 5:14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man apparently thought Jesus was being a bigot. He went and reported Jesus to the authorities so that Jesus could be arrested. Apparently Jesus was not tolerant of his chosen lifestyle.
On another occasion Jesus was extremely narrow minded. Thomas wanted to know the way to heaven. Instead of talking about the many different ways in which people come to God, Jesus was very specific and blunt. He says in John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” How much more narrow minded can you get, than to say no one can come to God except through, Me, Jesus. Did Jesus Lie To Us? Is he saying, Buddha, Confusion, Mohammed, and all the other religions are not leading people to the Father. Isn’t this claim a very none loving and judgmental type claim. Isn’t this statement going to be controversial and offensive to many?
We like to think of going to heaven sort of as if we were going to Florida. We know there are all kinds of ways to get to Florida. But going to heaven is not like going to Florida. We enter into a new dimension of time and space unlike anything we have ever known. Jesus insists there is only way to get there.
We also like to believe that heaven is something we earn. If we do enough good, then we should go, regardless of what we believe. It is troubling for us to know there are some good people who live better moral lives than some of us, who will end up in hell. We know inside they would deserve a better shot than us if works were what really counted.
We are under the impression, that people are waiting to be judged. The judgment is already entered. We are all condemned. Our works have nothing to do with it. We’re not waiting for a trial. We are sitting on death row. The issue is “have we received the governor’s pardon yet.” Without that pardon there is no hope. Jesus is saying, I am that pardon. Yes, Jesus was very narrow minded. Of all the people in the state of Ohio, isn’t it narrow minded to say only the governor can issue a pardon at this point. It may be narrow minded, but truth always is very narrow minded. Did Jesus lie to us when He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
You know something, if Jesus lied to us about this, then God the Father would be very cruel and unloving. Do you remember the great agony and pain Jesus was in on the night just before the crucifixion. Jesus was praying so hard that blood was falling from his forehead. Three times he prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Now can you imagine Jesus going through the crucifixion, only to discover it did not really matter if he did or not. God had seven other alternatives by which people could be saved. Would not that be scandalous to the nature of God. How could you trust a God who would betray His own Son, and deny His plea for help?
Did you know that Jesus said some things that could be interpreted to be very hateful. He actually intends to tell people who did some very wonderful things, that they will not make it to heaven. He even claims people who call Him Lord are actually evildoers. Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ What could be more hateful, than telling people you’re on your way to hell? Probably knowing they are on their way to hell, but telling them they are just fine and everything is okay with their souls even without Jesus.
Part of our problem with Jesus’ claims comes from us not knowing who Jesus actually claimed to be. Most of us have an image of Jesus that he was a good man, with good teachings on how we are to get along with each other, so that we can make it to heaven. If that were true, Jesus never would have gotten Himself in trouble and definitely would not have been crucified. Jesus was not like a Martin Luther King Jr or a Mahatma Ghandi, or any other person you may think of as having to help the change the world for the better.
In our first New Testament reading, we see Jesus making a bold claim, and this is what really gets at the Jews. When they asked him, “why are you healing people on the Sabbath, they were not to pleased with him. But his response was what drove them to anger. Jesus said, “My Father is always at work..” In that one statement, Jesus made a tremendous declaration. If He had said, “Our Father or Your Father”, it would have been okay. But when He said, “My Father” he was claiming to be equal with God. Jesus is saying, “I’m not a Moses, or a Joseph, or an Elijah.” I am God. The Jews were ready to kill him right on the spot.
Jesus then outlines four ways in which He is equal to the Father. They both do the same kind of works. They both give life spiritual and physical to people. They both have equal power to execute judgment upon the world. The Father has yielded to Him the right to judge people in the final day. They both are deserving of equal honor. Do you see, “Jesus did not claim to be just another prophet or religious leader. When the Muslims refer to Jesus as a great prophet, do you understand why this is an insult to who Jesus claimed to be? When society says he was a good teacher, do you see this is nothing but a put down?
Later in Jesus’ ministry, the Jews got upset in chapter 8, because Jesus again claimed to be greater than Abraham and the prophets. When Jesus claimed that he existed before Abraham and he referred to Himself as I AM, which is the name God gave to Moses when Moses asked God who should I say me. God said tell them I Am that I Am. Again the Jews picked up stones to try to stone him to death.
Jesus was ultimately convicted of Blasphemy for claiming to be the Son Of God. Not once did Jesus back away from the claim of being God. Either he was telling the truth or he was not. If what he said was true, who are we to go back and change who He was in order to not offend others.
When it comes to salvation, that Bible is actually pretty straightforward. Our problem comes in not understanding the love of God. We think that people who are in other religions, or who live in places where Christ is not taught, that somehow they caught God by surprise and God did not know about them. But that’s not true. The Bible teaches, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The word world means everybody. God did not love some more than others, it says He loved everybody. God sees incredible value in all people He gave Jesus to die for everyone. He gave everybody the same right to believe, if they so choose. No one has to pay anything, to receive Christ. Eternal life is based on believing in Christ. The next verse is, for God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Did you notice, there are not several options in God’s mind. He loved everybody and he came up with a way for everybody to be saved. That way was in Jesus Christ.
Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world to hell. That means if Jesus Christ had of never come, no one would have gone to heaven. Verse 18 tells us, whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. We again have problems with this terrific grace of God’s love and mercy, because of the reality that many people will reject it and be lost. God doesn’t stop loving people because they are in another religion. That’s why God tells us to go and tell everybody the good news about Jesus Christ. Most people are going to reject it whether they consider themselves already part of a religion or not. Jesus said, broad is the road to lead destruction and many people travel upon it, narrow is the road to eternal life and few people find it.
Truth about God is not based on the number of people who hold to a belief. Truth is based solely on truth. If Jesus did not lie to us, then we need to examine our priorities and see if we love others with even a fraction of the love he has for them. Does reaching them with the gospel, mean more to us than them accepting us? We are living in an age, where Christ is being denied left and right under the guise of tolerance. Jesus does not want us to try to pawn him off as good teacher, a wonderful prophet, or as an outstanding example for humanity. He wants us to declare that He is equal to God, and that if you do not have Him, you do not have God. You may have a fine, outstanding religion, but you do not have God.
According to Christ, what you believe is important. What you believe about Him is of utmost importance. What a tragedy it will be to stand before God, and have to confess, “Jesus I thought you were wrong about Who you claimed to be. That’s why I went along with everybody else.” Can you imagine Jesus saying back to us, “I told you I was the way, the truth, and the life. I gave my life because I loved you. What made you think, I would lie to you.”.
1.Not Enough Great Prophet-Muslim- Insult
2. Not Enough Great Teacher—Denial
X. Why Jesus Was Crucified
A. Chapter 8 --Greater Than Abraham
B. Moses—Who Are You I Am - Jesus I Am
C. Jesus Attempted To Stone Him
D. Convicted Of Blasphemy—Son Of God
E. Never Backed Down From His Claim
F. Who Are We To Betray Who He Claimed
XI. The Bible Is Straight Foward About Salvation
A. We Fail To Understand The Love Of God
B. Other Religions, Far Away Places No Surprise
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
C. World Includes Us All—Love For All
D. All Of Equal Value And Worth
E. No Discrimination, No Payment, Believing
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
F. Not To Condemn—If He Had Not Come
H. Provided The World With One Option
John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
I. We Have Problems With Love & Mercy
J. People Matter—We Are Told To Share
K. Truth Not Based On Numbers-But On Truth
L. Do Not Pass Jesus Off As Less Than He Is
H. What We Believe About Christ Does Count
I. Would Jesus Lie To Us Whom He Loved
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 7/8/2001 GNLCC
Jesus-Did He Lie To Us Jn 5:16-23 1 Jn 5:1-12
I. A New Identity From Prisoners Of War
A. Same Cell, Civil War, Almost Identical
B. Loving, Kind, Poor—Abusive, Cruel, Wealthy
C. Somersby—Sharing Tales, Stories, Death
D. Identity Change—Father Dead, Wife Dislikes-
E. Dog—Deal With Workers—Trust Issue
F. Person With A Vendetta—It’s Not Him
G. Fake They Lose It All—Everybody Stands By
H. Marshall—Murder—Who Is He
I. What Would You Do?—They Believed But
J. Not Entitled To Property—They Worked For
II. Christianity Turns On The Issue-Did Jesus Lie
A. Most Do Not Think Of Jesus As Liar
B. Good Moral Person/Helping Others
C. Think He Said VS What He Actually Said
D. Lack Of Biblical Understanding
E. Mercy Of Others
F. Gospel Of This World-Nice, Kind, Respect
H. Do The Best & You’re In---Tragedy
I. Nobody Judged- All Accepted.
F. God Of Tolerance—All Positions Equal
H. Loves All—Except Those Who Disagree
I. Prejudice, Bigot, Narrow Minded. Hateful
III. Can We Trust Jesus—The Prejudice Factor
A. Jesus & The Samaritan Woman
B. Impress You With My Religion
John 4:22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
C. Wait A Minute—All The Religions Of The Day
D. Claim Ignorance & False Religion—
E. Salvation Only Through Jews—Today’s Leader
IV. Can We Trust Jesus—Bigot
A. Jesus Healed A Man Invalid For 38 Years
B. Expected The Man To Change His Lifestyle
C. Life Of Sin—Get Your Act Together –Bigot
John 5:14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
D. Was This Being A Bigot—The Man Votes Yes
V. Can We Trust Jesus—The Narrow Minded One
A. Thomas –Want To Know The Road To Heaven
B. Several Options & Alternatives Not Offered
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
C. That’s Narrow—Did Jesus Lie To Us
D. Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed—Not Leading
E. Controversial & Offensive To Many
F. Going To Heaven & Going To Florida
G. Many Routes---New Dimension
H. Jesus Insisted On The One Route
I.. Heaven Is Something That We Can Earn
J. Troubling—Better People Missed Out
IV. The Judgment Not Coming—Already Passed
A. Works Are Out The Window—Not On Trail
B. Position Is On Death Row—Waiting For Pardon
C. Narrow Minded—Only The Governor—Pardon
D. Real Issue—Do You Have The Pardon
E. Did Jesus Lie To Us—I Am The Way…
F. God The Father—Cruel & Unloving ???
H. The Agony, Pain, Suffering, Blood Drops
I. Garden Of Gethsemane – 3 Times Prayed
Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
J. Would It Be Loving To Betray Your Son
H. Seven Other Ways To Be Saved
VII. Can We Trust Jesus—Hateful Words
A. Hey, Great Job, But You Won’t Make It.
B. People Who Call Me Lord—Will Miss Out
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
C. What More Hateful Than Saying You’re Lost
D. Knowing They’re Lost And Saying Nothing
VIII. Problem Not Knowing Who Jesus Claim To Be
A. He Told It When Investigated For Sabbath
B. My Father—Not Yours, Ours, But My
C. My Father—Equality With God
D. Not Moses, Joseph Or Elijah-Kill Him Now
IX. Four Ways To Prove The Claim Of Equality
A. The Same Kind Of Works—Miracles Done
B. Ability To Give Life-Raise The Dead
C. The Right To Jude All The World—Jesus
D. The Right To Equal Honor
