Who Is Jesus

WHO IS JESUS

JOHN 1:1-2

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD. AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD.

THE SAME WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD.

FOR THE NEXT LITTLE WHILE, I WANT YOU TO SIT BACK AND RELAX.

TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF AND MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE.

AMEN, OR HEY MAN IS ALLOWED, DEPENDING ON WHETHER OR NOT I’M ON YOUR STREET.

THIS MORNING, WE ARE GOING TO ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN THE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION WITH THEOLOGIANS, PHILOSOPHERS, ANTHROPOLOGIST AND EVOLUTIONIST THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

I HEARD A PASTOR SAY ONE SUNDAY THAT MOST OF US IF WE WERE ASKED WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GIVE A DEFINITIVE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF WHOM JESUS IS OR WHERE HE CAME FROM.

THAT STARTED ME TO THINKING; YOU NEED TO KNOW WHO IT IS THAT YOU SERVE, SO THE QUESTION FOR TODAY IS WHO IS JESUS?

LET ME SEE THE HANDS OF THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW, WHO JESUS IS.

OK, OK, THAT’S GOOD, BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW, WHO JESUS IS?

NOW WAIT A MINUTE. I DON’T MEAN YOU HEARD ABOUT HIM IN A CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH ONE OF YOUR HOMEY’S AND YOU LIKED WHAT YOU HEARD.

I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD AND YOU HEARD A PREACHER OR YOUR PARENTS OR ONE OF THE OLD CHURCH MEMBERS SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HIM AND IT SOUNDED GOOD TO YOU.

WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHO JESUS IS?

HAVE YOU OVER THE YEARS DEVELOPED A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM?

HAVE YOU AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER HAD TO PROSTRATE YOURSELF BEFORE HIM AND TELL HIM ALL ABOUT THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS THAT HAVE COME INTO YOUR LIFE?

THE WRITERS OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS AND THE FOURTH GOSPEL HAVE TRIED TO GIVE US SOME INSIGHT AS TO WHO JESUS IS.

MATTHEW WHO IS A JEW BY BIRTH BEGINS BY BREAKING THE 400-YEAR SILENCE BETWEEN THE PROPHET MALACHI’S PROPHECY AND THE PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS.

IN HIS GOSPEL TO THE JEWS MATTHEW PRESENTS JESUS AS KING, FOR HE IS THE SON OF DAVID.

HE QUOTES MORE FREELY FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT THAN ANY OF THE OTHER 3 EVANGELIST, AND ON EVERY PAGE HE IS TRYING TO CONNECT THE GOSPEL WITH THE PROPHETS AND SHOW THAT ALL OF THEIR TEACHING IS BEING FULFLILLED IN THE PERSON AND KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST.

MARK, IN HIS GOSPEL TO THE ROMANS DESCRIBES JESUS AS A SERVANT AND HE DOESN’T BOTHER WITH HIS GENEALOGY BECAUSE LEGAL GENEOLOGIES AND FULFILLMENTS OF PROPHECY WOULD LEAVE ROMANS COLD. THEY HAD NO INTEREST IN TRACING BELIEFS BACK INTO THE P AST.

THEY HIGHLY VALUED STRONG COMMON SENSE AND THEIR RELIGION HAD TO BE PRACTICAL.

ARGUING FINE POINTS OF SCRIPTPURE INTERPRETATION HELD NO INTEREST FOR THEM.

MARK PORTRAYS CHRIST AS THE HUMBLE BUT PERFECT SERVANT OF GOD.

UNLIKE MATTHEW, MARK WAS NOT TRYING TO PROVE CERTAIN STATEMENTS AND PROPHECIES CONCERNING JESUS. HIS ONLY REASON FOR WRITING WAS TO TELL CLEARLY, CERTAIN FACTS ABOUT JESUS, LIKE WHAT HE DID, AND WHO HE DID IT WITH MORE THAT HIS WORDS.

WHO IS JESUS?

IN LUKE’S GOSPEL TO THE GREEK, LUKE PRESENTS JESUS AS THE IDEAL OF PERFECT MANLINESS. CAN WE REWIND AND PAUSE HERE FOR A MINUTE?

IF THERE WERE A GOSPEL WRITTEN FOR THE SINNER, THIS WOULD BE IT, FOR YOU SEE; LUKE BRINGS OUT THE COMPASSIONATE LOVE OF JESUS IN BECOMING A MAN TO SAVE A MAN.

IN LUKE’S GOSPEL WE SEE GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH.

FOR LUKE DEALS WITH THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

HE REVEALS JESUS AS A MAN WITH ALL OF MAN’S SYMPATHIES, FEELINGS, AND GROWING POWERS.

IN OTHER WORDS, HE IS A SAVIOR SUITED TO ALL.

IN LUKE’S GOSPEL, WE SEE THE GOD OF GLORY COMING DOWN TO OUR LEVEL, ENTERING INTO OUR CONDITIONS AND BEING SUBJECT TO OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

LUKE COMPARES JESUS TO ADAM, THE FIRST MAN TO COME DIRECTLY FROM GOD AND, BEING A PERFECT MAN JESUS IS SEEN MUCH IN PRAYER WITH ANGELS MINISTERING TO HIM.

BUT JOHN, JOHN’S GOSPEL STANDS ALONE IN A CLASS BY ITSELF.

IT KEYS IN ON HIS CONVERSATIONS AND, HIS PRAYERS

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IS MORE ELEVATED IN TONE AND MORE EXALTED IN VIEW THAT THE OTHER GOSPELS, FOR YOU SEE IN EACH OF THE OTHER THREE GOSPELS, JESUS IS VIEWED IN A HUMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH AN EARTHLY PEOPLE.

BUT IN JOHN WE FIND A SPIRTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A HEAVENLY PEOPLE.

AND THAT TELLS ME THAT JOHN WROTE THE WORLD TO PROVE THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST, THE PROMISED MESSIAH FOR THE JEW, AND THE SON OF GOD FOR THE GENTILES,

HE WROTE TO LEAD BELIEVERS INTO A LIFE OF DIVINE FRIENDSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP WITH JESUS.

THE THEME OF JOHN’S GOSPEL IS THE DEITY OF JESUS.