Los Alamos Church of Christ
Why
I Believe in Jesus
Reason #7 expanded
Not
only is Jesus, Christ, He is YHWH!
The last time I preached I told you about the fire and the smoke. First century Jews expected their Messiah to bring the fire and the smoke of God's glory to their newly build Herod the Great's temple. They wanted to see to see the fire and the smoke, just like Moses in the Tabernacle; just like Solomon in the Temple. They just knew that God would make an appearance; that God would fill their new Temple; that God would be incarnate into this world again! They just knew that Jesus, as the long-awaited Messiah would bring the fire and the smoke!
Jesus knew their hope. Jesus knew that #2 on the Messiah to do list was to purify and restore the Temple. Jesus knew they wanted him to bring the fire and smoke. So, he did it. He brought the fire. He brought the glory. But he did it in a way they did not expect.
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Wow, the fire came. The glory of the presence of God filled the temple; the church that Sunday morning! Jesus did not fill Herod's stone-upon-stone temple, instead he filled a new temple, not built by hands. He filled a Temple made of precious people. On that glorious Pentecost Sunday morning the fire of the Holy Spirit filled the new temple! And, by the way, it continues to fill this temple, as we live by the Spirit.
These first century Jewish believers got it. They understood, "Wow, the resurrected Jesus brought the fire and the smoke to this new temple!
Ephesians 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
The glory of God filling his temple happens in the temple of his church. Jesus brought the fire and smoke!
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That was the point of last time's sermon. But, I wanted to begin with Jesus bringing the fire and the smoke because what Jesus did left the early disciples with an amazingly difficult dilemma. The resolution of this dilemma is Reason #7 of why I believe in Jesus. Simply put the dilemma is who was Jesus? The early church had to figure out who was that guy. This morning we are going to follow a series of realizations which the early followers had about Jesus. We are going to follow their progressive understandings of who Jesus was. As they more fully realized who Jesus was, they came face to face with this amazingly difficult dilemma.
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Progressive Understanding of Who Jesus
is:
1) A Prophet
It begins with Jesus as prophet.
Matthew 16:13-14 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Early in the ministry of Jesus, because of his teachings and his miracles, Jesus was placed into the category of prophet. They heard the same words from Jesus that they had heard from John the Baptist. "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That's what prophets did they called people to repent because something big was about to happen. They saw miracles like Elijah; calming the storm and walking on water was stuff that Elijah could have done. The heard the urgency of Jeremiah as he called people to surrender to God. So, Jesus was naturally thought of as a prophet. Certainly, Jesus was a prophet who called people to God. But they soon found out he was more than a prophet.
2) The Messiah
Those closest to him began to realize he was actually more than a prophet.
Matthew 16:15-17 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Peter seems to be the first to get it right. Jesus is not just a miracle working prophet of old. He is the long-expected Messiah who would:
1) Deliver them from the Romans
2) Purify the Temple - Bring the fire and the smoke
3) Bring peace and justice to the world.
Through God's revelation, Peter and the rest of the apostles got really excited about who they had discovered. "We are the 12 special guys who are in tight with the one who is going to fix everything!" That had to have been exciting!
3) The Son of God
Note Peter also said Jesus was, "The Son of the living God." This is a bit tricky. The phrase, "Son of God" in context did not mean what we normally mean when we say it. Instead, it was used by Peter and others of his day, for the chosen kings of Israel. Listen to Psalm 2. This is a song they sang at the coronation of the king.
Psalm 2 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters." The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Peter realizes, "Wow, Jesus is the Messiah who is going to fix everything but he also is going to be our King! He is going to be like King David, and King Solomon and going to rule in glory! So, the King was thought of as the Son of God. In this progression of who Jesus is, it goes from prophet, to the Messiah, to Son of God the King of Israel. Remember at his trial what did the high priest ask Jesus?
Mark 14:61-63 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked.
The high priest was asking are you going to do the 3 things on the Messiah to do list and then are you planning to become the King of Israel? Jesus answered with, "I AM - scary- I am going to fill the Temple with the fire and smoke! Yes I am going to rule the world as King!" This is exciting but Jesus still has not fully revealed who he was.
4) Crucified Messiah
Dead Messiahs are failed Messiahs. Jesus died on a Roman cross. That was the end of the story. The disciples packed up and headed back to the house. Remember Cleopas…
Luke 24:19-21 "What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.
They went back to thinking of Jesus as prophet. "He did great stuff and told us to repent, but he wasn't anything more. Like all the other would-be Messiahs the Romans ended his career as King of the Jews."
5) Vindicated Messiah
The resurrection vindicated Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God; King of the Jews. He proved that he was the Messiah and that he was the King of the Jews. He was accused of being a false Messiah but the resurrection reversed that verdict. As the early disciples saw the empty tomb and talked to the resurrected Jesus, they knew, more than for sure, that Jesus was really The Christ the King of the Jews!
But we need to be careful here. Just because Jesus was resurrected, doesn't necessarily mean that he was more than Messiah. Lazarus, Jairus' daughter and the son of the widow of Nain all came back to life and no one called them God. All the resurrection proved was that the verdict against Jesus was reversed and the charges of false Messiah and King were wrong. The resurrection proved that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God. But the resurrection began to reveal more about who Jesus really was.
6) Lord of All
Here is where it gets interesting. Jesus is recognized as Lord. In the Roman world, not the Jewish one, the phrase "son of god" had a different meaning. It was used for the Caesars. When one Caesar died, often killed, the new Caesar typically was his son. When the new Caesar became ruler he would be called the "son of god". In death a Caesar was deified. The deification of the former Caesar then lead to the next Caesar being the "son of god". When a Roman heard this phrase they would think the one who is ruling the Empire. As the church began calling Jesus "the son of God" they realized it meant the same thing as the Romans meant. Jesus was the true ruler of the world, not the Caesar. They began calling Jesus, Lord.
Here is the interesting part. Jesus was doing number 3 on the Messiah to do list; Bringing justice and peace to the whole world. The early church began to realize, because of the resurrection, Jesus was going to rule the whole world as Lord.
It dawned on them what Jesus had really said to the high priest.
Mark 14:62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
See what Jesus was really saying from Daniel.
Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
Jesus is doing Number 3. Jesus claimed to be the Lord of the whole world. So they wrote passages like…
Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus has gone from King of the Jews to Lord of the Earth! The early church came to realize who Jesus really was. He is more than prophet, more than their Messiah, more than only King of the Jews; he is Lord of everyone.
7) YHWH
Here is where the early church faced the amazingly difficult dilemma. "Wait a second, If Jesus is the Messiah, the King, the Lord of everyone, if he told the high priest he was the one coming in the clouds of heaven; if Jesus is the one who filled the new temple with his glory and fire, then he is the presence of God; Jesus is YHWH? Very early in the history of the Christian movement Jesus is equated with YHWH. Listen to one of many examples.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
Wait a second. God the Father and Jesus Christ both are "through whom all things came and through whom we live". The Jews of the first century, Paul included, believed in one God. They were fiercely monotheistic. They believed above all else that YHWH, - the very name means "the one who is", was the one who had created the universe and everything else. The dilemma was an obvious one. How can Jesus be YHWH and YHWH be YHWH? The early church did not even attempt to explain this dilemma. They rather suddenly and unexpectedly just believed it. What?
Quote from Wright: New Testament People Of God, page 362
"The early Christians were quite emphatic from the first that they were monotheists in the same sense that Jews were. But at point after point, not least in what are the very earliest parts of the New Testament, we find Christians are worshipping this one true god, the creator, they are doing so with reference also to Jesus. This, of course, brought about all sorts of headaches for the later church fathers, who struggled to provide a rationalization for the practice; but the practice itself shows every sign of being a central feature of Christianity from the beginning." - N. T. Wright -
How could fiercely monotheistic Jews worship Jesus as YHWH? When they put all the pieces of the puzzle together it was the only conclusion they could reach. Their amazingly difficult dilemma, which they kind of just ignored, and accepted as true, is powerful evidence to me that their conclusion has to be right. If they had no choice but to believe, I have no choice but to believe that Jesus is:
- A miracle working prophet,
- The Messiah who came to bring the fire and smoke
- The Son of God; King of the Jews
-The Crucified Messiah
- Vindicated in the resurrection
- Lord of all peoples
- And, and YHWH, the one through whom all things came and through whom we live!
