Good morning, Meetpastordan Readers…As I pointed out in a FB note I sent out last Tuesday, I was in New Orleans Monday, and I left my computer with my friend, Jerry to clean up and rebuild after I was hacked the day before I left for the Big Easy. I had intended to write a blog on Tuesday when I got back, but with the new passwords and security measures, it took me three days to get into word press to publish my blog. By then it was the weekend, so I decided to wait until today. I’m glad I did, because I am headed in an entirely different direction today that I would have last week.
I have been thinking and planning for awhile about writing a series entitled WHO IS THIS JESUS? Since that is the capstone on which the whole religion of Christianity is built, I’ve discovered over the years that “who Jesus really is” is as baffling to many believers as to non-believers. While most know “about” Jesus, few have an intimate relationship with him that can only come from understanding not only the “who”, but the “why” and the “how” of this multifaceted character. But I was moved to start this series now, because at Grace Church-St. Louis Pastor Ron Tucker began a series entitled “Jesus in the Gospels”, a study from four vantage points. Therefore, I will combine what his series tells us with the approach I planned to take, and hopefully the end result will be a new way of seeing Jesus, Son of David; Servant of God, Son of Man, and Son of God. Hopefully “your eyes will see the king in His beauty” (Isaiah 33:17), and the one who “satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” (Psalm 107:9).
So let’s start with the “why”. Ephesians 1: 3-5,9-10 tells us very clearly and succinctly: “How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; …”at just the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.”
So even before he created the world (and mankind), God – being omniscience — knew that man was going to turn away from His way and pursue life according to his own plan. God also knew that he would have to let his proudest creation wrestle with the issue of SIN according to our own strength in order to prove to us our own insufficiency and our need for a Redeemer. Therefore, he gave us from Creation until 2017 years ago to rely on our best effort, but instead of conquering mankind’s continuing dilemma (dealing with Sin) , Romans 5:6 tells us in very plain terms how we fared: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” How’s that for an indictment? And what was “just the right time”? When we were utterly helpless to help ourselves! So God, in his loving kindness, implemented his plan that was in place even before the world was created.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16) God spoke through Prophets from Genesis into the New Testament telling of his plan that was created long ago. The Old Testament books in the Bible (all of them written between 1450 BC and 430 BC) contained hundreds of prophecies about an “anointed one” (“Messiah” in Hebrew) who would arrive in their future. The Messiah would “deliver” or “save” all the Jewish people, bringing them to paradise or heaven. Terms used by the prophets when referring to the Messiah include Sacrificial Lamb; Shepherd, and Branch of the Lord. 1Peter 1:10-11 tells us: “This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about. They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it all could mean. They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s great suffering and his glory afterward. They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.” Bear in mind the Jews were looking for a Messiah to release them from their bondage to the Romans, while in fact, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was for the salvation of all mankind.
I intend to break this presentation down into different perspectives presented by each of the authors of the four Gospels. All were intimately connected to Jesus. Matthew (Levi) is the first Gospel writer, and his manuscript was written approximately 60-65 AD. (The dates of the Gospel writing is very important because all of these manuscripts were written within one generation after Jesus resurrection. That adds to the credibility of the writers, because there were many eyewitness who could speak out against what they wrote if it were in error.) Once he was a despised tax collector, but his life was changed by this man from Galilee. Matthew wrote his Gospel to his fellow Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah prophesized about in the Old Testament and to explain God’s kingdom. Key Verse: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” (5:17) Matthew presented Jesus as the Son of David, who connects Jesus with the Throne of Israel.
Mark, actually John Mark, was not one of the twelve disciples, but he served as Peter’s right-hand man and personal secretary, and he accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. (This Gospel was written between AD 55-65) The facts contained in this Gospel most likely came from his time and interviews with Peter, but his perspective is to present Jesus as a servant. Mark’s target audience was the Christians in Rome. Mark presents a rapid succession of vivid pictures of Jesus in action – his true identity revealed by what he does, ie. more miracles and displays of power, and not necessarily by what he says. Jesus is a servant on the move. The Key Verse is “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (10:45)
Luke is unique as a writer in many ways. He was a doctor by profession, serving as Paul’s personal physician, and the only Gentile writer in the New Testament, giving us both his Gospel and the Book of Acts. (His Gospel was written around AD 60) The book opens with a detailed account of the birth of Jesus. Dr. Luke, as though he were the attending physician, provides most of the details surrounding this blessed occasion. With a divine Father and a human mother, Jesus entered history as God in the flesh. The purpose of his writing is to present an accurate account of the life of Christ and to present him as the perfect human and Savior: the Son of Man. The Key Verse is: “Jesus said to him (Zacchaeus), ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (19:9-10)
The previous three Gospels are referred to as synoptic Gospels because they contain basically the same content but from a different point of view. But John’s Gospel differs greatly in content and approach. He presents Jesus as preexistent, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1) and as the Son of God. (This manuscript was written approximately 85-90 AD) His purpose is to conclusively prove that Jesus is the Son of God and that all who believe in him will have eternal life. His audience was New Christians and searching non-Christians. Key Verse: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (20:30-31) Jesus is the light of the world because he offers resurrected life to all who believe.
Next week I will start with the Gospel of Matthew and examine the “hows” and the mystery of this Divine being called Jesus.
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May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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