Sunday, March 28, 2010 am
WHO IS THIS JESUS (2)
Looking for Him
Last week we began a
study of the life of Jesus.
We began to address why we ought to study about Jesus.
Among the reasons is that He is our Savior, He is our example and
He is our Mediator. Many
others could be added to these such as He is our compass meaning that He
gives our lives direction – a life of joy and peace and a life directed
by His word AND He is our hope – in Him we look forward to a better life
when this one is finished. There
is so much to learn about Him and so many reasons why we ought to learn
about Him.
Today we want to
notice why Jesus was so anticipated when He came.
a.
Scriptures
tell us it was the fullness of time
i.
Galatians 4:4-5 – “But when the fullness of the time
had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption as sons.”
ii.
Ephesians 1:9-10, “Having
made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure
which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in
Him.”
iii.
Romans 5:6 says, “For
when we were without strength, in
due time, Christ died for the ungodly.”
iv.
In these
texts, Paul was noting that the time was ideal for the Messiah to come.
God, in His Omniscience, knew this would be so as He began to
unfold His plans (Genesis 3:15 & 12:1-3) and even from the beginning
(Ephesians 3:11, 1 Peter 1:20 – “He
indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times
for you.”)
b.
Conditions
that made it the “fullness of time”
i.
Heightened Messianic fervor –
the Jews were ready for the Messiah.
All conditions prophesied were falling into place.
Consider as an example Luke 1:5-25 where Zacharias is serving as
priest and is told of the coming of his son.
I suppose that such news would spread rather quickly and increase
excitement.
ii.
Pax
Romana – Relative peace in the
Roman Empire. Brought about by
Augustus Caesar who began his reign around 44 B.C.
This afforded opportunity to spread the gospel to a large area.
Because of this unprecedented peace, there was also a freedom of
movement throughout the known world, not as prevalent before then.
This would help the spread of the gospel.
iii.
Roads
– Rome developed a system that linked all corners of the Empire.
iv.
Universal written language –
made the teaching of the gospel possible.
Not so much from a talking standpoint – that would be dealt with
by God, but from a written stand point.
The Greeks had developed an alphabet and writing language that
was somewhat universal.
v.
Jewish
acceptance within the Empire –
Under the reigns of Julius Caesar (49-44 BC) and Augustus (44-14 BC)
Jews were given special favor throughout the empire including the
building of Synagogues (which they called schools).
Because of Israel and Judah’s spread throughout the world as a
result of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, and the Christians as
first being viewed by Rome as a sect of the Jews they had relative
tolerance not afforded to others.
This was a window that was only open for a short period of time.
i.
Why are
prophecies so important?
1.
Because it helped to validate
that Jesus was the promised Messiah!
a.
I suspect
that during that time (like now) there were many charlatans professing
to be prophets or even the Messiah that Israel was looking for.
The Bible speaks of “false christs” (cf. Matthew 24:24, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and
wonders and deceive, if possible, even the elect.”)
Simon the Sorcerer presented himself as someone great – Acts 8:9
Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, they had to contend with
FAKES! Moses in Deuteronomy
18:20-22 presented the test of a prophet – whether or not his words came
to pass (and his teachings obviously did not contradict God – cf. Deut.
13:1-3). Prophets like
Isaiah and Jeremiah, along with others, warned often of false prophets
lying to the people.
I suspect that throughout the ages there are ALWAYS those who claim to
be the Promised One and seek to amass a following! More so during the
time when Jesus came. So
there NEEDED to be validation!
JESUS PROVED HIMSELF.
b.
So how do
you DISTINGUISH the genuine from the fakes?
Along with His miracles and teachings, prophecies gave Israel the
opportunity to accept Jesus as the Promised One they were looking for.
This was necessary as He made various claims about Himself.
In
John 5:39 Jesus presented
“witnesses” that should have caused the Jewish leaders to VALIDATE Him
as the promised Messiah and His message.
Among these witnesses were John the Baptist, the “works” He did
(i.e. miracles - John 5:36) AND the Scriptures, “You
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; And
these are they which testify of Me.” (5:39)
Among these “Scriptures” included the teachings of Moses.
IN vs. 45-47 Jesus stated that Moses spoke of Him!
Moses made several prophecies about Jesus.
JESUS PROVED HIMSELF.
2.
It also
demonstrated the fulfillment of God’s plan!
a.
As we have
noted in times past, God IS in control!
Only He can control and tell what will happen.
Isaiah 41:21-24.
b.
Prophecies
validate that Jesus IS the ONLY hope we have.
Luke 24:44 after Jesus arose He said, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses
and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
3.
IF
prophecies proved to the Jews that Jesus IS the Messiah, it proves the
same to us as well.
Acts 26:22-27 when Paul
gave his defense before Agrippa and Festus he appealed to the prophets
and Jesus fulfilling the prophecies concerning the Messiah.
Hebrews 1:1-2,
1 Peter 1:10-12 makes application that the prophecies were
speaking to us.
2 Peter 1:19 says, “And
so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a
light that shines in a dark place…”
ii.
Prophecies about the life of Jesus
1.
Prophecies of Moses –
Gen. 3:15 – spoke of the
seed of Woman crushing the head of Satan. Gal. 4:4 – Jesus was “born of
a woman, born under the law.”
Gen. 12:3 – spoke of the
seed of Abraham blessing all nations.
Jesus was of the seed of Abraham – Matt. 1:1-2
Deut.
18:15 – the Prophet, like Moses would come.
Jesus is that prophet – John 1:45 where Nathan realized early on
that Jesus was that prophet (note: the Jews understood the prophecy).
In
Acts 3:22-23 Peter would
appeal to this passage as being fulfilled in Christ.
2.
The
time of His coming -
Daniel 9:24-26 speaks of a
timeframe of 70 weeks from the time of the command to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem till the Messiah would come.
While this is figurative language (and time will not permit a
detailed explanation), when you tie it together with Daniel’s other
prophecies, including those of when the kingdom would be established
(i.e. Dan. 2:44) it could be concluded that it was during the Roman
Empire that Christ would come AND HE DID!
3.
Much of
His life was prophesied about.
Time will not permit a detailed examination of these prophecies.
Here is a short list of some things prophesied of Him:
a.
His birth,
Isaiah 7:14, a virgin was to be with child -
Matthew 1:20-23
b.
Of the
seed of David - Isaiah 16:5
– If the house of David, (cf. 2 Samuel 7, Isa. 11:10 – the Root of
Jesse), See Matthew 1:1-2a, 5-6,
16
c.
Born in
Bethlehem - Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1
d.
Of the
tribe of Judah – Gen. 49:10, Luke 3:33
e.
His
ministry would include the Gentiles – Isaiah 49:6, Luke 2:32, Ac. 13:47
f.
He would
preach good tidings to the poor and perform miracles, etc. – Isaiah
61:1-2, Luke 4:16-21 while in Nazareth.
g.
Rejected
by rulers – Psalm 118:22, Matt. 21:42
h.
His death
- Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver – Zechariah 11:12-13, Matthew
26:14-15, 27:3-10 – it was used to buy the potter’s field.
i.
Psalm 22
describes the death of Jesus as One looking down from the cross.
Vs. 16 – pierced hands and feet.
j.
Isaiah 53
describes the death of Jesus as one looking UP to the cross.
k.
His
resurrection – Psalm 16:10 – soul not left in Hades – Luke 24:6, 31, 34
iii.
As you
weigh these prophecies (and as the Jews should have weighed them) –
there is NO doubt that Jesus WAS AND IS the promised Messiah to save all
mankind.
II.
Are we still looking for Him?
a.
We know He
has come and fulfilled His work!
We have the benefit of hindsight with these things.
We can with assurance KNOW that Jesus is the ONE through whom we
have hope of salvation. That
is WHY we study His life and seek to learn from Him.
b.
Are you
looking for Him to direct your life?
May we in this study seek to be more like Him.
c.
Are you
looking for Him in HOPE?
Does He give your life REAL meaning?
1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved,
now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we
shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him
purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
d.
Are we
looking for Him to come again?
Just as the Jews
were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, we STILL look forward to
the Lord’s return AGAIN!
This time it WILL be
for judgment. 2 Cor. 5:10,
Romans 14:10-12
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17, “
For this we say to you by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be
with the Lord.”
2
Peter 3:10–12, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the
heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be
burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which
the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat?”
What about you?
Are you looking forward to His return?
If you know Him you will do all that is necessary to be ready for
that day. If you have never
put Him on as your Savior, do so by obeying the gospel.
If you have wandered away form Him, come back – before it is too
late.