Sermon
1-18-15 the real jesus – just a man or son of God
After
six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James and led
them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before
them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the
light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking
with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be
here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters….one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud
enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the
disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. But
Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When
they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down
the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen,
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Matthew 17:1-9
The series – the real jesus
Passive
or visionary… he has a plan and he needs your help
Rule
breaker or rule follower – looked past the rules to reach people
The question – shocking to some
[I had a dream about this moment]
You
have the right to ask the question
People
asked jesus questions all the time
Is there a time when everyone asks the
question? who is jesus
Maybe
not everyone,
some
just take what others have taught them and never doubt or question
Then
there is the rest of us
This
question is the foundation of everything that we do.
Without
Jesus, the son of God
Our
caring for others is simply good works
Without
jesus the son of God- life is short on meaning and purpose.
Without
a loving god that cares for us, how would we ever find help for our problems
How
would we ever find direction for our lives?
Without
jesus as the son of God, we are left still in our sins.
My parents told me, the church told, me
to believe,
but
it cant be force fed
You
cant force jesus on someone
President
diem in south Vietnam pg 5
All of us must decide for ourselves
I
have to decide for myself
Preachers
must ask themselves…….do I believe what we teach
I
am proud to tell you that while I was working on this,
The
topic brought me to tears.
As
I sat there and typed…..i was struck again
The
inner witness of the spirit -inside my heart -that Jesus is Gods son
But lets talk about the question
First let me say, which Jesus?
I
want to talk for a moment about two Jesus’s
The
first one is the one taught by many Christians
He is angry. He is judgemental, he is demanding
He sounds very human
Then
there is the real jesus.
the
cosmic Christ of eternity
When
I speak of The cosmic jesus
I
am reminding you that he is the son of god
As
The spirit brooded over the water at creation
The
gospel of john tells us that in the beginning was the word
And
that All things were made by him.
without
him, nothing was made that was made
some
people don’t want to believe in jesus because of how he has been taught
my
hope is that in time, the angry judgement teachings about jesus will go away
and die
what
we actually see in the scripture over and over
is
who jesus really is,
I
think of his teaching:
Ie
Love
the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength Love your neighbor
as yourself
Turn
the other cheek. Love your enemies
There
is indeed something amazing about this jesus
While
the human, angry jesus, drives others away
The
person of jesus as see in his teachings, draws all men unto him
John
12 - If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me
I
love the person of Jesus as defined and spoken by him
I
see in him the words of life
I
see that he and the father are one.
When
he is lifted up as he is, and shown to the world and the amazing savior of
love, he will draw people to himself.
And so each of us must choose
Choose
for eternity. Yes. but choose for this life as well.
I
talk to people all the time who are worried about loved ones who are non
believers.
The
life of a non believer can be so difficult.
Sure
Christians get depressed and such too, but imagine no faith in God.
No
hope, no joy,
So
our choice has huge implications for how we live now.
We
need someone bigger than who we are
The
story of the three year old that followed his mom all over the house.
I
just want to be with you……
Do
you feel that? Do you feel that desire to be with him?
Do
you know that you are not alone in this world?
The transfiguration intro- so whats going on?
Lets back up a few chapters - Who do
you say that I am
Mt
16 – cesarean philippi
A
park. A place of rest
Jesus
asked of his disciples, “who do you say that I am?”
Perhaps
you remember the disciples responses, “some say you are John the Baptist, some
say Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” “But who do you
say that I am?’
And
Peter was the 1st to give voice to the possibility….”Thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God!”
Then
jesus explained that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer and die
Peter
said, may it never be
Get
thee behind me. You have in mind not the things of god but man
If
jesus dissected our lives today, how many times do you think he might say
You
have in mind not the things of god, but the things of man
The Disciples have walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus,
been taught by Jesus; witnessed him walking on water, healing the sick, feeding
the 5000 and yet they still wonder….who is this man?
He
eats like other men, grows weary and sleeps like other men and yet….y
Yes
jesus was a man. A human.
The
Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus both make mention of
the Christus, Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion.
Other
religions even weigh in about who this Jesus was.
The
Buddhist believe that Jesus was a wise and enlightened man.
The
Hindus believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God ; like Krishna.
The
Unitarians describe Jesus as a great teacher and as a faith healer. Islam
proclaims Jesus to be a true prophet, sent by God but now superseded by
Muhammed.
Others
have described Jesus as being a moral authority, a compassionate man, an
extraordinary teacher, a great philosopher and a very good religious
leader.
Surely
he was a human. But is he more
What
do you believe Jesus to be?
So whats going on in the
transfiguration?
Jesus
takes 3 of his disciples, his closest friends with them to the mountain and
there he is transfigured, transformed, undergoes a metamorphosis…
His
face becomes like the sun and his clothes are as white as the light and there
is Moses and Elijah.
They
want to build a church to commemorate the moment. Lets assign a pastor,
set worship times and make some rules. That is what humans do
Jesus
said, sorry. We are not staying on the mountain top
The
people are down there.
Lets
take a break and remember who we are on this mountain but we cant stay here
forever
Christians
want to stay on the mountain for ever.
Consider
this….Moses is the greatest person in Jewish history. It was he who led
Israel from the bondage of Egypt. It was he who ascended Mount Sinai and
received the law from the very finger of God. It was he who lead Israel
across the wilderness and delivered them to the Promised Land. Moses
represents the goodness of God, his delivery and his order as found in the
commandments.
And
there was Elijah, the greatest of the Jewish prophets. There they are
with Jesus, their companion and teacher…….the law and the prophets and then
comes the voice of God…”this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Listen to him”.
God
is plopping jesus down in front of the greatest leader, the greatest prophet
and then says. This is my Son, ……Listen to him.
And
peter wanted to build a house
What
peter should have done was to just stand in awe.
Be still and know that I am God ps 46
read it?
Get scripture and bible
Where do you see him?
Cs
lewis – liar, lunatic or lord
Have
you decided who jesus really is?
In
the quiet silence of a quiet moment it is ok to ask If it is true that he is
the same yesterday today and forever, then he will answer you
In
Jeremiah 29 God calls to his people….You shall Seek me, and you shall
find me, when you search for me with all your heart. And I will be
found by you declares the lord
Last
week I was on vacation in a nice warm, beachy, wavy place
I
sat every morning in the quiet peacefulness of creation and basked in the glory
of Gods presence.
To
the ocean my vacation experience……..
Where
have you been when you have experienced his presence?
Do
you have a mountain top
Can
you go there again? Can you hear his voice resonate in your heart?
Conclusion – the question, the choice
It
has been said that
All
other religions are man reaching up to god.
In
Christianity god is reaching down to man
What
if he is just a man?
People
die all the time. it is what we do
If
jesus Is just another, then we have no hope in him
But
the scripture teaches, and our souls bear witness to something more
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though
for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Ro 5:7-8
When
I follow the teachings of jesus I feel a peace and I feel closer to god
Romans
8: 16 16 The
Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that
we are God’s children.
About
jesus……. I choose him. I do it.
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