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The Deep and Confusing Love of Jesus
Grace Sensing on January 21, 2024
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Thankful for Who He Is (Troy)

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SERMON TEXTS – SELECTED VERSE FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

John 6:35

John 8:12

John 10:7

John 10:11

John 11:25

John 14:6

John 15:1

WHO IS JESUS?

If you ask a muslim, “Who is Jesus?” he will say, “Jesus, peace be upon him, is a prophet of Allah.” And while Christians will agree, He is a prophet of God, He is not merely a prophet of God. And of course when they use the term Allah (God) they mean a very different thing than we do. If you ask a Latter-Day Saint, “Who is Jesus?” they will say, “He is God the Father’s firstborn spirit-child in heaven and the spirit brother of lucifer. He was begotten on earth by God the Father by natural means, not by the Holy Ghost and is now one amongst many millions of other gods.” If you ask a Jehovah’s witness, they will say, “Jesus is not God almighty, he is God’s son. Jesus is God’s first creation, inferior to God the Father. And Jesus is actually Michael the archangel.” Like any lie, satan prefers to sprinkle truth in amongst falsehood so as to feign authenticity. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is a prophet of God, but He is not created. His origin is one of eternity, begotten of the Father. He is the firstborn of all creation, but this is a title of preeminence, not descriptive of a point of time where he came into being. Like the person of the Father, the son has eternally existed. And so when Christians are asked who is Jesus, we recite the Athanasian creed.

HE IS THE BREAD OF LIFE

What meager means and humble beginnings does bread have. Surely there is not another recipe that has such ancient origins. And what meal can be called rustic if it has not bread? You will find it in the hand of a beggar, and likewise on a king’s table. You will see a wandering Israelite gather it from off the ground, and likewise see it be displayed in gold vessels in the tabernacle. It feeds the child, the adult, and the elderly. It nourishes us all. It feeds us all. And Psalm 104 says it strengthens a man’s heart. The Lord’s prayer instructs us to ask for this bread daily. And thanks be to God, he does not run out of it.

HE IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Who amongst us has not used the flash light app on their phone to see where they’re going, to look for something in the dark, to avoid bumping into something or tripping. Light mitigates danger, and it provides us with new opportunities as well. For the vast majority of human history, you did not travel at night. It was too dangerous. But now our vehicles shine light on Hwy 8 allowing us to travel safely with the knowledge that we are going the right way. Darkness is most content when its victims are blind and directionless. But Jesus Christ, the great physician heals the blind. When Jesus says, “I am the light of the world,” he says it while he is healing a blind man. A bit on the nose, but we need to be instructed as little children. The disciples mistakenly assume that the blindness was a result of the man’s sin or perhaps his parents. But Jesus says, “No, he is blind that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

HE IS THE DOOR AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD

A door by its nature is a separator. But unlike a wall where you cannot pass through to the other side, a door provides utility for both restriction and access. And in this case it is access to the sheepfold. Still waters are there, green pastures are there for the grazing, there is a hedge around us, and the shepherd armed with rod and staff, watches the walls, ready to catch the thief who climbs over. Our shepherd calls to us and we follow him, “This way to paradise. Come and find your rest all you who are weary and heavy laden.” We follow him to the door. But Jesus is not only the shepherd, but he also is the door itself. He is the separator.

HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

Dr. Baucham says that there are four questions all human beings will wrestle with despite their religious beliefs or their lack thereof. They are: who am I? Why am I here? What is wrong with the world? And how can what is wrong be made right? It is the 3rd and 4th that I wish to address. What’s wrong with the world is a result of the fall: sin, guilt, shame, suffering, pain, depression, anxiety, woes of all manner, and finally death. These things are foreign alien invaders to this planet. Death is not a native resident. But Christ is the resurrection! He is the solution to righting wrongs. Dead things come back to life.

HE IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

You woke up this morning and you assume that you will wake up tomorrow, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. I think we all want to reach our deathbed, look back at our life and be able to say, “I lived it for the Lord. I didn’t waste my days with nonsense.” I stand here as a 43 year old man. If the Lord blesses me with an average life span, I am more than halfway done. And as I think about or perhaps better stated, if I lament over how I conducted myself in the first half of my life, I don’t want to waste any more time. I want to spend my life encouraging you all. And I want you to spend your life encouraging each other. 

HE IS THE TRUE VINE

Jesus Christ is the true vine. Psalm 80:8 says, “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.” This obviously is referring to the nation of Israel as being God’s vineyard. And this motif can be found all throughout scripture.

THANKFUL FOR WHO HE IS

In conclusion, do we have enough to be thankful for? Is who He is, enough? I would say it’s more than enough. We have 12 baskets full of leftovers. He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. He is able to bless us abundantly, so that in all things, at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work. Bring your tithes into the storehouse saints and see if he will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it. So as you sit together with your family this Thanksgiving, taste and see that the Lord is good! Amen.

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Psalm 110: The Priest/King at God’s Right Hand

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Introduction:

This psalm is the most frequently quoted passage of the Old Testament in the New Testament. The verses quoted have various applications which we will consider as we work through the psalm.

The Text

“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lordshall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lordhath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: Therefore shall he lift up the head” (Ps. 110:1–7).

Summary of the Text

Jehovah said to Adonai, sit at my right hand (v. 1). He is told to remain seated there until His enemies are reduced to being His footstool (v. 1). While He is seated there, Jehovah will send out the rod of Adonai’s strength from Zion, with the result that He will rule in the midst of His enemies (v. 2). The seat of His authority is in the heavenly places, while the extension of it is from Zion—His people will be willing in the day of His power (v. 3). They will be arrayed in the beauty of holiness, they will be an army of priests (v. 3). As Spurgeon put it, “in brightness, then, as well as in multitude, did they resemble the glittering drops of the morning dew” (v. 3). Jehovah has taken an oath, and He will not turn back from it—Adonai is a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (v. 4). Adonai, there at the right hand of Jehovah, shall strike down kings in the day of His wrath (v. 5). He will judge among the goyim, and many of them will be killed (v. 6). He will slake his thirst from the brook after the battle, and will lift up His head (v. 7).

A Davidson on the Throne

Why should it be thought remarkable for the throne of David to be established in the heavenly places? A sonof David is there. Why should His throne not be there?

In this famous exchange with His adversaries, the Lord asked a question that pointed out an incongruity in their doctrine of the coming Messiah. The Christ, whose son would he be?

“And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lordsaid unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Luke 20:42–43; Matt. 22:44; Mark 12:36)

So he would be David’s son, they replied. That is correct, Jesus said, but have you never noticed that David addresses the one descended from him as his ultimate superior? David calls a Davidson Lord. How can that be? The only way to answer this question satisfactorily is through the doctrine of the Incarnation.

The Great Melchizedek

This is a psalm about a great king, one seated at the right hand of Almighty Jehovah. But this king is also described as a priest, and so it is fitting that another king, Melchizedek, would be mentioned as a type of the coming Messiah. But this Melchizedek is a type in more than one way. He is also a king—and whata king.

“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace” (Heb. 7:1–2).

He was a priest of the most high God, but he was also a king in different sense. He was the king of Salem (probably Jerusalem), which means king of peace. His name means king of righteousness. This is why his antitype belongs at the right hand of Jehovah.

“As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Heb. 5:6; 7:17, 21).

Enemies a Footstool

The first chapter of Hebrews is dedicated to showing that the Christ is vastly superior to the angels.

“But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” (Hebrews 1:13).

And in the book of Acts, we are told that this has reference to someone other than David himself. The reference must be to the Christ.

“For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lordsaid unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.” (Acts 2:34–35).

Until

This should be very straightforward. When was Christ seated at the right hand of His Father? When did that happen? We are told that it happened at the Ascension.

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20).

“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 8:1, ESV).

So He has been seated there for the last two thousand years. How long will He remain seated there? He will remain seated at the right hand of power, ruling from the midst of our Zion, until all His enemies are under His seat. The only enemy that will be destroyed by His Second Coming will be the last enemy, death. Every other enemy will be subdued prior to that, through the ministry of the gospel (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25–26).

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Clean From Unclean (Good Friday 2018)

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Jesus is the Lord of reversals. To understand this, we have to understand the backdrop of the older covenant.

Throughout the Old Testament, if someone came into contact with an unclean body—a leper or a dead man—mere contact made him unclean himself. The disease, the death, the corruption was all contagious.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; And so is every work of their hands; And that which they offer there is unclean” (Hagg. 2:11–14).

Under the older covenant, the unclean thing had the power to corrupt the clean thing, it had a way of spreading its qualities that a clean thing did not have. The dirty affected the clean. The clean could not transform the dirty.

But when the Lord Jesus conducted His ministry throughout the land of Israel, it did not work this way. Jesus entered into this broken and fallen world, and everywhere He went, He made things run backwards. For example, He went everywhere touching the corrupt, the diseased, and the leprous. His was a ministry of contagious cleanliness, contagious holiness. If Jesus reached out His hand and touched a leprous face, this did not make Him unclean. Rather, it made the leper clean.

“And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed” (Mark 1:40–42).

We have something remarkably similar in the death of Jesus. In fact we have the crowning instance of it. Remember that when He was nailed to the cross, this meant that He died under the curse of God.

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).

Everlasting blessing and joy arise from the cursed thing. Jesus was lifted up like the bronze serpent was (John 3:14), and as everyone who looked in faith upon the impaled serpent was healed of the serpent’s venom, so also everyone who looks upon the poisoned cross of Christ with faith leaves all their poison there.

Not only that, but when He died, His cursed body became unclean as well. He died under the curse of God, so that He might provide propitiation for our sins, and this act of sacrifice culminated in his dead and unclean body hanging under an angry sky, threatening to contaminate the land. This is why the Jews wanted to break the Lord’s legs, so that His unclean body could be removed before it could defile their high holiday.

“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31).

But when the soldiers came to do this, they found that the Lord Jesus was already dead. Jesus was cursed, dead, and unclean. To ensure that He was really dead, one of them rammed a spear into His side, and blood and water came out (John 19:34). This is a crucial detail, as John makes plain in the next verse. “And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe” (John 19:35). John wanted us to know that blood and water came out. Why? So that you might believe.

But consider for a moment what this means. We are cleansed by the blood of Christ. We are washed by this blood and water. But this means that our cleansing comes from the blood of a dead man. His uncleanness makes us clean.

“This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6).

His curse is our blessing. His defilement is our washing.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ [of a dead man, mind], who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14).

A purged conscience is the work of the Lord’s blood.

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Pet. 1:2).

Sanctified because sprinkled with an unclean thing.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

The blood of a unclean dead man cleanses. Not only does it cleanse, but it cleanses us from all sin.

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5).

We are washed in an unclean thing and, stupefying as it is, this is our cleansing.

I began by saying that Jesus is the Lord of reversals. Is this not a reversal of staggering magnitude? Just as Eve was taken from Adam’s side, so also the new Eve was fashioned from the side of the second Adam. But this means the one who was to be without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish was taken from the side of a corpse.

The only reason this can work is through the process I mentioned earlier, which Scripture calls propitiation. Because Jesus, the sinless one, died under the wrath of God, this means that the uncleanness of His death was the uncleanness contributed by you and by me. The reason your diseases are left behind when you touch Him is that He obeyed His Father and identified with you completely. This means that your sin became His, and you left all of it there, and that His righteousness became yours, and you took all of it with you.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

I want to conclude with a Good Friday invitation. If you are not a Christian, if you are not forgiven, if you don’t know God, then know this.

With an unclean world behind you . . .

With an unclean Hell below you . . .

With an unclean heart within you . . .

Come then, to the cross of Christ, and touch the unclean thing. And if you do, then you will come away, everlastingly and eternally pure.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

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Seeing Glory, Receiving Grace

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The Text

“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!…” John 1:35-51

Why Disciples?

In this passage, Jesus gathers men as disciples, and we must ask, “Why disciples?” Jesus’ work on earth begins with his incarnation and ends in his crucifixion and resurrection. So why not go right to the cross? Why gather disciples? John gives the answer in 1:14-16. Jesus came, not only to take away sin, but in order for the world to see the glory of Son and the Father and for us to receive grace upon grace from this fullness. Removal of sin is not the end, but the means to life with God––life as children of God, life as followers of Jesus, life as his disciples. Jesus has come on a glorious and gracious mission. He has come for people to see the glory of God and to graciously share in that glory as children of God. And so he starts with four men named in this passage––Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael. Each of these see Jesus as glorious, full of truth and grace.

Following the Lamb of God (vs. 35-39)

John again identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God (vs. 36). Two disciples hear John say this and follow Jesus. “What are you seeking?” Jesus asked. They’re seeking to have their sins taken away! Discipleship is first and foremost the expressed need for a savior from our sins. The beginning of following Jesus is not for the strong, but the weak, not for the healthy, but the sick, not for the righteous, but the sinners (Mk. 2:17). They discover the truth that Jesus is the Lamb of God and follow in order to receive grace.

We Found the Messiah (vs. 40-42)

They were seeking Jesus and they find the Christ. Andrew, one of the two first disciples, becomes an evangelist and tracks down “his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’” (vs. 41) This is the one like Moses who would deliver God’s people from slavery. This is the one like David who would restore God’s kingdom. This is the one like Solomon who would build God’s temple. This is a glorious declaration that leads Simon to receive grace.

After Andrew brings Simon, Jesus looks Simon over, possibly whistles and then gives him his new life long nickname “Rocky.” Or more accurately Peter, the Rock. Jesus named him Peter, and Peter became his new name (Mt. 16:17). Jesus has authority to give a new name, new identity, new life. This is more grace because there is no better identity that what Jesus gives his disciple.

Follow Me and Found Him (vs. 43-46)

The next day, Jesus decides to travel to Galilee and he found Philip and said, “Follow me.” Philip then found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” There’s a lot of finding here in these few verses. But who found who first? Jesus’s finding Philip was prior to Philip finding Jesus. Every disciple must find Jesus, just like Philip found Jesus. But then you will know that Jesus has found you first.

Nathanael responds, “Out of Nazareth! What? Can anything good come?” This could simply be Nathanael’s rural town rivalry as a Bethsaida boy with Nazareth. But he also knew there was no mention of Nazareth in the messianic prophecies. As a recent follower (that day), Philip didn’t have all the answers and so gave a simple invitation, “Come and see.”

The King of Israel, the Son of God (vs. 47-49)

Even as Nathanael comes to see Jesus, Jesus sees Nathanael and knows him inside and out. “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (vs. 47). Nathanael responds, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael realizes that he is so thoroughly known and seen by this stranger that Jesus must be more than a man. And so he uttered these life-changing words, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”

The Son of Man Lifted Up (vs. 50-51)

Jesus responds by describing the greater things Nathanael will see, “You shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Jesus combines two seemingly strange Old Testament dreams. The first is Isaac’s dream in Genesis 28 of the angels climbing up and down the ladder to heaven and the second is in Daniel’s dream in Daniel 7 of the Son of Man receiving a kingdom from the Ancient of Days. So what’s going on? I believe that Jesus is affirming what Nathanael says about Jesus––He is the Son of God, and He is the King of Israel. Jesus will be seen as the Son of God and the King of Israel as he is lifted up on the cross as the Son of Man (Jn. 3:13-15).

While hanging on the cross, Jesus is ingloriously mocked as the King of the Jews and the Son of God. And yet, Jesus says these are the greater things that will been seen. You will see the glory of the Son of Man, who is the King of Israel, who is the Messiah, who is the Lamb of God, who is God’s own Son, lifted up on a cross to die for sinners, for his disciples.

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