Every year at Grace Community Church, I preach a New Year's sermon. Below, I am publishing the sermon I preached this past Sunday. It is based on the encouraging text of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, where Paul writes of finding Christ's strength overcoming his own weaknesses. It is a good reminder that this year we need to allow Jesus to do the work in our lives, not the person we see in the mirror every morning! This text continues to significantly minister to me almost a week after I preached it! I do hope you will find it helpful (though, the recorded version on our church's website is better). Here goes:
It’s 2009:
Get Over Yourself!
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Before we get to the message today, I want to make you aware that next Sunday we will begin a series on the Trinity. The title of the series will be, All of God: Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity. We will go into more detail at the Home Fellowships, starting this week. I hope you will anticipate learning much about what many call the most important doctrine in Scripture. OK, on to this morning’s message.
I have an announcement to make this morning, which may or may not come as a surprise to you. I’m in love. I can’t help. In spite of all my efforts, I am madly in love. It may not be what you think, though. I have been in love with this person for over 55 years. You see, I am in love with – me. In fact, since Psalm 51 indicates that I was conceived as a sinner, this love affair with self actually began before I was born.
Is it wrong to love yourself? Not according to Oprah or dozens of authors whose books fill the self-help sections in bookstores and even find their way into grocery stores. Indeed, God assumes that we love ourselves. Ephesians 5: “Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” And don’t forget that Jesus taught us to love our neighbors in the same manner that we love ourselves. The kind of love referred to in those passages is not the narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-focused behavior that is so common and encouraged today. It is true that if we fail to appreciate the person that God has made us to be, we will likely not have much to give to others. If we hate ourselves, our tendency is to be short with and even to despise others as well. Not liking moi usually translates into not liking thou. And when you think about it, a hatred of self is often the result of an unhealthy focus on self, anyway.
We should go ahead and love ourselves, then, so that we will love others, right? Not in the way we are encouraged to love ourselves today! When we love and pamper ourselves, 21st century style, there is little left for Jesus or for others. All the focus is on self. And, here we find ourselves at the beginning of 2009. Isn’t it time that we just get over ourselves? I think so.
Our text this morning is 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Before we read the text, let me explain something in this passage that is important to our understanding of what the Apostle Paul was trying to accomplish with some of the language he was using. In Corinth, there were certain teachers who were attempting to slander Paul and render his teachings null and void. They didn’t feel that Paul was “spiritual” enough. They had received visions, and they spoke ecstatically with languages they did not know. In addition, they were wealthy, and surely their riches were a sign of God’s blessings. They considered Paul’s poverty and the persecution he encountered as signs of God’s disapproval.
Before we go any further, can I speak to those of you who are without a job? Some of you have been unemployed for quite some time. I would imagine it is very tempting to see yourself as being squarely in the crosshairs of God’s disapproval on your life. You feel like He is punishing you, or you feel like He doesn’t respond to your prayers, thus He just doesn’t care. I understand how easy it would be to feel that way in today’s world, but our text today will put that idea to rest, so if you are out of work, you may be the one more blessed than all the others in here. Sound absurd? See if it does by the time you leave church today.
Because Paul had been attacked and the very truth of the gospel was at stake, he had to defend himself. He felt like a fool offering his credentials – so much so, that he wrote quite hesitantly, speaking in the third person. By the end of our passage, though, Paul was boldly proclaiming his boast – in Jesus and in anything in his life that would drive him to Jesus. That which drove him to Jesus turned out to be hardships and weaknesses.
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Would you please stand for the reading of the Word?
1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows –
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
6 Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Did you sense Paul’s reticence to defend himself, even though it was absolutely necessary to do so? Fourteen years before he wrote this letter to the Corinthians, which would have been before his first missionary journey, God took Paul up into heaven. Paul asked, “Did my body go up to heaven, or was it an out of body experience? I don’t know – all I know is that I was shown and told some amazing things, some of which I can’t even repeat. That’s why I am an apostle and why you should listen to me. What I have to tell you will make the difference in your eternal destiny. I am not bragging; it’s just fact. But, I will tell you what I will brag about – my weaknesses!”
That doesn’t sound very much like our world today, does it? In fact, it would take a gigantic shift in our thinking to embrace Paul’s spirit that welcomes weakness because it allows Jesus to shine. Let’s look again at Paul’s heart coming through his pen. Verses 6 through the first part of verse 9:
6 Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Now, it is important to recognize that our call to humility is not because we realize we are nothing. For Paul, it was the exact opposite – he had been granted an extreme privilege – taken into heaven and given secrets that he couldn’t even divulge. God knew the persecutions that were in store for Paul and it is likely that his close communion with God kept his perspective in tact.
Because of the gifts that Paul had been given, God sent him a reminder of the limitations that come to every human, whether they are children of God or not. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. Well, technically, Satan provided the pain, but Paul understood it to be in God’s plan for his life.
So, what was his thorn in the flesh? You may have a pretty strong opinion, and if you do, then you have a pretty strong opinion – and that’s all. One thing we know for sure it was not – his wife! Paul wasn’t married, so ladies, you are off the hook. I imagine some of you ladies would say to me, “Come spend a few hours at our house – you will see who the thorn is!” All kinds of physical and emotional ailments have been offered as possibilities. I doubt seriously that it was a struggle with sin. It is far more likely it was physical or emotional malady. Hey, when you think about it, it is probably a good thing that God leaves it unrecorded because it leaves room for fairly broad application. You and I both may have a thorn in the flesh, but they may have a very different look.
It is not that Paul initially welcomed his particular thorn. In the same way Jesus pleaded for God to accomplish our salvation apart from His sacrifice on the cross, Paul begged God, three times, to take the thorn away. God said no. But, He gave Paul an explanation, and in so doing, He provided an explanation for us as well: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
I don’t think there are too many Christ-followers who would say that humility is a negative quality. We would, rather, profess a desire for humility. Can we ever attain humility? Tim Keller shares just how great of a challenge it is to find humility. In the December, 2008 issue of Christianity Today, he acknowledges that we observe pride and arrogance all around us, and then says, quote, “If we notice a humble turn of mind in ourselves, we immediately become smug - but that is pride in our humility. If we catch ourselves doing that we will be particularly impressed with how nuanced and subtle we have become.” End quote. Indeed. You know that struggle, don’t you?
It is never a bad thing to be in a place that requires humility on our part. A physical handicap, a medical condition, a job loss, a family issue – you fill in the blank. There are all kinds of circumstances that cause us to make a choice about our response to the curves that life – no, Satan – no, God throws our way. Will we rest in God’s will for our lives and be humble, or will we take the easy route and succumb to humiliation? There is a difference, you know. Humility brings a positive spirit, an acceptance of our place in God’s world, in God’s kingdom. Humiliation, on the other hand, is the opposite, almost – it is a negative spirit that can manifest itself in absolute despair, or angry defiance. We can find ourselves humiliated when things go badly and when our security is based in who we are rather than in who God is, or in who we are in Jesus.
Humility begins when we rest in Jesus’ words to Paul, and thus, to all of His followers: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Most of us want to shine in this world. We want others to be proud of us, to admire us. But – Jesus doesn’t want us to shine. He wants to shine through us! And, if we walk closely with Him, we will want the same thing. Which would you rather have – you shining or Jesus shining in you? Well, theoretically we would prefer for Jesus to shine through us – but, since we are not really sure what it looks like, let’s go with “me” shining.
No, let’s don’t! It’s 2009 – let’s get over ourselves and allow Jesus’ power to come through us in our weaknesses. And, Jesus’ power in our lives should be our motivation to accept the messengers of humility in our lives. It is not that we welcome hardship in a stoic kind of way so that we can feel good about our strong will and self-discipline. Paul said that he would gladly boast in his own weaknesses so that the power of Christ could rest upon him. Do not miss this point! It is the same language that was used in John 1:14, where we are told that Jesus came to this earth and dwelt among us – or, literally, pitched His tent among us. In the same way, the power of Jesus rests on – or, Jesus pitches His tent among – the weak.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that seems backwards to me. Most of us do not think of Jesus pitching His tent among the weak. We think that we will find Him among the strong and the successful. Not so, according to God, and who are you going to go with, God or society? God, or the contemporary church? We ought to go with God.
So, stop and let 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 wash over your soul. I will give you just a moment to read those verses and think about them.
Verse 10: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.” Calamities, for goodness sake! The man was content with calamities! But notice how carefully his words are chosen. He didn’t say that he sought out hardships. Paul was no fanatic that found some sort of psychological satisfaction in self-inflicted troubles. He simply said that he was content with troubles when they came. And, he has already given the reason he was content with circumstances that forced him to be humble – it was for the sake of Christ! And, in those circumstances, Paul found personal gain, also – “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
We tend to go to great lengths to hide our weaknesses, don’t we? Even though we are well acquainted with the teachings of Scripture, we can easily find ourselves thinking – even if it is subconsciously – that troubles in our lives indicate a character flaw, or worse, judgment on our lives from God. Well, we worry that others think that, and so we hide.
But, what if this passage were true? Of course we believe it is true, but we have not embraced it as fully as we should, have we? One of the reasons we fail to actually sell out totally to the truth of this passage is that we are so full of ourselves. It’s 2009. It’s time we get past that. It is time we rest in God’s will for our lives. That doesn’t mean we quit working to make our circumstances better, but we must, for the sake of Christ, humbly accept the thorn in the flesh, the weaknesses that God has built into our lives. When I am weak, then I am strong. But I have to get over myself to get there. Let’s pray.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
My new address - and a few words about the blog
I was blessed to hear from many of my good friends this past Christmas - I received quite a few Christmas cards. Most all of them went, initially, to my old address in Buies Creek. I now live in Fuquay-Varina and wanted to share my new address - not that I am expecting any more Christmas cards! I now live at 1408 Old Bramble Lane, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526. Also, my e-mail address is btalley5@embarqmail.com
It is not unusual to receive gentle reminders from some of you that there are still people reading this blog. In the next day or two, I am going to publish the sermon I preached this past Sunday - which, could be viewed as a substitute (cop-out) for writing, but I know that many of you do not come to Grace, nor do you listen to the sermons on our website (I almost never listen to sermons online - probably a bad thing), and when I think you might be interested in a particular message, I publish it. This past Sunday was somewhat of a New Year's sermon, about letting Christ be our strength in places of weakness (from 2 Corinthians 12).
Beginning this coming Sunday (Jan. 18th), I will be starting a series on the Trinity. There is a possibility that I will be writing, here, about this study and seeing if there is any interest in interacting about this most important doctrine in Scripture. Our Home Fellowships have already begun study on the topic and there seems to be significant interest.
Thank you for visiting here and for your prayers!
It is not unusual to receive gentle reminders from some of you that there are still people reading this blog. In the next day or two, I am going to publish the sermon I preached this past Sunday - which, could be viewed as a substitute (cop-out) for writing, but I know that many of you do not come to Grace, nor do you listen to the sermons on our website (I almost never listen to sermons online - probably a bad thing), and when I think you might be interested in a particular message, I publish it. This past Sunday was somewhat of a New Year's sermon, about letting Christ be our strength in places of weakness (from 2 Corinthians 12).
Beginning this coming Sunday (Jan. 18th), I will be starting a series on the Trinity. There is a possibility that I will be writing, here, about this study and seeing if there is any interest in interacting about this most important doctrine in Scripture. Our Home Fellowships have already begun study on the topic and there seems to be significant interest.
Thank you for visiting here and for your prayers!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Morning
Christmas is a time of - well, fill in the blank. For the Christ-follower, it is pregnant with meaning. Our understanding of Christmas takes us far beyond the sentimental, yet, superficial notions of secular thinking at this time of the year. As much as we would love peace and should do all we can to work toward it, Jesus reminded us that there will be wars and rumors of wars until the end of this age.
But, because of what this day represents - the Incarnation, God becoming one of us to ultimately pay the penalty that is demanded of all humans because of sin, yet a penalty that no human is capable/eligible to pay unless He also be God - causes our hearts to soar. Jesus, God in the flesh, died that we might live eternally.
At this time of year, joy is intensified, as is pain. It is thus that our family recognizes all we have lost this year as we buried Linda Faile Talley on March 3, and yet we are equally aware of how very blessed we were (and are!) to have her in our lives for so long. We will see her again - because of Christmas, and, because of Easter!
One of my warm reflections this season is how very well Linda fulfilled her obligation as a godly wife to respect and honor her husband. You cannot imagine how much she positively impacted my life. Well, she would have considered it a privilege rather than an obligation, although there were many times I failed to live up to the level of respect she extended to me. I was so blessed that I feel compelled to write to all the husbands and wives - and, husbands and wives to be - who may read this space. The reason I write is not because we were experts, but because God allowed us (or, caused us) to figure marriage out over the years. So many of our early years were less than pleasant, but when we realized that we were not attacking each other but rather that we were speaking different languages, we began to understand how God had designed us to compliment one another. We had thought that our lives would be spent in a state of controlled conflict, but complimenting, completing one another was a blessed discovery, indeed!
How do you get there? By getting over yourself, first of all! That is the essence of a Christ-follower, isn't it? Death to self in a day when we are encouraged toward everything, but. Husband, your wife is the most beautiful lady on earth! Tell her so, loving her as Christ loved the church, listening, caring deeply about her issues. Quit trying to fix all of her problems - just listen. Just hold her. Find out how she receives love - and love her!
Wife, your husband is the greatest guy on earth. Treat him like he is! NEVER tear him down in public. OK, so you are both kidders. Kidding is one thing, but the line where kidding becomes insult and lack of respect is very thin, indeed, and is easily crossed. Build him up, especially in front of others. What if he is lazy or not as thoughtful as you? I don't think the option of disrespect is to be found in Ephesians 5 or anywhere else in Scripture.
Women need to be loved and men need to be respected. Linda and I were given a gift of being deeply, madly in love with one other. We both recognized it as a gift - from God. He is waiting only for you to look to Him and obey His brief, yet rich and far reaching comments about marriage. Do what you are supposed to do, whether you feel like it or not. And, don't expect results overnight. It may take years, in fact, but it will come if you are both committed. The result will be wonderful beyond anything you can imagine.
So, on this Christmas morning, thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of eternal life available to those who will confess their sins and believe Jesus' death on the cross as payment for their sins. Thank God, also, for the loved ones in your life. I have written about marital love, but love for anyone will require the same starting point - death to self and concern for the other. God bless you. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, when hope springs again in our hearts.
But, because of what this day represents - the Incarnation, God becoming one of us to ultimately pay the penalty that is demanded of all humans because of sin, yet a penalty that no human is capable/eligible to pay unless He also be God - causes our hearts to soar. Jesus, God in the flesh, died that we might live eternally.
At this time of year, joy is intensified, as is pain. It is thus that our family recognizes all we have lost this year as we buried Linda Faile Talley on March 3, and yet we are equally aware of how very blessed we were (and are!) to have her in our lives for so long. We will see her again - because of Christmas, and, because of Easter!
One of my warm reflections this season is how very well Linda fulfilled her obligation as a godly wife to respect and honor her husband. You cannot imagine how much she positively impacted my life. Well, she would have considered it a privilege rather than an obligation, although there were many times I failed to live up to the level of respect she extended to me. I was so blessed that I feel compelled to write to all the husbands and wives - and, husbands and wives to be - who may read this space. The reason I write is not because we were experts, but because God allowed us (or, caused us) to figure marriage out over the years. So many of our early years were less than pleasant, but when we realized that we were not attacking each other but rather that we were speaking different languages, we began to understand how God had designed us to compliment one another. We had thought that our lives would be spent in a state of controlled conflict, but complimenting, completing one another was a blessed discovery, indeed!
How do you get there? By getting over yourself, first of all! That is the essence of a Christ-follower, isn't it? Death to self in a day when we are encouraged toward everything, but. Husband, your wife is the most beautiful lady on earth! Tell her so, loving her as Christ loved the church, listening, caring deeply about her issues. Quit trying to fix all of her problems - just listen. Just hold her. Find out how she receives love - and love her!
Wife, your husband is the greatest guy on earth. Treat him like he is! NEVER tear him down in public. OK, so you are both kidders. Kidding is one thing, but the line where kidding becomes insult and lack of respect is very thin, indeed, and is easily crossed. Build him up, especially in front of others. What if he is lazy or not as thoughtful as you? I don't think the option of disrespect is to be found in Ephesians 5 or anywhere else in Scripture.
Women need to be loved and men need to be respected. Linda and I were given a gift of being deeply, madly in love with one other. We both recognized it as a gift - from God. He is waiting only for you to look to Him and obey His brief, yet rich and far reaching comments about marriage. Do what you are supposed to do, whether you feel like it or not. And, don't expect results overnight. It may take years, in fact, but it will come if you are both committed. The result will be wonderful beyond anything you can imagine.
So, on this Christmas morning, thank God for the gift of Jesus and the gift of eternal life available to those who will confess their sins and believe Jesus' death on the cross as payment for their sins. Thank God, also, for the loved ones in your life. I have written about marital love, but love for anyone will require the same starting point - death to self and concern for the other. God bless you. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, when hope springs again in our hearts.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Encounter Jesus: Hope for the Hopeless
The transcript of the message that follows is part of our Advent Season at Grace Community Church. It is not too long, if you are interested!
Encounter Jesus:
Hope for the Hopeless
Have you ever felt hopeless? I am not talking about getting to the mall and realizing that every store is sold out of the one item you just had to buy for your loved one. I am talking about the kind of hopelessness that finds you three months behind on your mortgage with the bank warning you to either pay your bills or get out of the house. Or, maybe someone you loved very dearly began to change – and then, walked out. Somewhere in the world today there are people who have not eaten in two days and prospects for sufficient nourishment are dim. Somewhere else, a young teenager wanders aimlessly after having watched from a hiding place as her parents and siblings were hacked to death by crazed men. What made the horror even worse is that the men were family friends only a few years ago before war broke out between two tribes.
After that cheery introduction, let’s sing a Christmas Carol. Hey, while pain is relative, it is much more intense for some than for others. Why? Who knows? But, I do know that there are times when we feel hopeless. And the joy of Christmas seems to amplify the hopelessness we feel. Maybe that’s why the suicide rate is higher at Christmas than at other times of the year, right? Well, actually that’s not true. You may have always thought that, but it isn’t true. Suicides actually go down in the winter – the highest rate of suicide is in the spring.
Christmas usually does brighten my spirits. One of my favorite secular Christmas songs is a Dave Koz number that is sung by Kenny Loggins – December Makes Me Feel This Way. The chorus goes like this:
The world is new and precious as a baby,
Life is sweet as children at play.
Love is truly there in every heart.
December makes me feel this way.
You know what? Even though that is a secular song, there is something about the spirit of Christmas that caught Dave Koz’s attention. He may not know that it is Jesus that causes hope to stir in our hearts, but he recognizes that there is something about this time of year that brings hope in spite of our circumstances.
I know that some of you feel as down as you have ever felt in your lives. I am sorry this is such a difficult time for you. My heart’s desire is that you will find a measure of hope this morning that will lift your spirits considerably. The shepherds were some of the most hopeless people in all of Israel. They were despised by most, not allowed to participate in polite society, banned even from giving testimony in a court of law because they were so distrusted – their word was considered unreliable. If ever there were losers in the first century, it was them – yet, lowly, common, hopeless shepherds were the first to be told about Jesus’ birth. And they were told by the angel of the Lord! Hope for the hopeless!
Jesus’ appearance on the scene and His profound ministry to the hopeless had been foretold some 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah. Let’s read those words of hope in the 61st chapter of the book that bears the prophet’s name. Isaiah 61:1-3. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together?
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
During Linda’s illness, there were a few books that ministered deeply to me. One was a book by Mark Buchanan titled Things Unseen. In this excellent book, Buchanan reminds us that nobody anticipated the coming of Jesus more than John the Baptist! In fact, before John was even born, he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary, who was bearing Jesus, came to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Years later when John was quite popular as a preacher, the instant he spotted Jesus he said with a loud voice, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” When Jesus came to have John baptize Him, John told Him, “I need You to baptize me, and do You come to me?” John had already told his disciples that he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes. When some of John’s disciples got jealous because people were beginning to follow Jesus instead of John, the prophet put everything in perspective for them. “This was the plan all along,” John said. “In fact, He must increase from this point forward and I must decrease.”
John got it! Jesus was the hope of the nation – He was, in fact, hope for the hopeless. But, just like the Pharisees we talked about last week, John the Baptist expected Jesus to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish a world-wide Kingdom that would be centered in Jerusalem. Hey, the disciples thought the same thing even after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, so don’t chide John for thinking otherwise.
What a shock it must have been to John the Baptist when he was arrested by Herod for preaching things Herod didn’t want to hear. John was not in prison because of His stand for Jesus, but the way John preached had everything to do with Who Jesus was. Yet, John was in prison. And, his faith wavered. He was on the verge of losing hope when he decided to send some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah, or had John somehow been confused and gotten the wrong guy – because circumstances argued against Jesus being the One.
After his messengers left, John waited. Waiting is often the most difficult thing, isn’t it? The doctor says the tests will not be back until next month. The calendar cannot move fast enough when your loved one is with the Army in Afghanistan. The job search goes on and on and – nothing. Does God even care anymore? What must it have been like for John in Herod’s prison cell, waiting for his disciples to get back and report from Jesus? Listen to Buchanan’s speculation about those difficult days and see if you identify. Quote:
“They (John’s disciples) leave. He waits. The waiting is terrible. A waiting like that is an unfortified city, begging for vandals, plunderers, ghosts. John tries to sleep, but he is too anxious and too weary for it. So he waits.”
Matthew 11:4-6 records Jesus’ answer.
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see;
5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
Do you recognize those verses? Jesus was sending the message that He was, indeed, the Messiah, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah 61, the text we read at the first of the message. That should do it. That would be all that John needed to hear, right? I suppose it could be that John said, “Well then, that settles that!” But then, Jesus did not tell John that He would get Him out of prison. In fact, all indicators would now point toward John’s execution. I have all ideas, though, that Jesus’ words comforted John and helped Him to rest in spite of his circumstances.
That’s our need, isn’t it? Rest in Jesus. Some of you may as well be in prison with John, emotionally, awaiting the executioner. And, all that Jesus says to you in your pain is, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Hope of the hopeless? Really? Yes! Because what we see in this world is not all there is to life. But in order for Jesus’ words to mean anything to you, you are going to have to believe Jesus. You are going to have to rest in Him.
You may feel like you are miles away from that right now. You may feel angry – or, you may feel guilty for not resting. We did not finish the story in Matthew 11. After John’s disciples left to take Jesus’ message back to John, the Savior talked to those around Him about John. Instead of rebuking John, Jesus’ praised him. In fact, when John made his worst remarks about Jesus, Jesus made His finest remarks about John. “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (v 11)
Just because you doubt does not mean you are not deeply loved by Jesus. Do not despair, no matter your current situation. Jesus loves you and has not abandoned you. His response to your struggle may not be what you want, but do you really base your relationship with Him on what happens to you? Rest in Jesus. He is, if you will believe, hope for the hopeless.
One last time, let’s look at Isaiah 61:
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Encounter Jesus:
Hope for the Hopeless
Have you ever felt hopeless? I am not talking about getting to the mall and realizing that every store is sold out of the one item you just had to buy for your loved one. I am talking about the kind of hopelessness that finds you three months behind on your mortgage with the bank warning you to either pay your bills or get out of the house. Or, maybe someone you loved very dearly began to change – and then, walked out. Somewhere in the world today there are people who have not eaten in two days and prospects for sufficient nourishment are dim. Somewhere else, a young teenager wanders aimlessly after having watched from a hiding place as her parents and siblings were hacked to death by crazed men. What made the horror even worse is that the men were family friends only a few years ago before war broke out between two tribes.
After that cheery introduction, let’s sing a Christmas Carol. Hey, while pain is relative, it is much more intense for some than for others. Why? Who knows? But, I do know that there are times when we feel hopeless. And the joy of Christmas seems to amplify the hopelessness we feel. Maybe that’s why the suicide rate is higher at Christmas than at other times of the year, right? Well, actually that’s not true. You may have always thought that, but it isn’t true. Suicides actually go down in the winter – the highest rate of suicide is in the spring.
Christmas usually does brighten my spirits. One of my favorite secular Christmas songs is a Dave Koz number that is sung by Kenny Loggins – December Makes Me Feel This Way. The chorus goes like this:
The world is new and precious as a baby,
Life is sweet as children at play.
Love is truly there in every heart.
December makes me feel this way.
You know what? Even though that is a secular song, there is something about the spirit of Christmas that caught Dave Koz’s attention. He may not know that it is Jesus that causes hope to stir in our hearts, but he recognizes that there is something about this time of year that brings hope in spite of our circumstances.
I know that some of you feel as down as you have ever felt in your lives. I am sorry this is such a difficult time for you. My heart’s desire is that you will find a measure of hope this morning that will lift your spirits considerably. The shepherds were some of the most hopeless people in all of Israel. They were despised by most, not allowed to participate in polite society, banned even from giving testimony in a court of law because they were so distrusted – their word was considered unreliable. If ever there were losers in the first century, it was them – yet, lowly, common, hopeless shepherds were the first to be told about Jesus’ birth. And they were told by the angel of the Lord! Hope for the hopeless!
Jesus’ appearance on the scene and His profound ministry to the hopeless had been foretold some 700 years before by the prophet Isaiah. Let’s read those words of hope in the 61st chapter of the book that bears the prophet’s name. Isaiah 61:1-3. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together?
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
During Linda’s illness, there were a few books that ministered deeply to me. One was a book by Mark Buchanan titled Things Unseen. In this excellent book, Buchanan reminds us that nobody anticipated the coming of Jesus more than John the Baptist! In fact, before John was even born, he leaped for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary, who was bearing Jesus, came to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Years later when John was quite popular as a preacher, the instant he spotted Jesus he said with a loud voice, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” When Jesus came to have John baptize Him, John told Him, “I need You to baptize me, and do You come to me?” John had already told his disciples that he was not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes. When some of John’s disciples got jealous because people were beginning to follow Jesus instead of John, the prophet put everything in perspective for them. “This was the plan all along,” John said. “In fact, He must increase from this point forward and I must decrease.”
John got it! Jesus was the hope of the nation – He was, in fact, hope for the hopeless. But, just like the Pharisees we talked about last week, John the Baptist expected Jesus to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish a world-wide Kingdom that would be centered in Jerusalem. Hey, the disciples thought the same thing even after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, so don’t chide John for thinking otherwise.
What a shock it must have been to John the Baptist when he was arrested by Herod for preaching things Herod didn’t want to hear. John was not in prison because of His stand for Jesus, but the way John preached had everything to do with Who Jesus was. Yet, John was in prison. And, his faith wavered. He was on the verge of losing hope when he decided to send some of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah, or had John somehow been confused and gotten the wrong guy – because circumstances argued against Jesus being the One.
After his messengers left, John waited. Waiting is often the most difficult thing, isn’t it? The doctor says the tests will not be back until next month. The calendar cannot move fast enough when your loved one is with the Army in Afghanistan. The job search goes on and on and – nothing. Does God even care anymore? What must it have been like for John in Herod’s prison cell, waiting for his disciples to get back and report from Jesus? Listen to Buchanan’s speculation about those difficult days and see if you identify. Quote:
“They (John’s disciples) leave. He waits. The waiting is terrible. A waiting like that is an unfortified city, begging for vandals, plunderers, ghosts. John tries to sleep, but he is too anxious and too weary for it. So he waits.”
Matthew 11:4-6 records Jesus’ answer.
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see;
5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
Do you recognize those verses? Jesus was sending the message that He was, indeed, the Messiah, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah 61, the text we read at the first of the message. That should do it. That would be all that John needed to hear, right? I suppose it could be that John said, “Well then, that settles that!” But then, Jesus did not tell John that He would get Him out of prison. In fact, all indicators would now point toward John’s execution. I have all ideas, though, that Jesus’ words comforted John and helped Him to rest in spite of his circumstances.
That’s our need, isn’t it? Rest in Jesus. Some of you may as well be in prison with John, emotionally, awaiting the executioner. And, all that Jesus says to you in your pain is, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.” Hope of the hopeless? Really? Yes! Because what we see in this world is not all there is to life. But in order for Jesus’ words to mean anything to you, you are going to have to believe Jesus. You are going to have to rest in Him.
You may feel like you are miles away from that right now. You may feel angry – or, you may feel guilty for not resting. We did not finish the story in Matthew 11. After John’s disciples left to take Jesus’ message back to John, the Savior talked to those around Him about John. Instead of rebuking John, Jesus’ praised him. In fact, when John made his worst remarks about Jesus, Jesus made His finest remarks about John. “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (v 11)
Just because you doubt does not mean you are not deeply loved by Jesus. Do not despair, no matter your current situation. Jesus loves you and has not abandoned you. His response to your struggle may not be what you want, but do you really base your relationship with Him on what happens to you? Rest in Jesus. He is, if you will believe, hope for the hopeless.
One last time, let’s look at Isaiah 61:
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
BIG NEWS!
My daughter, Autumn, is pregnant with her first child! Or, as younger types would say, Brian and Autumn are pregnant with their first child! Either way, Autumn and Brian are quite pleased and it makes this grandpa very, very happy. I already have the three greatest grandchildren in the world - soon, it will be four. Autumn is due July 13. So far so good - please pray for her as you think about it.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Christmas Reflections
In the form of a sermon! This season has been the oddest mix of sorrow and joy for me, and I know that some (many?) of you experience the same odd juxtaposition of wondrous and joyous truth residing alongside the raw reality of life with its pain. The sermon that I will preach this morning at church addresses the paradox of life for the Christ-follower, so I will share it for those who would like to reflect on these mysteries along with me. Should you decide to take the time to imbibe, I would suggest that you have an open Bible, preferably a Study Bible, and to be more specific (as you will read again), one of the new ESV Study Bibles. May God's richest blessing - Jesus - be yours this season!
Encounter Jesus:
Son of Man
Hebrews 1:1-3; 2:6-9
I had not wanted to use power point this month. There is no way, though, that I would subject you to this morning’s message without power point. One of the reasons I am using it is that I want you to take notes so that you can come back and study our topic more fully on your own. We will just get our toes wet this morning in the ocean of what Jesus meant when He called Himself the Son of Man.
There is not anywhere near enough time to explain that name fully, nor is there time to define all of the terms we will encounter today. In fact, I am going to talk about the first Adam and the last Adam as if you know what I mean, even though I know some of you do not know. So I want to issue a challenge to you this morning. If you are introduced to truths and ideas you have never heard before, or that you have heard but do not understand, write down terms, Scripture references, and questions, then commit to learn this week about the Son of Man. A good place to start would be to purchase the brand new ESV Study Bible, a resource that is most helpful if you want to go further in your understanding of Scripture.
Before we get into our study, I want to tell you that it has been a rough start to the Thanksgiving/Christmas season for me. It is a sad time, I can’t deny that. That is not to say it is a bad time, though. In fact, this Christmas, while quite painful, is also perhaps the richest Christmas I have ever experienced, with deeper meaning than I have grasped to this point in my walk with Jesus. It is not that I have learned more about the facts surrounding the Christmas story, it is just that I get the whole thing more deeply.
Christmas is a time of joy. If you are a Christ-follower, Christmas is a time of joy – period! It does not matter whether or not there is sadness in your life, even sadness at the loss of a loved one. In fact, the loss of a loved one who was a Christ-follower should bring us to a far greater appreciation of Christmas than ever before.
Christmas is such a spiritual time – but it is wrapped in the ugly brown paper of the raw human condition. That’s the way the first Christmas was, right? The rawest conditions possible greeted the Savior at His birth. But, there was rejoicing! Shepherds came to tell Joseph and Mary what the angel had told them and about the angels’ jubilant praise for God because of Jesus’ birth. Joy to the World is, as a Christmas carol, a wonderful expression of the happiness of that night.
Some 40 days after Jesus was born, when Joseph and Mary took Him to the temple in Jerusalem for their purification, as was prescribed in the Law, they were confronted with somewhat of a reality check. A devout man, named Simeon, approached them and took Jesus in his arms. Luke 2 records his prophecy:
28 He (Simeon) took Him (Jesus) up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now You are letting your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;
30 for my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
33 And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
“A sword will pierce through your own soul, also.” That’s the problem with Christmas, isn’t it? No matter what joy there is, bad news is in every person’s future. But the bad news is mitigated because Jesus has come. Before Jesus, bad news was disastrous. It was final. Now, because of Jesus’ appearance and work among us as the God-man, bad news is only temporary for His followers.
Do you know this Jesus? Our theme this Advent season is “Encounter Jesus.” Today we will do well to encounter Jesus as the Son of Man, Jesus’ favorite name for Himself, one that He used over 80 times. Our initial text does not come from the gospels, though; it comes from 2 short readings in the first and second chapters of Hebrews. Part of the Hebrews 2 text is quoting Psalm 8, bringing light to the prophetic nature of that Psalm. If you will get the ESV Study Bible, it will help you make the connection between Psalm 8, Hebrews, and Jesus. Enough said. I am almost out of time, and we haven’t even read our text, yet. Would you please stand as we read God’s Word.
Hebrews 1:1-3
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 2:6-9
6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that You care for Him?
7 You made Him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned Him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under His feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to Him.
9 But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Why did Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of Man? His listeners would have been familiar with the term. It was used in the book of Ezekiel over 90 times referring to the prophet Ezekiel. In Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days, however, it clearly refers to a divine being who lived in heaven, though somehow this never crossed the Jews’ minds. Daniel 7:13-14:
13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.
14 And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
In Daniel’s vision, the Son of Man came on the clouds (indicating his home was in the heavens), He was given a kingdom by the Ancient of Days, clearly God the Father – and it was a kingdom that would be absolute and eternal. The Jews expected a Messiah, there is no doubt of this. Their conception of the Messiah of OT Scriptures had really only been worked out during the 100-200 years before Jesus’ birth, and it was done so in the context of the deep sorrow that resulted from their oppression under the rule of one nation after another. They were looking for a military ruler. It never occurred to them that God would come to earth and live as a human. So what did the Jews expect in a Messiah?
For starters, they expected a human being – and a human being only – but one who would be recognizable as a leader who would throw off the yoke of Rome. This individual would likely be someone with great military skills, but would also be imbued with supernatural powers. Those powers, given directly by God, made the hope for Israel’s deliverance plausible in the minds of the Pharisees and Sadducees, even though it would be like a country today such as Hungary defeating the United States and then conquering the world. Such a Messiah would surely be recognizable! The Jewish leaders absolutely did not expect the Messiah to come as the son of a poor carpenter from Nazareth! Yet, when Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, the Jewish leaders knew that He was claiming to be the divine one of Daniel’s vision.
In calling Himself Son of Man, Jesus emphasized both His divinity and His humanity. Often when using that term, Jesus claimed to do things that only God can do, as in Luke 5:17-26 when He forgave the paralytic’s sins. The Pharisees who were present were scandalized and said, “Who is this that speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Jesus replied, in essence, “You need to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then, Jesus healed him and he got up and walked away. The Pharisees, amazingly, were unimpressed.
The Jews were looking for the Messiah to come from the line of David. They were looking for a son of David. Jesus was a son of David, and, if you will read between the lines in John 8, they knew Jesus’ heritage well enough that they should have given Him a closer look. In Matthew 22, Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ contention that the Messiah must be only a human with no divine essence.
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet?’
45 If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?”
The Pharisees had no answer. Jesus had the same kind of exchange with the Pharisees in John 8 about His relationship with Abraham. We will not take time to go there, but I would encourage you to study it on your own. Jesus was a son of Abraham – but, greater than Abraham. Jesus was a son of David – yet, greater than David. Over and over, Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, but often claimed divine attributes when calling Himself by that title. Jesus was 100% God and 100% human. He was the Son of Man.
It was necessary for Jesus to come because we messed up in the very beginning of our time. In Romans 5:12-14 and 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, the Apostle Paul tells his readers that Jesus represents the last Adam, fulfilling the role for humanity that God had intended in the first Adam. We forfeited the place God had designed for us. We were a mess. Perhaps that’s why Jesus’ birth and life were so messy, even though He lived a perfect life. He had to take on human flesh and frailty in order to be a legitimate sacrifice for sin. One of His reasons for coming was to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)
So, where are you in your relation to the Son of Man? When you stand before God, some day, you will either be there as a son of the first Adam or as a child of God, redeemed by the Son of Man. If you have never trusted Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sins, please do so today! You can do so at this very moment, or if you need more understanding, please talk with me or with any of our elders or staff or with the person who invited you here today. If they can’t answer your questions, they can get you in touch with someone who can.
As I told you at the beginning of our time together, I am sad this Christmas. It’s OK, though. There is more than enough pain to go around, but Jesus tasted death for us so that we might live! I want us to read the passage in Hebrews 2 one more time. Let’s read it out loud, together. Would you please stand?
6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that You care for Him?
7 You made Him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned Him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under His feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to Him.
9 But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Encounter Jesus:
Son of Man
Hebrews 1:1-3; 2:6-9
I had not wanted to use power point this month. There is no way, though, that I would subject you to this morning’s message without power point. One of the reasons I am using it is that I want you to take notes so that you can come back and study our topic more fully on your own. We will just get our toes wet this morning in the ocean of what Jesus meant when He called Himself the Son of Man.
There is not anywhere near enough time to explain that name fully, nor is there time to define all of the terms we will encounter today. In fact, I am going to talk about the first Adam and the last Adam as if you know what I mean, even though I know some of you do not know. So I want to issue a challenge to you this morning. If you are introduced to truths and ideas you have never heard before, or that you have heard but do not understand, write down terms, Scripture references, and questions, then commit to learn this week about the Son of Man. A good place to start would be to purchase the brand new ESV Study Bible, a resource that is most helpful if you want to go further in your understanding of Scripture.
Before we get into our study, I want to tell you that it has been a rough start to the Thanksgiving/Christmas season for me. It is a sad time, I can’t deny that. That is not to say it is a bad time, though. In fact, this Christmas, while quite painful, is also perhaps the richest Christmas I have ever experienced, with deeper meaning than I have grasped to this point in my walk with Jesus. It is not that I have learned more about the facts surrounding the Christmas story, it is just that I get the whole thing more deeply.
Christmas is a time of joy. If you are a Christ-follower, Christmas is a time of joy – period! It does not matter whether or not there is sadness in your life, even sadness at the loss of a loved one. In fact, the loss of a loved one who was a Christ-follower should bring us to a far greater appreciation of Christmas than ever before.
Christmas is such a spiritual time – but it is wrapped in the ugly brown paper of the raw human condition. That’s the way the first Christmas was, right? The rawest conditions possible greeted the Savior at His birth. But, there was rejoicing! Shepherds came to tell Joseph and Mary what the angel had told them and about the angels’ jubilant praise for God because of Jesus’ birth. Joy to the World is, as a Christmas carol, a wonderful expression of the happiness of that night.
Some 40 days after Jesus was born, when Joseph and Mary took Him to the temple in Jerusalem for their purification, as was prescribed in the Law, they were confronted with somewhat of a reality check. A devout man, named Simeon, approached them and took Jesus in his arms. Luke 2 records his prophecy:
28 He (Simeon) took Him (Jesus) up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now You are letting your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;
30 for my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”
33 And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
“A sword will pierce through your own soul, also.” That’s the problem with Christmas, isn’t it? No matter what joy there is, bad news is in every person’s future. But the bad news is mitigated because Jesus has come. Before Jesus, bad news was disastrous. It was final. Now, because of Jesus’ appearance and work among us as the God-man, bad news is only temporary for His followers.
Do you know this Jesus? Our theme this Advent season is “Encounter Jesus.” Today we will do well to encounter Jesus as the Son of Man, Jesus’ favorite name for Himself, one that He used over 80 times. Our initial text does not come from the gospels, though; it comes from 2 short readings in the first and second chapters of Hebrews. Part of the Hebrews 2 text is quoting Psalm 8, bringing light to the prophetic nature of that Psalm. If you will get the ESV Study Bible, it will help you make the connection between Psalm 8, Hebrews, and Jesus. Enough said. I am almost out of time, and we haven’t even read our text, yet. Would you please stand as we read God’s Word.
Hebrews 1:1-3
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 2:6-9
6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that You care for Him?
7 You made Him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned Him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under His feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to Him.
9 But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Why did Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of Man? His listeners would have been familiar with the term. It was used in the book of Ezekiel over 90 times referring to the prophet Ezekiel. In Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days, however, it clearly refers to a divine being who lived in heaven, though somehow this never crossed the Jews’ minds. Daniel 7:13-14:
13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.
14 And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
In Daniel’s vision, the Son of Man came on the clouds (indicating his home was in the heavens), He was given a kingdom by the Ancient of Days, clearly God the Father – and it was a kingdom that would be absolute and eternal. The Jews expected a Messiah, there is no doubt of this. Their conception of the Messiah of OT Scriptures had really only been worked out during the 100-200 years before Jesus’ birth, and it was done so in the context of the deep sorrow that resulted from their oppression under the rule of one nation after another. They were looking for a military ruler. It never occurred to them that God would come to earth and live as a human. So what did the Jews expect in a Messiah?
For starters, they expected a human being – and a human being only – but one who would be recognizable as a leader who would throw off the yoke of Rome. This individual would likely be someone with great military skills, but would also be imbued with supernatural powers. Those powers, given directly by God, made the hope for Israel’s deliverance plausible in the minds of the Pharisees and Sadducees, even though it would be like a country today such as Hungary defeating the United States and then conquering the world. Such a Messiah would surely be recognizable! The Jewish leaders absolutely did not expect the Messiah to come as the son of a poor carpenter from Nazareth! Yet, when Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, the Jewish leaders knew that He was claiming to be the divine one of Daniel’s vision.
In calling Himself Son of Man, Jesus emphasized both His divinity and His humanity. Often when using that term, Jesus claimed to do things that only God can do, as in Luke 5:17-26 when He forgave the paralytic’s sins. The Pharisees who were present were scandalized and said, “Who is this that speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Jesus replied, in essence, “You need to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then, Jesus healed him and he got up and walked away. The Pharisees, amazingly, were unimpressed.
The Jews were looking for the Messiah to come from the line of David. They were looking for a son of David. Jesus was a son of David, and, if you will read between the lines in John 8, they knew Jesus’ heritage well enough that they should have given Him a closer look. In Matthew 22, Jesus challenged the Pharisees’ contention that the Messiah must be only a human with no divine essence.
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet?’
45 If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?”
The Pharisees had no answer. Jesus had the same kind of exchange with the Pharisees in John 8 about His relationship with Abraham. We will not take time to go there, but I would encourage you to study it on your own. Jesus was a son of Abraham – but, greater than Abraham. Jesus was a son of David – yet, greater than David. Over and over, Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, but often claimed divine attributes when calling Himself by that title. Jesus was 100% God and 100% human. He was the Son of Man.
It was necessary for Jesus to come because we messed up in the very beginning of our time. In Romans 5:12-14 and 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, the Apostle Paul tells his readers that Jesus represents the last Adam, fulfilling the role for humanity that God had intended in the first Adam. We forfeited the place God had designed for us. We were a mess. Perhaps that’s why Jesus’ birth and life were so messy, even though He lived a perfect life. He had to take on human flesh and frailty in order to be a legitimate sacrifice for sin. One of His reasons for coming was to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)
So, where are you in your relation to the Son of Man? When you stand before God, some day, you will either be there as a son of the first Adam or as a child of God, redeemed by the Son of Man. If you have never trusted Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sins, please do so today! You can do so at this very moment, or if you need more understanding, please talk with me or with any of our elders or staff or with the person who invited you here today. If they can’t answer your questions, they can get you in touch with someone who can.
As I told you at the beginning of our time together, I am sad this Christmas. It’s OK, though. There is more than enough pain to go around, but Jesus tasted death for us so that we might live! I want us to read the passage in Hebrews 2 one more time. Let’s read it out loud, together. Would you please stand?
6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that You care for Him?
7 You made Him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned Him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under His feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to Him, He left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not see everything in subjection to Him.
9 But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Gratitude on a December Morn
Though it may seem more like a confession (in the contemporary usage of the word): Forgive me, Father, for thinking I am something special when I am nothing. Forgive me, also, Father, for thinking I am nothing when in reality I am someone very special to You.
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