JESUS, THE SON OF GOD

Lecture Objectives:

To show that Jesus was who He claimed to be based on the evidence of the things He did and said.

References:

John 14.1; 8.12; 11.25-26; 6.32ff; Luke 5.20,21; Mark 4.41; Luke 9.9

Questions for Focus:

1. If any man makes a claim, should proof be demanded of him?

2. Should proof be demanded of Jesus for the claims He made?

3. Were people during the first century times gullible, un-investigative, and eager to accept any proposition without evidence?

4. What do we mean by "proof questions?"

5. What was Jesus' most startling revelation?

6. What similar question did the people of Christ's day ask about Him?

7. If Christ's motives were wrong, can you think of a wrong motive?

8. If Christ's motives were right, what is the conclusion we are forced to come to?

I. INTRODUCTION

 

1. What if there was a man who lived in your town who made certain claims? Such as...
   1. He could speak to a storm and make it calm.
   2. He could cause a paralytic man to walk by telling him to do so.
   3. He could speak to a prostitute and tell her that her sins were forgiven.
   4. He could speak to a man who had already been four days dead and bring him to life again.
2. Would such a man go unnoticed, or, would your fellow citizens be prone to ask "Who is this man."
3. In what ways are people characteristically the same all over the world?
   1. Are people generally inquisitive?
   2. Do people usually investigate claims made by their fellow citizens?
   3. Do people usually want proof or evidence that a thing is true or can anyone make any claim without question?
4. A modern day example: In the United States, March, 1993, a man called David Koresh, who lives in Waco, Texas, claimed "I am the Messiah". He also saw himself above the law. He began to stockpile military type weapons to "kill off all unbelievers." An entire group of his followers burned to death, men, women, and children. It has also been learned that he had eighteen wives and mistreated children.
   1. Should proof be demanded for his claims?
   2. What type of proof would you ask from David Koresh?
   3. What are some questions you would want him to answer?

II. THE IDENTITY OF JESUS MUST BE SETTLED!

1. What is our estimation of the identity of one who would make such claims about himself?
   1. At Caesarea Philippi the disciples encountered the question of His identity. Matthew 16.13
   2. As a master building must begin with His basic foundational stone to preserve the trustworthiness of the building, so anyone who would seek a true perception of Jesus person must do battle with this question.
2. What is the modern outlook as to his particularity?
   1. The best of great teachers...the inventor of Christianity...a penniless Galilean carpenter made good...one of the smarter Jewish messiahs...a Godly man with higher ethical standards than His peers and who was willing to die for them...the Son of the living God.
   2. Consider this quote from Professor C.S. Lewis of Oxford University in his book Mere Christianity, p. 40,41.

      I am really trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him:

      "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God."

      That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who said he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

   3. His identity was the discussion on every tongue.
      1. Mark 4.41 - His disciples, upon seeing the wind and the sea lie at His feet like an obedient dog, asked: "Who is He?"
      2. Matthew 16.13 - His disciples recount the perception of the people of their day.
      3. Luke 5.21 - The scribes and the pharisees were baffled at His claimed power over disease and sin (7.49).
      4. Luke 9.9 - Even Herod, the country's highest government official was perplexed.
      5. Luke 23.3 - Pilate, a true government official, wants to hear it from the witness' own mouth (23.23).
   4. Jesus accepted the disciple's analysis as to His own person.
      1. Matthew 16.15-17 - He faced Peter with the issue of Christianity. "Who am I?"
      2. Jesus' congratulatory remark to Peter indicated His acceptance of the fisherman's identity of Him.
      3. John 20.26-29 - Jesus' acceptance of Thomas' statement of identity of Him is seen in two things:
         1. He did not censure the remark.
         2. He does not reprimand Thomas for calling Him God.
      4. Do honest, honorable, upstanding, ethical people accept worship that is not rightfully theirs?
         1. Explore Acts. 14.15; Revelation 22.9

    

   III. JESUS DRAMATIZED HIS CLAIMS BY USING MIRACLES

   1. In Scripture they are called by three terms:
      1. "signs"
      2. "wonders"
      3. "miracles"
   2. Note three unusual happenings which dramatized His claims:
      1. John 4.4f - The woman at the well.
         1. What got her attention? See verses 9,10,11,15,16-19.
         2. Note her growing awareness of His identity: See verses 9,15,19,25,29.
      2. John 6.1-13 - The feeding of the 5,000 people.
         1. Verses 5-9 - Note these things: 200 pennies worth of bread and five loaves and two fishes.
         2. The conclusion the onlookers came to - verse 14.
         3. The claim Jesus made - verse 35.
      3. John 19.1-9 - The man born blind (8.12).
         1. Verse 11 - What designation did the man give Jesus?
         2. Verse 17 - What did the man who was formerly blind call Jesus?
         3. Verse 38 - What conclusion did the people come to about Him as displayed in their behavior?
      4. Note the historian John's summation (20.30-31).

    

   IV. WHAT CONCLUSIONS SHALL WE DRAW FROM THE EVIDENCE?

   1. That He was a good moral man; the best of men in His day; a teacher of par excellence who loved people and taught high ethics?
      1. Remember what the Oxford Professor C.S. Lewis said? "...honest men don't lie about themselves..."
   2. Even those closest to Him could not escape the question of identity.
      1. Their conclusion was that He was indeed God's son.
   3. Since His identity was investigated by first century people who walked and talked with Him, did they not represent us in their investigation.
   4. Were His miracles investigated?
      1. Yes, openly investigated, even by His enemies.
      2. Yet, every day people, with nothing to gain, called Him "the Son of God."
      3. One can look at the records and see that these people carefully examined and thought out the evidence on hand. Their belief is gradual.
   5. Consider a final quote from C.S. Lewis:

      "Among these Jews there suddenly turn up a man who goes about talking as if He was God...He says He has always existed...Among Pantheists...anyone might say that He was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this was man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips"

      (Mere Christianity, p.40).
   6. What do you think?