Jesus' Claim About Himself

  • January 29, 2012
  • Speaker: Pastor Aaron Smith
  • Series: Self-Revelation
  • Category: Topical

     God has revealed Himself through the Son, Jesus Christ.  We believe, teach, and confess that He is the Incarnate Son of God.  He suffered, died, and was buried.  Three days later He rose from the dead.  How do we know all this?  Well, by faith given to us by the Holy Spirit in our baptisms and through the preaching of the Word of Christ, the Gospel.  Yet, there is empirical evidence of Jesus' life for God works in history.  

     We have seen God working in history.  We have seen that the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are eyewitness testimonies of the events of Jesus' earthly life.  We have seen that there was about 25 years between those events and the recording of those events in the Gospels.  We have seen that the New Testament documents are very reliable.  The sheer amount of manuscripts far outweighs anything else from antiquity.  The alleged errors are not what they are made out to be (see sermon two in this series, The Manuscripts).  So, what do the Gospel writings say about Jesus?  Who did Jesus claim to be?  And how did He demonstrate that claim?

    Today, we will address the question: Who did Jesus claim to be?  In short, Jesus claimed to be God Incarnate.  This may not cause any alarm or surprise among us here today, but this is denied by many people.  Both organized religions, such as the Jehovah's Wintesses, and the non-religious deny that Jesus ever claimed to be God Incarnate.  So, having established the credibility and reliability of the Gospels, we go to them for Jesus' claims about Himself.  

     And this is very important for us Christians.  Most of us have our favorite Bible verses.  They could be our baptismal or confirmation verses.  They could be our life verses or ones that we pull out when we are in great need of guidance or reassurance.  But we also need verses at hand that proclaim central Christian doctrines.  We need to have those verses ready and available as well.  We need to know those verses and those stories well.  We need to call those to mind when challenged to "give a reason for the hope that we have."  I challenge you here today to learn those verses and be at the ready before you give the answer, "Well, I'm not really sure.  It's in the Bible somewhere."

     The first section of Scripture comes from Mark 2:1-12.  The famous story of Jesus healing the paralytic.  You know the story.  There is such a crowd around Jesus that the four friends cannot get their paralytic friend to Jesus for healing.  So, they lower him down through the roof.  Jesus says, "Son, your sins are forgiven."  And the scribes in the back of the room begin to mumble within themselves, "He is blaspheming.  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  Of course, the scribes were right.  These scribes were Old Testament scholars in the line of Ezra.  They knew that there are three Hebrew words for sin: (translated) sin, transgression, and iniquity.  They knew that each time the verb "forgive" was used with any of these words for sin, the was only one subject for that verb: God.  The Old Testament was clear: only God can forgive sins!  Jesus knows what they are thinking and feeling, so He says, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'?"  I repeat, Jesus says, "Which is easier to say?"  Of course, it is easier to say 'Your sins are forgiven' because you cannot see sins forgiven.  But you can see some take up their bed and walk!  Jesus continues, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home."  And the man "picked up his bed and went out before them all."  The implication: I can forgive sins because I am God.  Jesus claims for Himself what only God can do: forgive sins.  

     The second section of Scripture comes from John 8:51-59.  Jesus is dialoguing with the Jews about Abraham.  Jesus says, "If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death."  (Quite a claim itself!)  "Now we know you have a demon!" (Can you imagine telling Jesus He has a demon?!  Anyway...)  "Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?  Who do you make yourself out to be?"  This is a direct question from the Jews: Who do you claim to be, Jesus?  Jesus replies, "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.  He saw it and was glad."  Imagine that!  Jesus saying that, thousands of years ago, Abraham was looking forward to when Jesus would walk the earth!  They replied, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"  "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."  What a statement!  Jesus' claim is very clear in His choice of words.  We would expect Jesus to say, "Before Abraham was, I was."  But Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I am."  Jesus very deliberately turns the Jews attention to the well-known narrative of Moses and the burning bush.  Moses asks God, "And they ask me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"  God replies, "I am who I am...Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'"   Jesus is claiming to be the very God who was in, with, and under the burning bush.  The implication: Yes, I am greater than Abraham because I am Yahweh.  And this was not lost on the Jews.  There are ramifications for saying you are God Incarnate.  Good Jews - and Jesus was a Jew - do not claim to be deity.  So, verse 59, "They picked up stones to throw at him."  This is what happens to people who claim to be God.  They get stoned.  

     The third section of Scripture is our Gospel reading for today from Mark 14:53-64.  This is Jesus before the chief priests, elders, and the scribes.  Mark writes, "For many bore false witness about him, but their testimony did not agree."  The high priest asks Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  "I am," Jesus replies, "and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Mark writes, "And the high priest tore his garments and said, 'You have heard his blasphemy.'"  Jesus again refers to Himself as "I am" and says that He is the One of whom Psalm 110 and Daniel 7:13 speak.  He is Yahweh.  He is The Lord, The King, The Priest (Psalm 110).  He is The Judge, The Eschatological Warrior (Daniel 7:13).  He is the One whom the Old Testament claimed would come.  This was not lost on the high priest - He tore his garments and exclaimed, "You have heard his blasphemy."  The "you" here is the chief priests, elders, and scribes.  

     So, Jesus claimed to be God Incarnate.  His claim was certainly understood by those who heard Him.  Yet, anyone can claim anything, can they not?  Consider the story of the employee of an insane asylum.  This employee kept seeing a client walking around the main hall with his hand tucked inside his coat.  The employee asked the man, "And you...who are you?"  "Well, Napolean, of course."  "And how do you know?"  The man replied, "God told me."  And a voice from the other end of the hall exclaimed, "I did not!"  

     You see, anyone can claim anything.  Jesus claimed to be God Incarnate. But how did He demonstrate this claim?  We look at this next week.