*Sorry, no audio this week. *
One of the people in that video, the artist, Makoto Fujimura said that at one point in his life Jesus became real to him. He said, “This historic figure was no longer just this historical figure… and he wanted to reveal himself to me in a way I could understand.” The author, Eric Metaxas, make some logical statements about Jesus and then said, “But there’s more to this than logic. Believing that Jesus is God is one of those things that at the end of the day, God has to… reveal it.”
I believe both of those statements are true. Christianity has a logical consistency, a good argument behind it, based not only in scripture and philosophy and faith, but also on eyewitnesses, historical evidence, archeological consistency, textual stability, and more. The story of Jesus, the person of Jesus, when looked into from clinical, apologetic, evidence-based, even scientific viewpoint, holds up to scrutiny – but at the same time, because of the hardness of our hearts, our love for sin, and the work of the Enemy, that evidence is never enough.
No one is ever convinced or argued into the Kingdom of God. You can’t walk up to someone who hates God, loves sin, hates the church, show them a pile of solid proofs about who Jesus is, and suddenly have them repent and follow Jesus. People can look at all the proof in the world, read every line of the Bible, know dozens of Christians, and listen to weeks and weeks of sermons, but if their heart is turned away from God, it’ll never be enough to cause them to repent. Faith and repentance, becoming a Christian, requires a movement of the Holy Spirit in their heart that cannot be manufactured with any level of convincing conversation.
That doesn’t mean that apologetics and good scholarship and archeology and study bibles and aren’t important. It means it isn’t enough.
Jesus, the Stumbling Block
Why? Because the person of Jesus, the nature of Jesus, the true, historical Jesus, is a stumbling block. This is why people keep trying to craft different Jesus’s for themselves and their own religions. So they can create a more easily understood, more malleable, more consumer-friendly, more simplistic version of Jesus that doesn’t offend or confuse people. They remove parts of who He claimed to be – His divinity or His humanity, His compassion or His anger, His love for sinners or His vengeance against them – because one of those pictures don’t line up to whom they want Jesus to be.
Turn with me to Matthew 21:23-27. This event occurs during Passion Week, the last week before Jesus is crucified. Everything in Jesus’ life is turned up to 11. We see more preaching, more teaching, more confrontations, more explanations of His mission, and more people trying to kill Him. In today’s passage, we are on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday or the Triumphal Entry, and the opposition is really starting to heat up.
Jesus has spent Monday night with some friends in the town of Bethany, a couple kilometres from Jerusalem. He had a busy Monday where, while he was walking back to Jerusalem in the morning to teach, he was looking for some breakfast and passed a fig tree full of leaves. He expected to find some little buds to eat, but there was nothing there. Just leaves. He cursed the tree and kept walking. Why did he curse it? It was a parable to teach his disciples about the city of Jerusalem, especially the temple. The tree had the look of health and fruitfulness, but it was actually worthless. In the same way, Jerusalem looked like a fruitful, worshipping city with a temple dedicated to God – but there was nothing under the surface. It was a hollow, dead, fruitless temple, with a hollow, dead, fruitless religion.
As he entered the city He and the disciples saw the parable come to life. Jesus came to teach and worship and found part of the temple full of corrupt money changers and salesman profiting off the poor pilgrims. He drove them all out by force and began to heal the blind and the lame. This infuriated the Jewish leaders, but they couldn’t do anything because of the crowds. Jesus stayed for a while and left to spend the night in Bethany again.
The next day they walked past the same fig tree and saw it withered and dead. Jesus had removed the hypocrisy of the false growth and shown what good the tree really was so no one would ever mistake it for being fruitful again. Another picture of Jerusalem. They walked to the temple and once again saw the parable come to life. Before Jesus is able to do anything else, the group of Jewish leaders were waiting to confront him.
It says in verse 23,
“And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’”
Notice that we’re back to the question we’ve been asking for weeks now, “Who is Jesus?” The chief priests and elders are indignant with Jesus and say, “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to come in here, drive people out of the temple, teach different things that we do, go against our traditions, make us look like fools, and cause a bunch of people to call out and worship you? Only a great prophet like Elijah could have that authority. Only someone who comes in the name of God with the power of God would be allowed to do that! And we know you can’t be from God because you’re not following our traditions and doing what we tell you to do…”
Jesus, as usual, doesn’t give them a straight answer because it wouldn’t have made any difference. They weren’t asking Him to learn, they were trying to trap Him so they could have an excuse to stone Him to death. So Jesus shows everyone, especially His disciples, how much like the fig tree they really were. He implies that He has the same authority as John the Baptist and asks what they thought of him. Everyone knew that as popular as John was, these Jewish leaders hated him and refused to listen to His message. But the Jewish leaders knew that almost everyone around them believed John to be a real prophet. Jesus turned their trap against them. How did he do that?
Because they were forced at that moment to either declare that John the Baptist and Jesus were either from God and therefore to be obeyed (meaning that in rejecting them, these leaders had rejected God) – or say that Jesus and John were merely human and a couple of liars who had defrauded all the people (therefore implying that the crowds had rejected God by following false prophets).
Here’s the thing, this is the same choice that everyone who is confronted by Jesus is given. Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord? And everything changes depending on that answer. The answer to that question sets a person’s entire worldview. All a person’s decisions, hopes, dreams, and plans are filtered through that question. How they see the origins of the universe, the problems of the day, and how they react to crisis and blessing, all depend on answering that question. Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord?
Liar, Lunatic or Lord?
Theologians call this the “trilemma” and it’s an argument that goes back a long time. It goes like this (and you heard it referenced in that video): If Jesus claimed to be God, but knew He wasn’t and was just saying that to manipulate people, gain followers, become popular, or for whatever reason – then He was a liar. Nothing He says should be trusted. Hundreds, thousands, and up to today, billions of people claim to put their faith in Jesus as God, as Saviour, as the one who saves them. They pray to Him, believe Him, and change their whole lives based on His claims. But if He knew He wasn’t God and was a liar, then it is one of the worst lies in history. He shouldn’t be counted as a great moral teacher, but a moral monster. And everyone who trusts him is a naïve, fool who believes a great and terrible lie.
But, if Jesus claimed to be God, and actually believed it, but wasn’t, then He’s a madman. If someone came to you and said they were God, perfect and powerful in every way, a deity in human flesh, and they really believed it – told a bunch of people, gathered disciples, you’d assume they were crazy, right? And you’d assume anyone who believed Him was just as crazy. Anyone who would follow a man saying he’s God, even to the point of facing torture and death, giving up their time, money, abilities, and freedom to whatever He says, must either be utterly stupid or totally insane. So that’s option 2. Jesus and all His followers are nuts.
Or there’s option 3. Jesus is exactly who He says He is. He is very the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the only Saviour of Mankind, one with the Father. He is, as the Nicene Creed says,
“Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.”
There are no in-betweens there. He is either God or He isn’t. You can’t have Jesus as a great moral example if He, and by extension, His followers are the perpetrators of the greatest lie in history. You can’t have Jesus as a great teacher if He is one of the most insane people in history. You either dismiss Him as a liar or a lunatic, or you worship Him as Lord.
HC:LD14 – Confessing the Real Jesus
This is the question raised in the Heidelberg Catechism today. It’s based on the third statement of the Apostles Creed. The Heidelberg, in question 35 asks the question,
“What do you confess when you say: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary?”
and answers it,
“The eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon himself true human nature from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, through the working of the Holy Spirit. Thus he is also the true seed of David, and like his brothers in every respect, yet without sin.”
Consider the gravity of those two statements! That Jesus did not have a human father, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God Himself, but born as a very human baby to a young woman named Mary who had never known a man (Matthew 1:18). That means He is not just another guy, however special and talented He was. It means Jesus is the Son of God (Matthew 17:5, Luke 1:35; Matthew 16:17, 8:29; Romans 1:1-3), the incarnation of God (John 1:1-14; Phil 2:5-11; Matthew 1:23; Col 2:9-10). It means that even though Jesus was no longer in Heaven, while He walked the earth He still contained the very nature of God, the power of God, the authority of God. It meant that Jesus was not only of the Son of God but of the Lineage of the human King David (Matthew 1:1, 12:23, 15:22, 21:9), of the tribe of Judah, heir to the throne of Israel, and had the right and power to overthrow Herod and Rome. It meant that He was the embodiment of all the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the very author of not only the Law of Moses and the entire Bible, but every strand of DNA in every human being – and creator of everything in existence (John 1, Matthew 5-7, John 8:48-59). It means that when Jesus speaks, it isn’t merely a good idea, an interesting message, a powerful teaching – it is the very words of God, perfect in authority – greater than Elijah or Moses or Solomon, greater than any other priest, prophet or king, of any religion, in any place, for all time (Hebrews 1-3, 7-10). When He says something, it happens. When He curses something, it is cursed. When He forgives someone, they are totally forgiven (Mark 2:1-12). It means that Jesus wasn’t born under the curse of Adam because He was not a child of Adam and would therefore have no sinful nature. He would be a new Adam, faced not with one bad option in the tree of knowledge, but surrounded by a world steeped in Sin, overrun by the enemy, temptations on every side, facing weakness, sickness, pain, betrayal and death – and yet faced them all perfectly, remaining pure and holy for His entire life. (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15)
Which means that there is no one else in all existence like Jesus. He is the perfect prophet (knowing God’s thoughts perfectly because He is God), the perfect priest (sinless, ageless, yet tempted in all the ways we are, and the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins) and the perfect king (will never die or be overthrown, with the very authority and power of God).
That statement from Jesus, His followers, this creed, and our church, is a massive claim, but it’s what we believe. And it doesn’t leave wiggle room. I won’t go through them all here, but when I post this sermon, I’ll footnote a bunch of supporting scriptures for you to look up.
Agnosticism: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
So, back to our text. Jesus has just asked these Jewish leaders about where John the Baptist’s authority comes from and it says in verse 25,
“And they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’”
These people didn’t even care which answer was right – they were afraid of either answer. Today, we might use the term agnostic and it’s where a lot of people get stuck because they don’t want to choose. They like the idea of Jesus as a moral teacher and they can’t argue with the historical or textual proofs. They don’t want to call Jesus a liar or a lunatic. When they look into it they see there are good arguments, compelling evidence, actual good scholarship – but they know there’s a consequence to making a choice. It means they have to call Him “Lord” – and they’re not prepared to do that. So they ride the fence.
Look at question 36 of the Heidelberg.
“What benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?”
In other words, “So what? What good does it do you to believe all these claims about Jesus? Why not just remain agnostic? Why not just play the middle ground and stay on the fence? Why not just say you think Jesus is a great guy, and say you believe in God, but not actually repent and make Jesus your Lord? Then you can have you cake and eat it too. It gets people off your case. You can say you’re a “spiritual person”. You can say you are a “believer” and people will leave you alone because they will rarely actually ask what you actually believe. So why not ride the fence?
The Heidelberg answers, Because
“He is our Mediator, and with his innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, in which I was conceived and born.”
Jesus doesn’t let you sit on the fence. The Bible says that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” (1 Tim 2:5). No other. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23) and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22) and that it will either be our death and our blood, or the death and blood of Jesus that will determine where we spend eternity. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace…” We cannot sit on the fence, we cannot embrace agnosticism, because the claims of Jesus doesn’t allow us to – and the problem of death and eternity is something we must all face.
Conclusion
One thing that amazes me about Jesus is His patience. He lets people sit on the fence for much longer than I would if I were Him. In His love, He desires that many would be saved. He gives grace to the underserved and gives them the gift of time. He presents the truth to them but lets them spin their tires, play with idols, mess up their lives, develop addictions, ignore Him, insult Him and His people, and waits. He never lets them go though. He works in their hearts, their conscience, their lives, to try to bring them back to Him until they are utterly lost. And then He lets them hit bottom… and goes and finds them and offers again to save them.
He’s the shepherd, leaving the 99 to go and find His one lost sheep. He’s the father from the parable of the prodigal son, waiting with His eyes on the gate for His child to come home, ready to cover them, heal them, restore them, and celebrate with them. He’s far more patient than I am. But His patience is not forever. And so I say to you today, if God has been tugging at your heart to make a first time commitment to Jesus, admitting your sin and your need for a Saviour – or to come back to Jesus because you are in rebellion, don’t wait.
Don’t harden your heart like the Jewish leaders who stood before Jesus, saw the evidence, but refused to believe because they didn’t want to let Jesus be their Lord. Yes, there’s a cost. It will cost you everything. You’ll have to give up your sin, yourself, your future, your grudges, your addictions, your control, your finances, your toys, your family, your job – everything. Eventually, He will demand it all from you.
But today He merely asks the question, “Will you believe? Will you stop your arguments, stop making excuses, stop pretending you can’t hear me and let me in? Let me be your Lord, your God, your Saviour, and your Friend. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. My yoke is easier than the yoke you’re pulling. My burden is lighter than the one you’re carrying. My way is better than the way you are going (Matthew 11:28-30). Let me help you. Let me save you. Stop, turn around, and follow me.”
I’ll close with the words of Mark 8:34-38,
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”