Jesus Is The Christ

As we are being challenged to read and study the book of John, I wanted to share some of my personal sermon notes with you to help you understand the book. I preached through the entire book over the course of 1 year when I pastored First Baptist Church Del Rio. Enjoy!

Introduction—Who is Jesus? No really, who is Jesus? That really depends on who you ask. I want to share a few Jesus’ that are circulating out and about. Here is the list:

There’s Conservative Jesus—who is against tax increases and activist judges, for family values and owning firearms.

There’s Liberal Jesus—who is against Wall Street and Wal-Mart, for reducing our carbon footprint and printing money.

There’s Therapist Jesus—who helps us cope with life’s problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves.

There’s Starbucks Jesus—who drinks fair trade coffee, loves spiritual conversations, drives a hybrid car, and goes to film festivals.

There’s Open-minded Jesus—who loves everyone all the time no matter what (except for people who are not as open-minded as you).

There’s Touchdown Jesus—who helps athletes run faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes of Super Bowls.

There’s Martyr Jesus—a good man who died a cruel death so we can feel sorry for Him.

There’s Gentle Jesus—who was meek and mild, with high cheek bones, flowing hair, and walks around barefoot, wearing a sash (while looking very German).

There’s Hippie Jesus—who teaches everyone to give peace a chance, imagines a world without religion, and helps us remember that “all you need is love.”

There’s Yuppie Jesus—who encourages us to reach our full potential, reach for the stars, and buy a boat.

There’s Spirituality Jesus—who hates religion, churches, pastors, priests, and doctrine, and would rather have people out in nature, finding “the god within” while listening to ambiguously spiritual music.

There’s Revolutionary Jesus—who teaches us to rebel against the status quo, stick it to the man, and blame things on “the system.”

There’s Guru Jesus—a wise, inspirational teacher who believes in you and helps you find your center.

There’s Boyfriend Jesus—who wraps his arms around us as we sing about his intoxicating love in our secret place.

There’s Good Example Jesus—who shows you how to help people, change the planet, and become a better you.

Today I want us to examine the Real Jesus, the One who claims to be The Christ. He is not Prophet Jesus, Christmas Jesus, Easter Jesus, Rabbi Jesus, Churchy Jesus, Cool Popular Jesus, or any other label we can place on Him. No, I’m talking about Jesus the Christ: The King of kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Messiah. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

Read—John 7:25-44

At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” 30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Pray

Jesus the Truth—verses 25-30
Truth. What is the definition of truth? Webster defines truth like this: 1. The real facts about something. 2. The things that are true. 3. The quality or state of being true. 4. A statement or idea that is true or accepted as true
Webster did a pretty good job, I think. I can live with 90% of those 4 definitions. They are almost all true, no pun intended. 1. Real facts are a good place to start. We need to know the facts to if something is true. 2. Webster then states as a definition the things that are true. I can definitely accept that definition. 3. The state of being true. I really like this one because this definition makes you think, what? State of being true. This is not past tense or future tense, but an “is” tense or “is-ness.” It is constant, now, or continual. I believe this is where God is. He is in a state of always, or constant, or “is-ness.” He is the Great I Am. That is True. The only part I don’t agree with Webster in the 4^th definition is accepted as true. Many things that are accepted as true aren’t really true.
Truth is important when it comes to Jesus. Jesus is one of the most misinterpreted, misquoted, misunderstood, mistreated person on the planet. He is thrown under the bus more than He is worshipped. Jesus only claimed to the Truth, and we are received that since He is God Himself.
Now with that in mind, lets look back at our text. In verses 25-29, a dialog is taking place and once again, others are trying to identify who Jesus is. They say, “Isn’t He the man we are trying to kill?” I could here someone else say, “Yep. He be the one.” They continue and say, “There He is speaking in public, and no one is saying anything.” No one is trying to stop Him.
Then here comes the unique part of the conversation. In verse 26, the question is posed, “have the authorities really concluded the that he is the Messiah?” I sense that it has really messed up their mind and their respect for these authorities. Who are the authorities? The religious rulers who are the highly educated in the Law of the Prophets. They have studied about the coming Messiah for years.
That is where the problem comes in. Not because they studied, no that is what we are supposed to do. But because the studying never led to fulfillment. They had in their mind what they believed to be the truth, and nothing was going to change it. Not even when Messiah was right under their nose. Funny thing about what we believe to the truth and what actually is the truth.
Our well meaning families told us things that were never true, but they never attempted to qualify what the truth really is. Myths, traditions, and outright lies become the norm. Then when the Christ comes face to face with you and says to you, it is I, the real Jesus, we cower back into what we have been told because the Truth challenges everything we are.
That is what is going on in our text of Scripture today. The people are facing a challenge to everything that goes against what they were taught.
Had the authorities changed their minds? Had they come to their senses and made a decision that Jesus is the Christ? Did the call a special business meeting and vote rather or not that it is true?
Here Jesus was speaking without fear and the big wigs weren’t doing anything about it.
The conversation goes on and they realize that there is no way Jesus could actually be the Messiah. They come to this conclusion because they say they know where Jesus is from, and according to Micah 5:2.
Jesus always has the right response, statement, and challenge. Jesus says, you know me, and you know where I am from. The way the original writings interpret this passage is really in the form of a question. You know me and where I am from, do you?
This crowd only knew that he was from Nazareth and he was the son of Joseph and Mary.
Jesus reiterates His truth. My origin is from God and my commission comes from Him in verse 28-29.
In verse 30, the attempt is made to seize Jesus, but because God’s protection was over Him and the timing wasn’t right, Jesus was untouched. Have you ever prayed for God to place a hedge of protection around you? Job 1:8 is where this comes from. God will protect you as we see from this verse.
Believe in Jesus the Truth.

Illustration—Here are some “supposed” facts that aren’t true at all.

Swallowing gum stays in your body for 7 years. False, it hangs around at the longest for a week.
Your hair and nails continue to grow after you die. False, they decay along with the rest of the body.
Hats keep in heat since you lose 90% of your body heat through the top of your head. False, you only lose about 10%, so a hat may help some.
Cracking your knuckles regularly can give you arthritis as you age. False, the popping you hear is actually gad that is trapped between your joints. You will lose some of your gripping power.
Lastly, the 5 second rule. Bacteria will respect the 5 second rule. False, floors are nasty even when clean, so if it hits the floor throw it away.

Sometimes we have been told myths, rumors, and religiosity about Jesus.

Application—Do you believe the Bible as your authority about the truth of Jesus?

Jesus the Promise—verses 31-36
Jesus is the Promised Christ.
What does Christ mean? Is it Jesus last name? After all we use the name Jesus Christ as if it is His first and last name. Christ is Jesus’ title, which comes form the Greek word “Christos.” He is the Christ, or Messiah, or loosely interpreted “anointed one.”
The world loves promises. They are made all the time
Peanuts-Lucy and Linus watching the rain through the window. Lucy says to Linus, “What if rained so much that it flooded the whole world?” Linus promptly said, “It won’t.” Lucy said, “How do you know that?” Linus said, “God promised us it wouldn’t in Gen 9. After the flood, he gave us the rainbow as a promise that it never happen again.” Lucy now relieved says, “Linus, you have taken a great load off my mind.” Linus replies, “sound theology will do that.”
We need sound theological teaching today. Jesus is our promised messiah and He was the greatest theologian, and we need His Word to penetrate our lives.
In verse 31, many believed that Jesus was the promised One. Although, not sure of exactly what that meant, they could only equate Jesus with miracles. If Jesus performs miracles, then He must be the Christ. Sound familiar? We are at times in this same state of mind. We believe in Jesus as long as he performs. We must be careful since throughout the Bible, miracles happened for a specific purpose, therefore, if we are going to base our belief of the Jesus the Promised One only on what we see Him do, we are going to be disappointed. He has done all that he can do. There is nothing left for Him to perform on our behalf. He can if he chooses to, but since He has already done the impossible by making it possible, then lets stick with what the truth of the Scriptures say.
The verses say in 32-36, that Jesus will go to a place that we cannot go or find Him. His alluding to the Cross left people stunned or confused. They were only thinking with their regular minds and not with their spiritual minds. Jesus was always in a spiritual state, so we must believe Him and know that He will never lead us in the wrong direction.

Illustration—Many of us that are married made promises during our wedding vows. We promised to love, cherish, encourage, provide, and the list goes on and on. But one of the greatest promises that we made and seem to break is the promise to be there for our spouses in the good times and in the bad times; in sickness and in health. What ends up happening is that we might not have really believed what we were saying, so when the challenge came into the marriage, the promise was broken. We serve a God who has promised us that He would fight for us to the end, that He would never leave us, and that He would never forget us. He is not like man, He doesn’t break His promises. If you are hear today, and have had your promises broken, God says I can heal you from all your heartaches. I will be there for you as I have promised.

Application—The Bible is full of God’s promises. Do you believe them?

Jesus the One and Only—verses 37-44
Jesus announces His Deity to the crowd at the best time possible, during the final procession of the 8 day celebration. Anyone can come to me and have your thirst quenched. Jesus was offering His Messiahship to the world.
This particular passage is so important because as the Festival of Tabernacles, there was a drawing of water from the pool of Siloam, in which the passage from Isaiah 12:3 was quoted, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
Now the passage has come to life. Jesus was not just God’s provision for thirsty people who wandered around in the wilderness, as they were celebrated, but He was the eternal spring of water from the well that they claimed they believed.
Jesus then states in verse 38, if you would believe in Him, He would give you this eternal living waster. No more rituals, no more traditions, but the real living water manifested through you in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Even through the offering of life everlasting, people still were unsure as we read in the remaining verses (40-44)
You see, Jesus offering is still available as if He were standing here today in this very room, and some will still say, that’s nice. I am glad for you Jesus. You are so kind to offer.
Don’t leave here today saying Jesus you are a good prophet, or Jesus you are a great teacher. Leave here today saying, “Jesus, you are the Christ!”

Application—If you want to experience God in your own personal life we must believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only. Do you believe that today?

Conclusion—Jesus the Christ has come, Jesus the Christ has risen, and Jesus the Christ will come again. He is the Truth without exception, He is the Promised One from the Beginning, and He is the One and the Only Christ. There will not be another Messiah. Accept the Word of God today so that you can live your life for God and those within your sphere of influence can come to know and understand Him as their personal Lord and Savior.

Stay in the Light, 1 John 1:7,

Pastor Larry