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February 4, 2007
John 4:23
Who is Jesus?
Who
Is Jesus? Sooner or later,
everyone who hears about Jesus of Nazareth has to answer this question.
There have been many answers down through the centuries, but the
one that is best known and most surprising is the answer of the Church,
that He is the revelation of God, who came into this world to bring us the
way of truth and life. It is
shocking, to those who seriously consider this view, to think that God
would actually become flesh, and bear in that flesh the cost of our sin.
Equally shocking is the fact that those who knew Him best were
willing to suffer torture and death because they actually believed this
was true. Why did they
believe it? Why did they
cling to this idea even after Christ’s death and burial?
Why were they willing to sacrifice all things, including life
itself, for this belief? What
is it about Jesus which inspired, and continues to inspire, such devotion
today? To answer these
questions let us look to the words of one who knew and followed Jesus.
St. John was one of the twelve original disciples, and is well
known for being especially close to Christ during His ministry. He wrote his Gospel to record the life and teachings of Jesus
in such a way that those reading his book would be able to make up their
own minds, and to answer these questions for themselves. He was especially concerned
to help us answer the important
question: who is Jesus?
There
are three events in the passage that begins in John 1:35 and ends in John
2:23, that will help anyone who seriously wants to know the answer to this
question. These events are
the words and actions of Jesus Himself, recorded by eyewitnesses.
They show Jesus asserting authority, knowledge, and power that seem
to be beyond the scope of natural human ability.
The first is found in chapter 1, beginning with the 35th
verse. The event is the
calling of four men to become Christ’s disciples.
Andrew is the first. He
became a follower of Jesus when he heard John the Baptist say of Christ,
“Behold,
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.”
But
following Jesus was not enough. Convinced
he had met the Messiah, Andrew brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus too.
Peter, of course, would become an important leader in the Church,
and an influence for much good in the world.
But at that moment he was an unbeliever coming to see what his
brother was so excited about. When
they found Jesus, the Lord turned to Peter and said,
“Thou
art Simon, the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas.”
The
Greek translation of “Cephas” has been Anglicanised into “Peter,”
meaning “rock.”
The
next disciple was named Phillip. Phillip
was in the village of Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus found
him and said to him, “Follow me.”
Phillip, also convinced that Jesus was the Messiah went to
Nathanael and said,
“We
have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Those
were strong words. Phillip
was telling Nathanael that the One foretold by ancient prophets, including
Moses, had finally come. The
One who would change the world and divide time had arrived, and His name
was Jesus. Phillip believed
this, but Nathanael was skeptical. He
was slow to give allegiance to any, so-called messiah, for many had come
claiming to be the One. The
Jews had followed many of them, only to have their hopes cruelly dashed.
Why should this one be any different?
“Can
there any good thing come out
of Nazareth?”
he
asked. But Phillip persisted, and finally Nathanael went.
He went to Jesus and found in Him One who knew his innermost
thoughts. How did Jesus know
so much about Nathanael? He
had never met him, never had a conversation with him. The whole point of this passage is that the two were
strangers to each other. Yet
Jesus said,
“Before … Phillip
called thee, when thou wast under the tree, I saw thee.”
How
did Jesus “see” Nathanael? Not
with His physical eyes. Not
with the eyes of flesh. How
can a man see and hear things when he is not
within seeing and hearing distance?
Man can’t! That’s
the point! There can be only one conclusion. Jesus saw Nathanael with the eyes of God, who sees all.
Jesus heard Nathanael with the ears of God, who hears all.
The
second event is found in John 2: 1-11.
Jesus was at a wedding. You
know the story. The wine ran
out, and He turned the water into wine.
Mary, His “mother” came to Him, telling Him the wine was gone. Why did she come to Him?
She knew He was special. She
did not quite understand Him or His mission, but she knew He could do
something about the wine, and He did.
This was no sleight of hand trick.
This was not “smoke and mirrors.”
Nor was it made public. Jesus
did not call the servants to bring the water jugs to the center of the
crowd, and, with much drama and show, produce the wine.
He did it secretly. Yet
His disciples knew, and they believed in Him because of it.
Again we must ask the obvious question, who can do such things?
Who can turn water into wine?
Man can’t do it. That, again, is the point.
The
third event is popularly known as the cleansing of the Temple.
Pilgrims to the Jewish feasts often had to walk very long
distances, so it was inconvenient to bring lambs and doves with them to
offer in the Temple. Therefore
many enterprising people made a living selling such animals to the
pilgrims. They also exchanged
foreign money for Hebrew money, which could be offered in the Temple.
This was a legitimate business.
The problem was not what the merchants did, but where
they did it. The
“where” was the court of the Gentiles; the place set apart for
Gentiles, who had not converted to Judaism, to worship God.
Jesus ran the merchants out of the Temple, and in doing so He said
something that shocked people even more than His actions in the Temple.
“Make
not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”
Did
you catch that? “My Father’s house.”
Now
the issue here is simple: what gave Jesus the right, or, authority, to
take that action? He was not
a priest. He was not a
Pharisee. He was not a member
of the religious leaders who made such decisions.
He was a poor carpenter from Galilee.
He was from Nazareth, a place known for “sinners.”
Humanly speaking, He had no authority to say anything to those
merchants. Yet they fled
before His wrath. They
scattered to the winds, leaving money and tables and animals behind.
It must have been pandemonium; frightened sheep stampeding through
the Temple, frightened men tripping over tables, angry priests uselessly
trying to restore order. Humanly
speaking, Jesus had no power to cause all that fuss.
Again, that is the point.
So,
if no man can see and hear people outside of the physical limits of human
eyes and ears; and if no man can turn water into wine, instantaneously and
without even touching the jars; and if no man can march into the Temple
and strike fear into the hearts of the merchants, and cleanse it, without
having human authority; if no man can do these things, yet Jesus did them,
who is Jesus? If only God can
do these things, then is Jesus God? Again,
that’s the point. And John
is making this point for one reason, that you and I might believe in
Jesus, just as he did.
In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity
Anglican Church,
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