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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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The Faith Jesus Gave Us |
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John 12:44-50 Fourth
Sunday After Easter April 20, 2008 If Christianity evolved it’s doctrines over the course of many centuries, we would expect to be able to trace some of it’s evolution in the pages of the New Testament. Instead of an evolving faith, however, the New Testament shows the mature Christian faith, right from the start. Thus, we know that what we believe is exactly what the Apostles believed. Nor did this faith originate with the Apostles. The New Testament clearly shows that the doctrines they taught, doctrines like the deity of Christ, and the atoning sacrifice of Christ were an integral part of the teachings of Christ Himself. So this raises two questions. First, do Christ’s teachings fit the Old Testament? He claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament, so can we find Him in it’s pages? Second, is He indeed the person He said He was? We will leave the first question for another time, but the second question is the heart of the New Testament reading from John 12 this morning, so let’s talk about it for a while. We can summarize the verses into something like this: first, see Jesus, see God. Second, hear Jesus, hear God. Third, hear Jesus, have eternal life.
See Jesus, see God. Everything we believe and do as Christians, not to mention our eternal destiny depends on the answer to one basic question, who is Jesus? To answer that question I call on the testimony of a man who lived during Jesus’ time, and knew Jesus better than any other person on earth. This person was one of the Twelve called to be with Jesus during His earthly ministry. He saw the miracle at Cana. He saw the storm made still, the sick made well, and the dead made alive. He heard the teaching and sermons of Jesus, and he saw Jesus’ life up close. He was one of an even smaller group of disciples called the “inner circle.” These few men were often called apart from the Twelve and given special instruction and revelation. For example, this man was on the mountain when Jesus was Transfigured. He was one of the few who heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved son, hear Him.” This man stood at the foot of the cross and saw Jesus die. This man was the first of the Apostles to see the empty tomb. This man was so close to Jesus he was called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” His name was John, and John wrote a book about the life of Jesus we call the Gospel of John. This book had two main points. First, Jesus is God. He is not a god, He is The God. He is not a son of God, He is The Son of God. He is God in human form. He is the word who is The God and became flesh. He and The God are one. This is the heart of Jesus’ message. This is what He believed, and this is why they crucified Him. If He isn’t God, He is a blasphemer. If He isn’t God He is lying, or He is crazy, but He claimed to be God. “He that seeth me seeth him that sent me,” He said in John 12:44. He was willing to die for that claim. John believed Jesus is God. He believed that if we see Jesus, we see God.
This means that to hear
Jesus is to hear God. “I have spoken not of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak,” (Jn. 12:49), Jesus said. He meant that when He addresses people, God is addressing us. When Jesus says, “this is truth,” or “this is right,” or “”this is wrong,” or, “”this is the meaning of life,” or, “this is the way to get the most out of life,” He is not just another philosopher or theologian giving another human opinion. He is not just taking “a shot in the dark.” He is The God, the ground of our being, our creator and sustainer, creator of the universe, who knows our frame, our desires and hopes and needs. Thus, He is not giving an opinion, He is stating fact. He knows. Hear Jesus, have life. I said a few moments ago that John’s Gospel has two main points, but I didn’t get to the second point did I? This is it; believe in Jesus, and God will give you eternal life. Eternal life does not just mean existence that lasts forever. It means real life, life as only the Eternal One can give it. Some of you are old enough to remember the song, “I Gotta Be Me.” I think it was done by Sammy Davis or someone of that genre. One of the lines says something like, “I want to live, not merely exist.” That’s what God is promising us, though His view of really living is a little different from Sammy Davis junior's. God is saying that all the things we really want, and don’t even know we want them, and all the things we need and don’t even know we need them, are free for the asking. He will give them to us. We call these things, “Heaven.” Jesus came to give us Heaven. We know He can give it, because, unlike all the other philosophers and theologians and religious teachers and messiahs, Jesus died and lives again. Let us pray. Holy God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teach us to trust in Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, that in Him we may find life. Amen The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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