Jeffrey C. Long

The following sermon was preached on Sunday December 18th, 2005 at Filer Mennonite Church

Who is Jesus?

Today there is still confusion about who Jesus is.

Pastor and author Max Lucado describes some of the weak views people have about Christ:

For some, Jesus is a good luck charm. The “Rabbit’s Foot [Messiah].” Pocket-sized. Handy. Easily packaged. Easily understood. Easily diagrammed. You can put his picture on your wall or you can stick it in your wallet as insurance. You can frame him. Dangle him from your rear view mirror or glue him to your dashboard.

His specialty? Getting you out of a jam. Need a parking place? Rub the redeemer. Need help on a quiz? Pull out the rabbit’s foot. No need to have a relationship with him. No need to love him. Just keep him in your pocket next to your four-leaf clover.

For many he’s an “Aladdin’s Lamp [Messiah].” New jobs. Pink Cadillacs. New and improved spouses. Your wish is his command. And what’s more, he conveniently reenters the lamp when you don’t want him around.

For others, Jesus is a “Monty Hall [Messiah].” “All right, Jesus, let’s make a deal. For 52 Sundays a year, I’ll put on a costume—coat and tie, hat and hose—and I’ll endure any sermon you throw at me. In exchange, you give me the grace behind pearly gate number three.”

The Rabbit’s Foot [Messiah]. The Aladdin’s Lamp [Messiah]. The Monty Hall [Messiah]. Few demands, no challenges. No need for sacrifice. No need for commitment.

Sightless and heartless [Messiah]. [Messiahs] without power. That’s not the [Messiah] of the New Testament.

Max Lucado, Six Hours One Friday (W. Publishing, 2004), pp. 89–90; submitted by J. R. Love, Rushton, Louisiana

Today we’re going to learn that Jesus is a force to be reckoned with. He is not a passive feel-good Messiah. He is the promised King of Israel who reigns with authority from the right hand of God the Father.

First we’ll look at the political environment at the time of Jesus’ ministry and what the people were looking forward to. Then we’ll look at who Jesus was as king, and finally how we can live our life under His rule.

What were they hoping for?

In 1400 BC The people of Israel under the Joshua’s leadership conquer the land of Caanan and make it their home.

In 1004 BC David becomes the first godly king of Israel.

Isaiah study. We learn best when we own what we’re learning. When you are chasing after information.

Beginning with the Babylonians in 605BC, Israel lost it’s sovereignty. Fell under the leadership of other nations. First Babylon. Then Persia, and finally Rome.

They had been a nation in the land of Caanan for 800 years. And now, at the time of Jesus, they had been living under the rule of other nations for 500 years.

Put that in context, American has only been a nation for 225 years. Imagine if we were conquered by Germany in World War II, or by Russia during the cold war.

Imagine we were living without a congress. Without a president. Without a supreme court. The freedom to worship Jesus publically was taken away.

Now imagine you had been a nation for _8_ hundred years, and now been living under captivity for _5_ hundred years under the rulership of another nation.

This was Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth.

The one thing that kept them going was their hope for a Messiah. Messiah means “annointed one,” coming from many prophecies in the Old Testament. The greek word for Messiah is Christ. So it’s important to remember that when us the phrase Jesus Christ, we are meaning Jesus the Messiah. We are saying that all the prophecies that surrounded the Messiah, or annointed one were fulfilled in Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the prophecies of a King who would reign forever.

Let’s look at some of the scriptures that pointed to the coming of a Messiah. There are many, but I will read from 3.

2Samuel 7:16 God promised David 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before you: your throne shall be established forever.

Israel looked to this verse as hope that there would be a King that would come and regain the sovereignty of Israel.

Psalm 89: 1-4 1 I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever.

With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

2 I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever.

You established the heavens.

Your faithfulness is in them.”

3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David, my servant,

4 ‘I will establish your seed forever,

And build up your throne to all generations.’”

Daniel 9:25 25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.

So, this is the situation that Mary is in when suddenly an angel comes and visits her.

Turn to Luke 1:26-38

26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

29 But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be.

30 The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’

32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,

33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his kingdom.”

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

36 Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For everything spoken by God is possible.”

Obedience

38 Mary said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word.”

The angel departed from her.

First thing to notice is the extraordinary circumstances surround Jesus’ birth.

Announced by an angel.

Conceived by a virgin.

At the very root of our faith is the miraculous. Some would try to rob the Bible of the miraculous. But it is at the very root of Jesus’ birth and ministry.

Let’s look at what the angel said about who Jesus would be.

1. Son of the most high.

2. He is on the throne of David. He is the King of the House of Jacob.

3. There will be no end to his kingdom.

Right now we’ll examine the 2nd and 3rd, and then come back to the first.

2. He is on the throne of David. He is the King of the House of Jacob. He is the King of Israel.

I’ve decided that I am going to study the nation Israel and it’s place in the history of the Church, but also it’s place in the present and the future. I’ve had differing opinions about Israel based on my study of end times prophecies, but have never done an exhaustive study. Rather large topic to take on.

One thing struck me. Jesus is Israel’s King. Not her future King. Her present King. The problem for Israel is not that their Messiah hasn’t come like they believe. It is that their Messiah has come and is currently ruling over them but they don’t recognize Him.

This tells us a lot about how Jesus is reigning as King. We are so accustomed to the idea of political leadership being physical that we tend to set aside the idea of Jesus being King because He is not physically present. Change your perspective of Israel to the fact that Jesus is ruling her now and you start to wonder that perhaps her trials are not just because the muslims are at war against her, but because she isn’t ruling according to her King.

Fascinating.

3. There will be no end to his kingdom.

His Kingdom is wherever the rule of the Kingdom of God is being recognized. The church. New Christians. Since the time of His life death and resurrection, the Kingdom of God has been stretching out over the entire globe. I believe it will continue to grow. There will be no end to His kingdom. It is expanding now and when He comes again, it will encompass the whole earth.

What does it mean to let Jesus be ruler over our life? Recognizing his reign. What is the most common word used to describe Jesus’ work in our lives? Savior. He is truly our savior. But He is also truly our King. Letting Jesus be King over my life means shifting some of my focus of His identity from just being Savior to also being King. Not soon coming King. But present King. I owe him my honor. Praise. Allegiance. Obedience.

3 really practical ways that we can live under the rulership of King Jesus.

First. Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.

You may ask: What does that have to do with living under the rulership of King Jesus.

Being continually filled with the Holy Spirit is a direct result of Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God. It is because of His exaltation as King that we are continually filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:30-36

30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne,

31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.

32 This Jesus God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.

Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.

They are directly related.

We live our life under the rulership with Jesus when we continually seek to be more full of the Holy Spirit. We can’t contain all of the Holy Spirit. So we need to constantly seek more of Him.

How? Review.

1. Ask

Luke 11:9-13 9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

keep asking. not just asking once.

keep seeking. not just seeking once.

keep knocking. not just knocking once.

2. Expectant waiting.

Acts 1:4-5 4Being assembled together with them, he charged them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Wait expectantly. “for the promise of the Father, baptism in the Holy Spirit.”

3. 1Thessalonians 5:19. Don’t quench the spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.

Unrepentant sin.

Lack of love. For God, for others.

Denying the work of the Holy Spirit.

Second way We live our life under the rulership with Jesus is to do the King’s business until He comes.

Luke 19:12-27

11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God would be revealed immediately.

12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

13 He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’

14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’

15 “It happened when he had come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.

16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’

17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’

18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’

19 “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,

21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’

22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow.

23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’

24 He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’

25 “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’

26 ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.

27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”

Jesus used this parable to say to us “Conduct my business until I come.”

Invest what you’ve been given in His Kingdom. Acts 1:6ff

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within His own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can be doing Jesus’ business with the resources He has given us to witness to Him in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can be doing Jesus’ business with the resources He has given us to witness to Him in our Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

All our resources: our time, our money, our possessions, our relationships. The King has given us all of these. We are to use them to conduct His business until He returns.

3. Be hopeful. I believe Christians should be optimistic. Reason for our optimism is not what we see in the world, but that we believe Jesus is King, sitting on the right hand of the Father. He is working things out to His glory. The angels prophecy about Jesus was that He would be Son of the most high. Matthew 28:18 says that “All authority has been given to Him.”

Jesus is in control.

He is at the right hand of the Father. Mark 16:19 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

All angels and authorities and powers are subject to him.

1Peter 3:22 Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

Now matter how out of control life seems, there is a hopeful end to it because Jesus is the King. He is in charge. He is ruling. He has the authority and power to turn things to His glory. Optimism doesn’t mean that life is fine now. It means that life is going to turn out fine.

Close with this verse.

1Corinthians 15:24-26 24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Life is going to turn out fine. Jesus is in the process of reigning until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. Since his coming the first time, He has been at work fulfilling this promise. When He comes again, He will complete it.

This sermon is licensed under the Creative Commons license.