Questions of Identity

Thanks very much, Rachel and Margot.

And good morning, everyone.

Good to see you if you're in the church here.

Good to know there are lots more watching us online.

It will be helpful if you've got a Bible in front of you

or an electronic device you can read the chapter on

because, as Rachel said, we're only able to read part of it

and we will be referring to the whole chapter as we go along.

I can say with some confidence that John chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

is the chapter of the Gospel that most of us are least familiar with.

Let's just think about that.

I realise this won't resonate with everyone,

but let's think through the chapter of John's Gospel up to now.

Chapter 1, we have the Word and the Lamb of God.

Chapter 2, we have the wedding at Cana.

Chapter 3, we have Nicodemus.

Chapter 4, we have the woman at the well in Samaria.

Chapter 5, we have the lame man who was healed on the Sabbath.

Chapter 6, we have the feeding of the 5,000.

And we could go on from Chapter 8 onwards.

But Chapter 7, what's it about?

Well, we've probably not got that much idea.

Most of us, it's not a chapter that immediately resonates.

It's quite hard work and we have to think about it as we go through.

So my job this morning is hopefully to make John Chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

a little bit more memorable for you,

but also to think about what its relevance is for us today.

And I think there are some very practical things that we can take from it.

So we've got a lot to cover in quite a short time.

So here's the plan.

We're going to think a bit about the context of John 7.

Context is always important when we study the Bible,

perhaps particularly so in this chapter.

We're then going to walk through it and see how we can navigate our way through the chapter.

Please do read it all when you get home and certainly before your small group this week.

We're going to think about five questions,

which I hope will help us see the practical significance of John 7 today.

And then we're going to end with a rock music legend

and we'll find out about that when we come to it.

But let's begin with context.

John's Gospel, as I'm sure you know,

the key verse for context is at the end of Chapter 20,

when John says that he's written so that we will believe that Jesus is the Messiah,

the Son of God.

And everything in John's Gospel is working towards that aim.

Every incident, every saying of the Lord Jesus,

every conversation that's recorded is to help us to understand who Jesus is,

that he's the Messiah, the Son of God.

And John 7 is no different from that.

In fact, it's very important in the flow of the Gospel.

If we come to the more immediate context,

between John 5 and John 10,

which makes a little subsection of the book,

there are a number of incidents which all happen around the time of Jewish feasts or festivals.

John 5, it doesn't say what the specific festival was,

but Jesus was in Jerusalem for a festival

and their discussion about the Sabbath,

which is, in a sense, a weekly festival.

John 6 takes place around the festival of the Passover.

John 7 to 9, around the festival of tabernacles.

And then John 10, around the festival of commitment,

or what we would these days call Hanukkah.

And all of these festivals do a number of things for us.

The first is they help position where Jesus is.

As we go through the Gospels,

some of what Jesus does we see is in Galilee,

and some is in Jerusalem and Judea.

And if an incident takes place,

or a meeting takes place in Jerusalem,

you can be confident that it's because Jesus is there

for one of the feasts of the Jews.

So we're in Jerusalem again today.

Perhaps more importantly,

these festivals give us a bit of a countdown

to the cross of the Lord Jesus.

They draw us nearer and nearer to Calvary.

So chapter 6 is the Passover,

a year before Jesus was crucified.

The Feast of Tabernacles that we're thinking about today,

that took place in September, October.

So that was six months before the crucifixion.

Hanukkah, you may know, is in December.

So that was about three months before the Lord died.

So we've got a bit of a countdown.

The Lord is getting closer and closer to his crucifixion

as we go through the Gospel.

But perhaps most important of all,

in terms of the significance of the feasts,

is if we look at what Jesus says

and the things that happen,

they are very much tied in

to the meaning of these festivals.

Passover, Hanukkah, we could look at,

but particularly when we come to the Festival of Tabernacles,

it is very much the backdrop to what Jesus is saying.

So I'm going to take just a couple of minutes

and we're going to think about what happened

at the Festival of Tabernacles.

What was it all about?

Well, the thing that was most striking about this festival

is that for a week,

people in Jerusalem lived in temporary dwellings,

in kind of tents that were covered with branches.

And that was looking back

to when the Israelites were in the wilderness

and they had temporary dwellings.

And this was quite an exciting week for the Jews.

Think of all the festivals,

it was the most joyful.

We could think perhaps of young people

going to camp these days,

getting away from home,

going somewhere different,

doing something different with different people.

That was very much what it was all about,

a time of rejoicing and celebration.

And it had three particular aspects to it.

It looked backward,

it looked at the present,

and it looked forward.

You may see echoes of all of these

in John chapter 7,

John 7 · chapter mention

indeed in chapters 8 and 9.

So as I said, it looked backwards.

It remembered the time

when the Israelites had left Egypt

and they were going through the wilderness

and would ultimately end up in Canaan

in the Promised Land.

And it thought about how in that period

God had provided for all their needs.

He provided water,

he provided food,

everything they needed,

even though there were nomadic people

traveling around,

God gave them everything that they needed.

In the present,

the Feast of Tabernacles,

or Saccot as it was called,

was the Harvest Thanksgiving.

So that's a familiar concept to us

when we come together

and we give God thanks

for his current provision for us.

So the festival took place

at the time of the harvest,

particularly bringing in grapes perhaps

and fruit from trees,

and people gave thanks for that.

It was a celebration

of God's present goodness

to his people.

But it also looked forward

to the coming of the Messiah.

And that's why in John 7 particularly,

Messiah is mentioned time

and time again.

The Jews were looking forward

to the one who would be

the liberator of their nation.

Now they had a different idea

for what we might

of what the liberator

of the Messiah would be,

but they were very much

looking forward

to his coming.

And a key chapter

for understanding

how the Festival of Tabernacles works

is the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 14.

Zechariah 14 · chapter mention

And one of the things

that prophecy says

is that when the Messiah comes

and tabernacles with his people,

people from all nations

will gather around him

at the Festival of Tabernacles

and will worship him.

So there's very much

a forward-looking aspect

to the festival as well.

And we see some fulfillment

of that in the Lord Jesus

when he came the first time.

It will be completely fulfilled

when the Lord Jesus comes again

and indeed every knee bows before him.

He is recognized as the Messiah,

as the Son of God.

So it's the past,

the present and the future.

And there were two particular themes

around the Festival of Tabernacles.

One was light.

I said it was September, October.

It was around the time of the equinox.

And the Jews were aware

the nights were beginning

to get longer and darker.

And one of the things

that the festival celebrated

is the light that God gives us.

Every day, 16 huge bowls

were lit up in one of the courtyards

of the temple.

And apparently you could see

throughout the city,

you could see the light

that came from these.

No street lamps, of course,

in those days.

So light was very important.

And as we look at chapters 8

and chapter 9

in the next few weeks,

we'll very much be coming back

to that.

The second thing that was important

was water.

This was the dry season.

Often it was a time of drought.

And so as the people came together

for this festival,

they were aware of God's provision

of water and their need of that.

Now I'll go into more detail

about that in a few minutes.

There's again a ritual involved in it

that will help us.

But this is a great, joyous festival

with lots of different meanings to it.

And I hope we'll see some of them

as today we think through this chapter.

Okay, that's enough for context.

Let's move on now

and think about

how we can break down the chapter.

John very helpfully

gives us some timings for this.

And I think they're the easiest way

to look at the chapter.

The first few verses

are the start of the festival.

There's a bit of discussion

about whether Jesus is going or not.

And his brothers say he should.

And he says he's not going just now.

But it's all about

the start of the festival.

And I think the key word

to hang on to here is delay.

That Jesus' brothers say,

you should be going to Jerusalem.

Look, you're doing all these things

in Galilee,

but this is a backwater.

Who's interested in what happens here?

You need to go to Jerusalem

and do all the things there

and be seen in public.

John tells us it was because

they didn't believe in him

that they took this view.

It's a slightly cynical view,

I think.

But Jesus says,

no, I'm not going now.

My time hasn't come yet.

And so he doesn't immediately

go up to the festival,

but he's still the talk of the town,

even though he's not there.

People are saying,

well, where is he?

We know about this Jesus.

Why hasn't he come?

And they're saying,

well, who is he?

Some people are saying,

well, he must be a good man.

All the things he does.

And other people saying,

no, he's just a deceiver.

But all that they were doing

kind of whispering,

because they knew the Jewish leaders

were opposed to Jesus.

So that's the start of the festival,

the delay that Jesus introduces.

From verse 14,

we have the middle of the festival.

The passage Rachel read to us says,

not until halfway through the festival

did Jesus go up to the temple courts

and begin to teach.

And the key theme of the next 20 or so verses

up to verse 36

is this debate about who Jesus is

and what he is doing.

And lots of different views

and different arguments.

Some of the people thinking,

yes, he must be the Messiah.

Look at the way he speaks.

He's not been trained.

He's not been taught in our synagogues

or by our leaders.

And yet he says these wonderful things.

Surely he must be the Messiah.

And then Jesus talks about

why he's able to speak as he does.

It's because he comes from God.

And if people are obedient to God,

they will recognize that

and they will be obedient to his teaching.

He then comes on

and he talks about the miracle in chapter 5.

Remember in chapter 5,

where the lame man who is beside the pool,

Jesus heals him on the Sabbath

and he causes uproar

among the religious leaders.

And he comes back to that

and he makes a very important point.

He says,

you got on of me

because I healed a man on the Sabbath,

but you will quite happily

circumcise someone on the Sabbath.

What's the difference?

Why is that acceptable

and it's not acceptable for me to heal?

Get your judgments right.

And then again,

we have this question,

some people concluding that Jesus is the Messiah,

some not.

The authority is very much against him.

And then he talks about

his authority a bit more.

He talks about the fact

that people don't recognize Jesus

because they don't recognize

that his authority comes from God the Father.

and again,

the authorities are trying to seize him.

We read that in verse 31.

But the crowd are still thinking,

this is someone really special.

How can he do these miracles

if he's not from God?

And then finally,

in the latter part of this section,

Jesus talks about him going away.

And again,

that causes some confusion.

People think,

well, where is he going to?

Is he going to the Gentiles?

Jesus, of course,

is talking about the fact

that he's going to heaven.

He's going to his father

by way of the cross.

So lots of discussion,

lots of debate in the middle.

We could go into a lot of detail about it,

but we don't have time this morning.

And then finally,

we have the end of the festival.

I've called that decision

because this is the time

when people have to nail

their colors to the mast.

What do you really think about Jesus?

We have,

first of all,

and we'll come back to it,

that Jesus stands up

and he says,

let anyone who is thirsty

come to me and drink.

And we'll come back

and look at that wee subsection.

It's very important.

We'll look at it

in a couple of minutes.

And some of the people then say,

well, he must be a prophet.

Others say,

well, he must be the Messiah.

And then other people say,

no, he can't be.

We know that he comes from Galilee.

The prophet,

the Messiah,

doesn't come from Galilee.

It can't be Jesus.

And again,

we have a hardening

of the Jewish leaders

against him

and we have the people divided.

Not sure many of them

what's happening,

but a good number believing.

So as you go through the chapter,

if you get a chance

to do it in more detail later,

hopefully that gives you

a bit of a structure.

Delay the first section,

debate in the second,

and decisions to be made

in the third.

But I want to spend

the rest of the time

thinking through five questions.

Five questions, I think,

come at us from the chapter

and that are really important

as we want to apply it

and think what its relevance

is today.

So there's when, why,

where, what, and who.

So the first is a question

of when.

And the issue is,

what do we mean

by Jesus' time?

Jesus says,

my time has not come,

as in verses six and eight,

if you're following along.

In that context,

he's thinking of his time

to go and very publicly

show himself in Jerusalem.

Now when that time came,

around six months later,

the Lord Jesus rode

into Jerusalem on the donkey

and he received the praises

of his people.

And I think that is

the reference the Lord

is making there

to his time

not having yet come.

But if we go down

to verse 30,

John tells us

that the Lord Jesus,

our,

hadn't come yet.

That he hadn't yet

come to the point

when people could seize him

and could judge him.

his hour hadn't come

so the people,

the authorities,

weren't able to touch him.

And so the hour

that they're talking about there

is Jesus' death

on the cross for us.

His crucifixion at Calvary,

which was the time

that his whole life

had been building up to.

Right as far back

as chapter two in John,

Jesus says to,

in this case,

to his mother Mary,

my time,

my hour has not yet come.

And as we follow

through the gospel,

it's building up

to the point where

John says in chapter 12,

or Jesus says rather,

now my hour is come.

Why is that significant for us?

Because it tells us

that the whole of Jesus' life

was directed towards

his death on the cross.

It was no accident

that he went to Calvary

and died for us.

He knew from the start

what was going to happen

and he was building towards it

in everything that he did

in his ministry.

Jesus' time,

the time that he came

into the world,

the purpose that he came

into the world for,

was to go to the cross

at Calvary

to take our place

and to die for us.

And as we read

through Jesus' life,

it's important

that we recognize

it's all building up

to that climax.

And as John takes us through

and tries to persuade us

of the fact that

Jesus is the Messiah,

he's also doing that

knowing that the ultimate evidence

will come through the cross

and through the resurrection

of the Lord Jesus.

So Jesus' time

refers to his death

for us on the cross.

Second question then,

why did Jesus have authority?

It's very clear

from this chapter

that Jesus preached

with real authority.

The people listened to him

and they were amazed.

And they were a bit confused

because they knew

their leaders were opposed

to Jesus

and yet here was someone

who was saying

such wonderful things

and more than that

was doing such wonderful miracles.

Where did that come from?

And of course,

Jesus says his authority

comes from God,

the Father himself.

The words he speaks

are not his own words he says.

They're the words

that the Father

has given to him.

That's in verses 16 and 18

particularly.

And the point he makes

is that what he's saying

is not so that he can come across

as this wonderful preacher,

but so that his Father

will be glorified.

He also says

that he was sent by God.

That's in verse 29.

I know him

because I am from him

and he sent me.

So the authority

that Jesus has

is authority

that has been given to him

by God,

the Father.

And that's the same authority

that Jesus still has today.

Do you remember

at the end of Matthew's Gospel

we have the great commission

of the Lord Jesus

to his disciples

and he begins by saying

all authority

has been given to me,

given by whom?

By God the Father

in heaven

and on earth.

And John is bringing out for us

that Jesus has total authority,

authority to teach,

authority to heal,

authority to tell others

what their faults are

and to expose their hypocrisy.

And that authority

comes from God.

It's the same authority

that he still has.

Question three,

where did Jesus come from?

That's the big question

that seems to come back to

again and again

in the passage.

It's the thing

that's confusing the people

because they're looking at him

and thinking,

yes, this is someone important,

but he's from Galilee.

Galilee is a little backwater,

quite a distance away

from Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is not the kind of place

that important people come from.

And it's certainly not the place

where the Messiah comes from.

Now, it has to be said

that people were a little bit confused

about where the Messiah comes from.

Verse 27,

they say his origins are unknown.

And then a bit later in verse 41,

they say he's going to come from Bethlehem,

which is true.

But one thing they knew

was he wouldn't come from Galilee.

And of course,

they just weren't realising

the Lord Jesus

originally was from Bethlehem.

But more important than that,

as the Messiah,

he had come from God himself.

Yes, Galilee was his home.

It was where he'd lived

most of his life.

But he was born,

as the scripture prophesied,

in Bethlehem.

And he had come ultimately

from the presence of God

because he was

the eternal son of God.

The people thought

he can't be important

if he comes from Galilee.

Perhaps people today think,

first century Israel,

how can someone important,

someone who's a saviour,

come from there?

Well, the fact is,

Jesus did come from there.

The Messiah was born there,

but he came from God ultimately,

and we need to recognise that too.

Question four,

what does Jesus offer?

We're going to come back now

to three verses

that we didn't read earlier,

but I do want to read them now.

They're really important

in this chapter.

So it says,

on the last,

and this is verses 37 onwards,

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.

Whoever believes in me,

as scripture has said,

rivers of living water

will flow from within them.

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 been glorified.

I said one of the key themes

of the Festival of Tabernacles

was water.

And what happened was

that every day,

a procession of priests

went down the hill

to the Pool of Siloam,

and they drew some water from it,

and then they processed back

up the hill to the altar,

and they poured the water

onto the altar.

Meanwhile,

the people,

the normal people,

were joined with them

and were singing,

singing verses

from the Old Testament

and celebrating

what was happening.

And then on the last day,

the eighth day,

it was an eight-day feast,

on the last day of the festival,

this happened seven times.

Down the hill,

collect some water

in urns,

back up the hill,

pour it on the altar.

And it appears that it was

while this was happening

that Jesus shouts out,

here.

The one who had,

at the beginning,

not wanted to go to the festival,

not be seen to be

drawing attention to himself,

now he is ready

to draw attention to himself,

and as this ritual goes on,

he shouts out,

and he gives a spiritual application

to what's being done.

Now again,

if we look back

at the Old Testament,

there's significance

in the water,

and the water came from the rock

as the Israelites

were going through

the wilderness.

There's significance,

we said earlier,

in the present for them

in terms of needing water

in time of drought.

And if we go back

to Zechariah 14,

again,

the living water is there.

It talks about water flowing out

from Jerusalem

to the nation.

I'm sure Jesus had that in mind

when he was speaking.

But Jesus says,

let anyone who is thirsty

come to me

and drink.

Back in chapter 4,

Jesus met a Samaritan woman,

and he says,

if you drink the water

I give you,

you'll never thirst again.

So it's picking up again

the same theme.

If we want

real sustenance,

real meaning

in our life,

that comes to

drinking in

from Jesus.

The water that

he will give us

is the water

that is life-giving,

that frees us

to do

what is right.

And John identifies

that what he particularly

means

is that those

who believe in Jesus

will receive

the Holy Spirit,

and the Holy Spirit

makes all the difference

in our present life.

When we trust in Jesus,

when we confess our sins

and believe in his death

for us on the cross,

we have eternal life.

We can look forward

with confidence

to heaven.

But we also have

in this life

the Holy Spirit

who is given to us

to be our guide,

our helper,

our friend,

our gift giver,

the one who

changes our lives.

and Jesus is saying,

if anyone trusts in me,

they will get this

wonderful blessing

of the Holy Spirit.

But notice he says

more than that.

He says,

yes,

come and drink,

drink of me,

and you will receive

the Holy Spirit.

but from you,

rivers of living water

will flow out.

Not entirely clear

what the Scripture

being referred to there

is.

It may well be

Zechariah 14

that I mentioned earlier.

But the point is,

if we have the Spirit,

if we have the Holy Spirit,

that is a great blessing

to us,

but it should also

be a great blessing

to everyone else.

When we have God

working in us

through the Spirit,

it's not just

for our benefit.

It's so that

we can serve him

and so that others

will benefit

from it.

And I think

there's a real challenge

for many of us there.

If you believe

in the Lord Jesus,

if you call yourself

a Christian,

what difference

does your life

make to others?

When people meet you,

do they go away

feeling refreshed,

feeling there's

something different here,

there's something

that's really helped me

and benefited me?

Or do they see you

just as being

like anyone else

and there's no difference

from the fact

that you would call yourself

a Christian?

If we have the Spirit,

the Spirit working

in our lives,

changing our character,

guiding us

to do what is right,

should make us

visibly different

to others.

As is the case

with Jesus,

not all of them

will welcome it

or will think

this is a good thing.

We should be

distinctive as Christians.

We shouldn't just be

blending in

with the world

around about us.

We have the Spirit

and the Spirit

is given to us

so that we can bless others,

so we can build up

others in the church,

but also so that

we can bless others

who are not yet Christians

and help them

to understand

truths

about the Lord Jesus.

So what does Jesus offer?

He offers us water

that satisfies

but also

that overflows

and blesses others

as we have

the Spirit.

And then finally,

the key question,

who is Jesus?

And that's what really

is all through this chapter.

People wrestling

with this thought,

who is Jesus?

Who is this person

who is here,

who is doing

these wonderful things

and saying these wonderful,

sometimes controversial,

things?

Who is he really?

And I think there are

four different reactions

to Jesus

in this passage.

The first is that

some people are very

confused by him.

They're confused

at his learning.

How can he know so much

when he's not had

a formal education?

They're confused

about his origin.

Where did he come from?

They're confused

about his plans

for the future

and he says he's going away.

What does he mean?

Where is he going to?

They just can't make sense

of Jesus.

Perhaps that's where

some people here today

are too.

Yes, you've heard

the story of Jesus.

Perhaps you've marveled

at some of the things

that he said

and the things

that are written about

him in the Bible.

But you're still confused.

You still can't quite understand

is he the Messiah?

Is he someone

who you should have

a relationship with

or not?

If you're in that position,

I suggest the best thing

you can do

is to get a gospel

by John.

We can provide one

if you'd like.

Read through it

and see whether

what John says,

what John writes

about Jesus

makes sense,

whether he does

make the case

that Jesus

is the Messiah,

the Son of God.

Great to take

the gospel

of you the time

and just to read

through it in a sitting

and just immerse yourself

in what John says

about Jesus

and then,

as God directs

your thoughts,

come to a conclusion

about who Jesus

really is.

If you're confused,

don't remain confused.

Look what the Bible says.

Try to understand it.

Second group of people

weren't so much confused

as in denial.

Again,

they were seeing

everything that Jesus said,

but they kept coming up

with reasons.

how can it be?

Particularly

where he came from question.

How can he really be

the Messiah?

Despite everything,

despite all they saw

and heard,

yet they had this

stumbling block,

I can't quite believe it.

And I guess that's true

of many people today as well.

Aware of Jesus,

aware of what is written

about him in the Gospels,

and yet saying,

how can someone

who lived 2,000 years ago

in a part of the world

far away from us

who died a criminal's death,

how can he be God with us?

How can he make any difference

in my life now?

Now, again,

if you're in that position,

reading John's Gospel

or any part of the Bible

is really helpful.

But if you have questions,

if you can't understand things,

do speak to one of us,

someone who's been

on the platform today

or one of the staff team

in the church,

do speak to us

and we can try to help you

understand perhaps

some of the stumbling blocks

and maybe be able

to overcome them.

Third group of people,

they weren't confused,

they weren't in denial,

they were just opposed

to Jesus.

This is the religious leaders,

the Pharisees,

the chief priests,

they just said,

he's ruining everything

we've built up,

he's exposing us,

speaking against us,

we need to get rid of him.

They even sent soldiers

to go and arrest him.

Slightly amusing

because the soldiers go back

and they say,

we can't arrest him,

we've never heard anyone

who spoke like this.

And that just riled

the leaders even more.

They were totally opposed

to Jesus.

One exception is mentioned

then in the chapter,

look out for Nicodemus,

who we saw previously

in chapter 3.

And again today,

there are many people

who are put off

by Jesus,

who don't want

the challenges

that he brings,

who don't want him

to disturb them

out of their comfort

and the life they lead

and aren't willing

to listen to him.

Hope no one is here

today in that position.

If you are again,

I would urge you,

don't have the closed minds

of the Jewish leaders.

Look at God's word,

think about it,

and see that Jesus

really is the Messiah.

Then the fourth group,

they weren't confused,

they weren't in denial,

they weren't hostile,

they believed in Jesus.

Whether it's through

what he did in verse 31,

or whether it's through

what he said in verses 40 to 41,

when they talk about him

being the prophet or the Messiah,

they realized what he said

was what he was.

He was the genuine article,

he was the one

who people had been

looking forward to

from Old Testament times.

Again, if you're not yet

in that position,

do think about Jesus

and who he is

and of what he has done

and come to the response

directed by God's Spirit

of believing in him.

Jesus is the only hope

we have for forgiveness

for all the wrong we've done

and for a future

that goes well beyond death

and that brings us

to something much greater

when we leave this world.

Don't be confused,

don't be in denial,

don't oppose Jesus,

come and believe in him.

I said it'd end

with a rock music legend,

so let's do that.

It's Bono,

the lead singer of U2.

In 2004,

there was a terrible

terrorist attack in Madrid

on the Spanish trains.

193 people were killed.

Shortly after that,

Bono did an interview

with a French journalist.

I think they got around

to talking about

how can people

who claim to be religious

do such things.

Bono said,

it's not our own good works

that gets us

through the gates of heaven.

I hope we can all

agree with that.

The Jews replied to him,

such great hope

is wonderful,

but it's close to lunacy.

In my view,

Christ has his rank

among the world's

great thinkers,

but Son of God

isn't that far-fetched.

That's very much

the attitude of some

of the people

in John 7.

And here's what Bono said,

I've condensed this slightly.

He said,

no,

it's not far-fetched to me.

Look,

the secular response

to the Christ story

always goes like this.

He was a great prophet,

obviously a very interesting guy,

had a lot to say

along the lines

of other great prophets,

be they Muhammad,

Buddha,

or Confucius.

But actually,

Christ doesn't allow you that.

Christ says,

no,

I'm not saying

I'm a teacher.

Don't call me a teacher.

I'm not saying

I'm a prophet.

I'm saying

I'm the Messiah.

I'm saying

I am God incarnate.

And people say,

no, no,

please just be a prophet.

We can take a prophet,

but don't mention

the M word.

And Bono says,

he goes,

actually,

I am the Messiah.

So what you're left with

is either Christ was

who he said he was,

the Messiah,

or a complete nutcase.

I'm not joking here.

The idea that

the entire course

of civilization

for over half the globe

could have his fate changed

and turned upside down

by a nutcase.

For me,

that's far-fetched.

So I'd urge you,

so would Bodo,

think today

about Jesus.

Jesus.

Recognize in him

the Messiah,

the one sent from God.

If you've trusted him,

follow him.

Use the gift

of the Spirit

he's given you

to bless others.

If you don't yet know him,

prayerfully consider

who he is

and come to put

your trust

in him.

Let's pray together.

Father,

we thank you

for your word

to us this morning.

We thank you

for this long

and in some ways

difficult chapter,

but yet which clearly

presents the Lord Jesus

as the Messiah,

the Son of God,

with us.

We thank you

for his words,

for the great teaching

that he gives us.

We thank you

for his works,

for these wonderful miracles

that we read about.

But we thank you

especially for his cross,

for his death for us

on the cross at Calvary,

and that he's alive

and at your right hand today.

Help all of us

to believe that,

to trust him

as the Messiah,

and to follow him

as our Lord.

Thank you

for our time together.

Thank you

for the opportunity

to meet and to worship.

We commit ourselves

to you

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.