Jesus the Son of God

Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea,

and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah,

a voice of one calling in the desert,

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.

John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.

His food was locusts and wild honey.

People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea,

and the whole region of the Jordan.

Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

But when they saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come into where he was baptizing,

he said to them, You brood of vipers,

who warned you to flee from the coming wrath,

produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think that you can say to yourselves,

We have Abraham as our father.

I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The axe is already at the root of the trees,

and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance.

But after me will come one who is more powerful than I,

whose sandals I am not fit to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand,

and he will clear his threshing floor,

gathering his wheat into the barn

and burning the chaff of unquenchable fire.

Then Jesus came into Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.

But John tried to deter him, saying,

I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?

Jesus replied, Let it be so now.

It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.

At that moment, heaven was opened,

and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said,

This is my Son, whom I love.

With him I am well pleased.

May God bless his word.

I was recently feeling very ambitious in my reading,

and I decided that I would read a Russian novel by Dostoevsky,

the Brothers Karamazov.

It's a massive brick of a book.

The reason I decided I would read it,

there's a very famous statement that comes from it,

that if there is no God, everything is permissible.

Maybe some of you have heard that.

It comes up, Christians often quote it.

If you've done the Christianity Explorer course,

I think, for example, it comes up there.

The point, obviously, is that we know that everything is not permissible,

and that's evidence that we recognize on one level that actually there is a God.

I decided I would read this book.

I said I finished it recently.

I won't tell you when I started reading it,

because that would be embarrassing.

It was very long and complex.

One of the things that made it difficult was that being a Russian novelist,

obviously, Dostoevsky would frequently make allusion to other Russian works,

which we wouldn't know anything about.

The editors would put footnotes at the back to explain that,

so that wasn't so bad.

Dostoevsky had obviously also read Shakespeare,

and at points he would make reference to that,

and my knowledge of Shakespeare, embarrassingly, isn't that good either.

But there were no references for that,

because the editors obviously felt that we ought to already know that.

It was a very complex book to read,

and part of the reason is because he assumed so much.

He was assuming an awareness of other literature to understand what he was saying.

And sometimes, as we read the New Testament, it's a little bit like that.

The New Testament is written in light of the Old Testament,

and very often the authors, to a greater or lesser extent,

will assume a knowledge of the Old Testament.

Well, this morning I would like us to look at Matthew 3, verse 17.

Matthew 3:17

This is my son.

That was the father's statement about Jesus

when he was being baptized by John the Baptist.

I would suggest that in order, many people suggest it,

in order to understand that,

there are several passages in the Old Testament

that are being referred to.

So I'd like us to look at those passages.

There are three of them.

Now, don't worry.

You may feel like you're going to be getting three sermons

for the price of one.

Don't worry.

We won't look in great detail at those passages.

But just briefly looking at them,

seeking to understand what they tell us

about what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God.

Now, hopefully, if I've done this right,

yes, there they are.

So the passages will appear in the screens there behind me.

So the first one is in Isaiah 42.

It's actually the passage that we read earlier.

Now, Matthew 3, verse 17,

Matthew 3:17

we have the voice from heaven saying,

this is my Son whom I love.

With him I am well pleased.

And in Isaiah 42, we read God saying about Israel,

this is my, well, God saying about his servant, sorry.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit on him,

and he will bring justice to the nations.

Now, the parts that are particularly similar,

I've put in bold in both of those places.

Now, you will have noticed, very obviously,

that the one thing that's missing in Isaiah 42

is the word Son, isn't it?

And nevertheless, we read this language of being well pleased.

God said about the servant that he was going to send

that he was well pleased in him.

When Jesus was baptized,

he said that he was his Son in whom he was well pleased.

This does seem to be the passage

that the Father is alluding to in what he says.

Also, notice what happened in verse 16 of Matthew's Gospel.

What happened to Jesus as this was going on?

At that moment, heaven was opened,

and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove

and lighting on him.

Notice what God says in Isaiah 42.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one in whom I delight.

I will put my Spirit on him.

The language and the events that are being recorded

in Matthew chapter 3

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

call to mind Isaiah 42.

This passage is one of those passages

that enables us to understand what it is

that Jesus is the Son of God

in whom the Father is well pleased.

Something that's helpful for us

to fully appreciate this passage

is that many Jews in Jesus' day

thought that when this figure came,

when this promised king came,

he would come just for Israel,

just for people who are physically descended

from Abraham.

And that was true in Isaiah's day.

As they looked forward to what God was going to do,

they thought that God was going to do it

just for them

and not for other nations.

Now,

we can sympathize with that kind of attitude,

excluding people, that is,

because we often do that, don't we,

if we're honest.

It's easy for us to compartmentalize people,

to think that there are some people

who might be interested in Christianity

and other people who just wouldn't be interested.

And perhaps we write them all.

We may make these decisions based on interest.

We may think that Christianity

is just for people from a certain class.

There was a story that illustrates this.

When I was at the Free Church College,

one of our professors told us a story,

a true story.

He can tell you afterwards

if I've gotten the details wrong.

I think I've gotten most of the details correct.

In the 19th century,

there was a minister named John Eady.

He was a very well-known minister and theologian.

He was minister of a church in Glasgow,

and the church was on Cambridge Street.

If it's the same Cambridge Street that's still there,

I think it's been redeveloped.

But in his day,

it was a very poor part of the town.

He was minister of a church there.

He was a very well-known preacher,

and things were going well.

The church was growing and thriving,

so much so that it was decided

to build a new church building.

I'm not sure.

I suspect they were given a gift of money

to build the church.

But this building wasn't in the poor part of town.

It was in the rich part of town,

here, Calvin Bridge.

And when the church was dedicated,

when it was opened,

there was a poem.

It was an unofficial poem that was written.

I think it may have been fixed on the door,

but I'm not sure.

But the poem says,

about the new church building,

that this church is not built for the poor and needy,

but for the rich and Dr. Eady.

The rich may come in and take their seat,

but the poor must go to Cambridge Street.

So there was a perception, at least,

that poor people were being excluded.

They didn't really count.

Now, we can laugh at that,

but as God's people,

we have often done that.

We have often excluded people.

But notice the language that we read in Isaiah 42.

Here is my servant whom I uphold,

my chosen one in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit on him,

and he will bring justice to whom?

To the nations.

To everyone.

In verse four,

he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

In his law,

the islands will put their hope.

Now, in the free church,

for many people,

because of where many folk are from,

the islands can seem like the center of the universe.

But we appreciate that,

obviously, for them,

it was the other way around, wasn't it?

The islands were the furthest corner of the world.

Okay?

This figure who is coming,

whom we know to be Jesus,

he would come for the nations.

He would come for the islands,

for the furthest flung parts of the world.

In verses six and seven,

I, the Lord,

have called you in righteousness.

I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you,

and will make you to be a covenant for the people,

and a light for the Gentiles,

to open the eyes of the blind,

to free captives from prison,

and to release from the dungeon

those who sit in darkness.

It's a very simple point here,

that if Jesus is the son,

if he is this figure who is spoken about,

then Jesus is for everyone.

Now, in some ways, that's challenging.

It's challenging for you

if you're maybe not yet a Christian.

Maybe you've made it this far,

you're here in church,

but you can't really imagine things

going any further than that.

You can't really imagine yourself

professing to be a Christian,

professing to follow Jesus.

Maybe you think that Christianity

is just not for you.

Jesus would challenge that,

because he is telling us

that he is for everyone.

That's challenging as well

if we are Christians,

because often we can behave in ways

that exclude other people,

whether it's as a congregation,

or whether it's as individuals.

We can behave in such a way

that place obstacles

in front of other people,

that make it unnecessarily difficult

for them to come to faith in Jesus.

Well, again, Jesus is challenging us,

because he's telling us

that he is for everyone,

and he wants everyone

to hear about him

and to come to him.

That means that we need to think

about everything that we do

as Christians,

whether as individuals

or as a congregation.

Are we making it possible

for people to hear

the good news about Jesus?

So this is challenging,

but it's also tremendously encouraging.

Again, if you're not yet a Christian,

or maybe you feel that you're a Christian,

but you struggle in your faith,

read through the Gospels

and try to find any occasion

on which Jesus excluded people.

Whenever Jesus encountered people,

actually, interestingly,

the people that he often seemed

to have the most affinity for

were those who would have seemed

to be the least religious.

Jesus never said to anyone,

I'm sorry,

I can't afford to be seen with you.

Jesus never said to anybody,

no, I'm sorry,

I've given you so many chances

and you've messed up

and I don't really want

to have anything to do with you now.

Jesus never did that.

He accepted everybody

who comes to him.

I think we could say

that all human beings

naturally have a desire

for acceptance.

We want to find acceptance

with one another

and I think that's because

whether we acknowledge it or not,

we seek acceptance

with the God who created us.

The tremendously good news

of the Gospel

is that that acceptance

is offered to you

through Jesus

because he is for everyone.

There should be no one

who is sitting here this morning

thinking to themselves,

Jesus just isn't for me.

So first of all,

if Jesus is the Son,

we see that he is for everyone.

A second point that we see,

and this comes from Psalm 2,

is that if Jesus is the Son,

Jesus is in charge.

We sang earlier in the service

from Psalm 2,

and there we notice

particularly in verse 7,

again, this is up

on the screens for you.

I will proclaim

the decree of the Lord.

He said to me,

you are my son.

Today,

I have become your father.

Again,

this is one of the passages

that the father

is alluding to

at Jesus' baptism.

He says,

you are my son.

This is my son.

And again,

in Psalm 2,

what does it mean

for Jesus to be the Son?

Well,

at the very least,

it means

that Jesus

is in charge.

If we continue

reading through this Psalm,

we see that he tells him,

ask of me,

and I will make

the nations

your inheritance,

the end of the earth

your possession.

Again,

we see this universal

reign of Jesus.

Then we read,

you will rule them

with an iron scepter.

You will dash them

to pieces like pottery.

Therefore,

you kings,

be wise.

Be warned,

you rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord

with fear

and rejoice

with trembling.

Kiss the Son

lest ye be angry

and ye be destroyed

in your way.

For his wrath

can flare up

in a moment.

Blessed are all those

who take refuge

in him.

Notice particularly

verse nine.

You will rule them

with an iron scepter.

You will dash them

to pieces like pottery.

Now,

we could easily

misunderstand that.

We could think

this language

is smashing them

like pottery,

that Jesus

is someone

who's given

to wanton destruction,

a bit like

the children's talk,

that Jesus

is presented here

as someone

who's simply

dangerous

and violent.

We need to bear

in mind

that those people

who are at risk

from him

are his enemies.

Those who reject them.

They're the ones

who are smashed.

Now,

we shouldn't think

that this means

that Jesus

is somehow

given to wanton

destruction,

but it does mean

that Jesus

is not to be trifled with.

It's another book

that I read

recently about

a journalist

who had covered

the war,

the civil war

in Yugoslavia

in the 1990s.

And on the anniversary

of that,

it was 2014,

I think,

tied in as well

with anniversaries

relating to

the First World War,

he went back

to that part

of the country

and he decided

that he would follow

the route

that Gavrilo Princip

took in 1914.

Now,

because of the conflict

that had happened

in the last century

in the 1990s,

there are still landmines

all over that country.

And so he got

a local guide,

someone that he'd known

actually when he had

been there before.

And the guide

had the maps

and the guide

could read the language

and he knew

where the minefields were

and he could guide him.

Now,

the journalist

had a choice.

He could either say,

who do you think

you are?

Who do you think

you are to tell me

where I should go?

Well,

that would have been

suicidal,

wouldn't it?

Because if he wandered

off the wrong way,

it would have led

to his destruction.

Alternatively,

he could listen to him

and he would guide him

on the safe path.

Maybe that's a little bit

of an illustration

of who Jesus is.

Jesus claims

that he is in charge.

He is the son of God.

He has the authority

to direct us

how we should live.

And we have a choice

to make.

Either we could say,

who do you think

you are

to tell me

how to live?

Or,

we could follow him.

Now,

I suspect

this is one of the things

that puts many people

off of Christianity

because they don't

want someone

who's going to tell them

how to live.

But as we think

of that,

we should notice,

for example,

in Psalm 2,

in verse 11,

serve the Lord

with fear

and rejoice

with trembling.

As we follow Jesus,

we're meant to rejoice

in who he is

and what he has done

for us.

We might also think

of the language

that Jesus himself

uses

later on

in Matthew's gospel.

In Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Come to me,

all you who are weary

and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me,

for I am gentle

and humble in heart,

and you will find rest

for your souls.

For my yoke is easy

and my burden

is light.

Now,

see there

that Jesus

again claims

that he is the one

who is in control,

he is in charge,

he is the one

who claims the authority

to tell you

how you should live.

But that's not

an onerous,

terrible thing.

Jesus says

that that is actually

the path of true freedom

in following him.

So if Jesus is the son,

it means that he is

for everyone.

If Jesus is the son,

it means also

that he is in charge.

Then finally,

if Jesus is in charge,

sorry,

if Jesus is the son,

it means that he is

the one who brings

salvation.

And through him,

we come to recognize,

in fact,

how precious

and how costly

our salvation is.

The third passage

that we would look at

is in Genesis

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22.

God had called out

to Abraham,

Abraham,

and then in verse 2

he says,

take your son,

your only son,

Isaac,

whom you love.

Now again,

when Jesus,

when the father

says to Jesus,

this is my son

whom I love,

he's clearly echoing

the language

of Genesis

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22.

But this passage

in Genesis 22

is perhaps

the most difficult

passage of the ones

we've looked at,

partly because salvation

is hard for us.

It can be difficult

for us to acknowledge

that we need

to be saved,

but also simply

because this passage

is difficult.

Notice what we read here.

Take your son,

your only son,

Isaac,

whom you love,

and go to the region

of Moriah.

We know,

interestingly,

interestingly enough

that that is the temple.

It's the area

where the temple

would be built

in Jerusalem.

That's where Moriah was.

That's where Abraham

was called to go.

But notice what God

tells him to do.

Sacrifice him there

as a burnt offering

on one of the mountains

that I will tell you about.

We read that

and we tremble.

It is God

commanding Abraham

to offer his son

as a sacrifice.

Our society,

understandably,

has a profound fear

of religious fanaticism.

And a religion

that would lead you

to sacrifice

your own child

would be the very worst

possible kind

of fanaticism.

And so we find

this passage

very troubling

and we wonder

what on earth

is going on here.

we should appreciate

that we are not

the first people

to find this passage

troubling.

The people of Israel

for whom this book

was written,

they would have been

troubled by this,

not least because

their God himself

had told them

that they mustn't

ever worship him

in this way.

He pointed out

that that's the way

the nations around them

worshiped their gods,

but he said

that that was an abomination

and that they must

not do that,

that it was a very

great evil.

And yet we come

to this passage

and it would appear

that that is what

God is telling

Abraham to do.

Now as it happens,

as we read through

Genesis 22,

it makes it clear

that that is not

ultimately

what God intended.

Some people commenting

on this passage

have pointed out

that in Abraham's society,

child sacrifice

is as horrific

as it is to us

in their cultures

wouldn't have been

that surprising.

So the thing for them

that would have been

surprising wasn't so much

that a God might ask

for that,

but that in fact

that a God would say

no, stop that.

That is what is surprising.

And then consistently

from this point onward

in the Old Testament,

God says,

you must not ever

do this.

And so what is the point?

Why is it that God

speaks to Abraham

in this way?

So we come to Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

I would suggest

that we see at least

one profound lesson

that is being taught here.

God in Matthew chapter 3,

Matthew 3:17

verse 17,

is echoing the language

of this passage

and he is using it

to describe his own son,

his beloved son.

As we think about

what that means,

I think it's helpful

for us to call to mind

two things

that I mentioned previously.

one thing,

I suggested

that everybody

seeks acceptance.

We seek acceptance

with other people.

Ultimately,

we seek acceptance

with God.

And when Christians

speak about salvation,

that's one of the ways

you could understand salvation.

It means to be accepted

by God,

to know that he loves you,

to know that he's

forgiven your sins.

acceptance.

So,

we all seek acceptance.

The other thing

that I mentioned

was that quote

from Dostoevsky,

that if there is no God,

anything is permissible.

But of course,

the whole point of that

is that not everything

is permissible

because there is a God.

And that God

who exists

is judge.

He is the one

to whom all people

are accountable.

and he is a just judge.

If you think

of human judges,

you can get just judges,

you can get corrupt judges.

A just judge

will not condemn

the innocent.

He will not justify

the wicked.

A crooked judge

would simply

let the guilty

walk free.

That's not

the kind of judge

that God is.

But then you begin

to see perhaps

that there is

a tension

between those two things

that I've mentioned.

Our desire

for acceptance

with God

and the fact

that God

is a just judge.

We tend

to think

that our salvation

is easy for God.

I think if we're honest,

we tend to view salvation

almost as something

that God owes us.

to be a good

God

but what if we've

sinned?

What if we have

done wicked things?

It's easy for us

to think of other people

whom we reckon

to be bad people

but what if we're

the problem?

What if we are

the bad people?

Then how is it

that we can find

acceptance

with a God

who is perfectly just?

So you see,

for God to save us

is not in fact

an easy thing.

Had God simply said,

well yes,

you've sinned,

yes,

you've done horrible things

but let's just forget

about that.

Had God done that,

he wouldn't be just.

In order for God

to be just

and the God

who saves us,

he himself

needed to satisfy

his justice

and we get a glimpse

of that here.

Remember where

Abraham was

as he was traveling

along with

his beloved son.

He was traveling

to Moriah.

He was traveling

to the place

that would ultimately

be Jerusalem

and as he was traveling

there,

he was going

to the place

where he thought

that he was going

to have to sacrifice

his beloved son

and you can't read

Genesis 22

without your heart

being moved.

It's a fearful passage

and yet ultimately

at the last moment

there was that voice

that cried out

staying Abraham's hand

and stopping that.

He didn't sacrifice

his son.

But here in Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

we find the reality.

Here we have

our heavenly father

and his beloved son

and in a few short years

they will be traveling

together to Jerusalem.

Except this time

there will be no stain

of the sacrifices

to be made.

The son will be

sacrificed upon the cross.

And why is it

that that happened?

Why would God

do that to his beloved son?

Well he did it for us.

For God so loved the world

that he gave

his one and only son

that whoever believes

in him

might not perish

but have everlasting life.

And as you've begun

to understand that

as you see Matthew

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and the whole of Matthew's

gospel

in light of Genesis 22

we read about

this relationship

of a father

and his beloved son

and our hearts

are torn

as we think

of what Abraham

must have gone through.

God is revealing

to us

that that is

how much he loved us.

in spite of your sin

he loved you

so much

that he was willing

to give his son

that Jesus

would endure

what we deserve

that our sins

might be forgiven.

God didn't simply say

we'll just forget

about your sin

your sin doesn't matter.

He paid the price

himself

so that he is just

and also

the one who accepts you

and loves you

and forgives you.

and that's the thing

that transforms

everything else

that we've looked at

doesn't it?

Why does it make

any difference

that Jesus

is for everybody?

Why should you care

if Jesus is for you?

Because Jesus

is the one

who loved you

and gave his life

for you

that through him

you might be forgiven.

Why should we

give our lives to him?

Why should we

recognize that he

is in charge

of our lives?

Why should we

willingly accept

his direction

in our lives?

Well again

because he loved you

so much

that he gave himself

for you.

What does it mean

for Jesus

to be the son of God?

As we think of that

we see lastly

that it means

that Jesus

is the one

who brings salvation.

Not only does he

bring salvation

but we come

to understand

through him

how much

that salvation

caused.

Christ.

So as we think

about what it means

for Jesus

to be the son

of God

if Jesus

is the son

it means

that he is

for everyone.

Because Jesus

is the son

of God

it means

that he

is in charge.

And because

he is the son

of God

it means

that he

is the one

who brings

us salvation.

to be the son

of God

to be the son

of God

is in charge.

Of course

of God

we see

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