Who Is the Christ?

So I have a son who is eight years old,

and one of his favorite books when he was younger

was a picture book called Kitten's First Full Moon.

And in this children's story,

Kitten, who's this very endearing character,

looks up and sees the full moon,

and poor little kitten thinks it's a bowl of milk.

So the book follows Kitten's misadventures

trying to get that bowl of milk that she sees up in the sky.

Kitten ends up with bugs in her mouth.

Kitten falls off the porch.

Kitten even climbs up a tree,

and when she climbs up the tree,

she sees the reflection of the moon in the pond below,

leaps into the pond thinking she's found the bowl of milk,

look, splash, she has only found water.

In the story, Kitten has a preconception,

which seems like a very big word for Kitten,

but Kitten does have a preconception.

Her preconception is that the moon is a bowl of milk,

and this belief guides Kitten's actions.

Today, we are looking at this question.

Is Jesus the Christ?

Christ.

Is Jesus the Christ?

The Christ is another word for Messiah.

They are exactly the same word.

They are simply translated from one language to the other.

And the Messiah, the Christ, is the one who is foretold,

the expected deliverer of the Jews.

And so we have that question today.

Is Jesus the Christ?

To answer this question,

we are going to examine some preconceptions.

A preconception.

A preconception is a preconceived idea,

a presumption, an assumption,

a prejudice, a bias,

an opinion performed beforehand.

And today, we are going to examine four preconceptions.

Now, these aren't the same notions that people have about Jesus today.

These preconceptions that we look at,

we won't say,

oh, that's some of the same things that I see people thinking.

But,

we are asking the same fundamental question

that the people at Jesus' time are asking.

Is Jesus the Christ?

The setting for this passage

comes at a very challenging time

of Jesus' ministry.

We've seen in the previous chapter

that Jesus,

many of his disciples,

have begun to turn away.

They have found his teachings difficult and untenable,

and they have gone their own way.

Jesus, who once had these many adoring crowds,

has now looked up

and seen his followers dwindle.

And while the twelve still remain,

the crowds no longer seem to be following him quite the same.

In addition to that,

we now find in verse 1

that the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Now people are trying to kill Jesus.

Also part of our setting for our story today

is the Feast of Booths,

sometimes also called

the Feast of Tabernacle.

This is an eight-day celebration.

It's an eight-day celebration

where the Jews remember

they're wandering in the desert.

After Moses has led the people out of Egypt

in that miraculous escape

and across the crossing of the Red Sea,

they are then led into the wilderness.

And they will spend 40 years in the wilderness

before they finally reach the promised land.

And this Feast of Booths,

it remembers God's provision for the people

when they were in that 40-year journey

across the wilderness.

And it's called Feast of Booths

because part of this celebration

is that the people would live in temporary dwellings,

hence the term Booths.

Also as part of this festival

is that people would go to Jerusalem.

So they would travel on their way to Jerusalem.

With this setting in mind,

let's look at our first preconception.

And that's that Jesus wants to be popular.

As the feast begins,

Jesus' brothers,

those are the children of Mary and Joseph,

they tell Jesus,

go to the feast.

And we can see where their advice is coming from.

Their advice is coming

because many of Jesus' followers

are no longer with him.

The crowds no longer seem to be gathering around him.

And so they have a plan for Jesus.

We see that plan in verse 4.

For no one who works in secret,

if he seeks to be known openly,

if you do these things,

show yourself to the world.

We see their advice.

Jesus, go to Jerusalem.

That's where all the people will be.

Be seen, Jesus.

You've been working kind of in the backwoods of Galilee.

Now it's time to go big time.

Go to Jerusalem.

Go to the crowds.

When you do the signs that you've done,

think of all the people

that will be following you.

But this advice is based off of the preconception

that Jesus wants to be popular.

Jesus' siblings thinks

that he wants adoring crowds,

just like he had earlier.

But Jesus responds to his siblings in verse 7.

He tells them,

the world hates me

because I testify that its works are evil.

Jesus' message will not be enthusiastically received

by these crowds.

The reason Jesus' messages will not be well received

is because Jesus is confronting people about their sin.

He's telling them that your works are evil.

He is calling out their sin.

He is calling out their failure

to follow God completely.

And this message will not be received.

So the question that we have today,

is Jesus the Christ?

Jesus' siblings here in this chapter,

when they ask this question,

is Jesus the Christ?

They say, no.

The Christ will be beloved by all.

And Jesus is not.

Jesus' siblings do not think he is the Christ.

As we think about communicating Jesus to others,

here are some things I want you to keep in mind.

The first thing is that his message

is not a popular message.

People are not really that interested

in hearing their sins confronted.

People are not interested

in hearing their failures brought before them.

But let's not defang the message of Jesus.

The message of Jesus,

it's not all about rainbows, unicorns, and cupcakes.

Jesus testifies against the evil of this world.

And if we downplay Jesus' testimony

against the evil of this world,

we present a faulty caricature.

We don't accurately represent who Jesus is.

The second preconception that we're going to look at today

is that Jesus lacks authority.

The passage continues on,

and we learn that Jesus decides to visit the feast.

But he decides to go in private,

and not publicly,

as his sibling suggested.

At the feast,

Jesus seems to be a popular topic of conversation.

You can imagine

if people from all across the area

have gathered together in one place.

And they've heard about the signs and wonders

that Jesus has done,

and the amazing things that are happening.

And so the people begin to discuss Jesus among themselves.

But,

they do so very quietly.

Because as we said,

Jesus doesn't bring a popular message,

and not everyone is eager to hear about them.

And we see in verse 13,

but for fear of the Jews,

no one spoke openly of him.

So Jesus seems to be on everyone's mind,

and even perhaps on everyone's lips,

but not in open conversation for others to see.

As Jesus goes to Jerusalem,

he teaches at the temple.

It seems like we always find Jesus at the temple,

don't we?

If you read the story of Jesus,

he always seems to be teaching,

whether in the synagogue or the temple.

He just seems to can't get away from that desire

to speak God's truth to people.

And once again,

we find Jesus,

who has now entered the city very privately,

but now founds himself in a public place

to teach others.

After hearing Jesus,

the Jews marvel.

They are very impressed by Jesus,

as is we often find.

Whenever Jesus speaks and teaches,

people marvel.

They understand that he is someone

who has great insight.

And while they may not agree with him,

they recognize his insight,

and his knowledge,

and his understanding.

But these people not only marvel at what Jesus says,

they marvel at his background,

particularly at his lack of instruction.

Jesus hasn't followed the cultural norms

for teaching from the scriptures.

He hasn't been a part of some school of thought,

or sat and learned with the other religious leaders.

And yet he speaks with great authority.

We see the people's confusion there in verse 15.

How is it that this man has learning,

but he has never studied?

People have a preconception.

They believe that Jesus lacks authority.

And the reason they believe that Jesus lacks authority

is because Jesus lacks training from the religious leaders.

Jesus responds to this question of his authority.

And he says that the authority will come from either God

or from the person, from the individual.

As he fleshes this idea, let's see in verse 16.

Jesus says,

My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

Jesus says,

The teaching doesn't come from me.

It comes from God.

Verse 18.

He continues on in looking at this question of whose authority.

The one who speaks on his own authority

seeks only his own glory.

The person.

The individual.

So the question of authority.

Jesus says,

Does it come from God?

Or does it come from the person?

He says the right choice is there in verse 18.

The one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true.

The one who seeks the glory of God

and not the glory of the self is true.

After presenting this dichotomy,

glory of God or glory for the self,

Jesus directs an accusation at the religious leaders.

There in verse 19.

Has not Moses given you the law?

Yet none of you keeps the law.

With this question lingering,

whose glory do the religious leaders seek?

Do they seek the glory of God?

Do they seek glory for themselves?

Jesus offers them an example

from his own ministry.

In John 5,

we find that Jesus heals a man

who has been an invalid for 38 years.

But the religious leaders showed great contempt for this action.

And the reason they showed great contempt

is because it had taken place on the Sabbath.

We find Jesus,

as he's responding to this question of whose authority.

Continue there in verse 16.

And this is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus.

Because he had done these things on the Sabbath.

The religious leaders are greatly upset

that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath.

And Jesus confronts them about this flaw in their thinking.

Jesus says to them,

look, the law has come to make people well.

The law has come to put our relationship right with God.

And you're using it to worry about such little and petty things

as what day a healing takes place?

Jesus says, consider the law.

Consider circumcision.

It says,

when circumcision falls on the Sabbath,

do you not circumcise the boy?

The answer is yes, they do.

Jesus says,

if you can make one part of that body well,

if you can make one part of that body right,

then what's wrong with me making the entire body well,

making the whole body well?

Well,

as Jesus offers that example

to the religious leaders,

it becomes clear that Jesus has won the dispute.

If Jesus' premise is accepted,

that authority comes from God

in seeking the glory of God,

or authority comes from the person

in seeking the glory of the person,

the question then lingers,

which authority do the religious leaders possess?

Jesus says that we are to judge

with right judgment.

Authority, Jesus will say,

does not come from position.

It does not come from power.

It does not come from status.

It does not come from a title.

Authority comes from right judgment.

So is Jesus the Christ?

That's the question we're asking today.

Is Jesus the Christ?

The religious leaders say,

no,

the Christ will be like us.

The Christ will be trained like us,

and teaching like us,

and instruction like us.

So the religious leaders say,

no,

the Christ will be like us.

Yet Jesus makes it clear

that he is not like them at all.

The third preconception

that we are looking at today

is that the Christ

has unknown origins.

Jesus continues to teach in public,

which leads to great confusion

among the crowds.

Remember the crowds

were discussing Jesus,

but in private,

for fear of being overheard.

Yet there's Jesus teaching away.

The people won't even talk about him

in open conversation,

but there's Jesus

in front of everyone teaching.

And so there the crowds

have a bit of a confusing moment

as they look up and wonder,

don't the religious leaders

want him dead?

There he is.

It would seem easy to get,

wouldn't it?

So the crowds begin to think,

well,

maybe the religious leaders

have come to believe in him too.

Maybe that's why

they're not harming him.

Amidst this speculation,

we find there in verse 27,

this idea that is presented.

But we know where this man,

that being Jesus,

but we know where this man

comes from,

and when the Christ appears,

no one will know

where he comes from.

So while they're considering

whether Jesus is the Christ,

they say,

we won't know where the Christ

comes from,

but we know where Jesus

comes from.

So this belief that they

would not know where

the Christ comes from

comes from

is part of their tradition

that has developed.

It was the idea that the Christ

would suddenly appear

on the scene.

This great deliverer

would suddenly appear,

and they would not have

an idea of where the Christ

had come before,

but would just suddenly

be there

to lead the people.

Jesus responds,

and he says,

you do know where I come from,

but I come from God.

So this preconception

that the Christ

has unknown origins

creates a dissonance

of thought among the people.

While they do believe

that the Christ

has unknown origins,

they look at Jesus,

and they say,

he sure seems like the Christ.

He seems like the one.

I think that's the one.

So there's a dissonance

of thought that emerges.

And despite their misgivings,

despite their concerns,

some people believed in Jesus.

We see in verse 31,

yet many of the people

believed in him.

They said,

when the Christ appears,

will he do more signs

than this man has done?

So our question again of the day,

is Jesus the Christ?

Some believe.

Some do not.

Let's take a closer look

at some of those who believe.

One of the interesting things

I want you to see today

is that those who do believe

in this account,

they believe,

despite having absolute certainty,

that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus doesn't quite fit

their exact expectations.

Still,

they made the decision,

the choice,

to believe.

To believe that Jesus

was indeed the Christ.

Christ.

The word believe

comes from the same root word

as faith.

So the idea of believe

and faith,

and the scriptures

are very similar.

We find,

in people

that we know

and meet,

and people that you work with,

and people that live near you,

and friends that you have,

that belief and faith

is a stumbling block

to following Jesus.

Sometimes people

don't want to follow Jesus.

They don't want to take

that step of faith.

And sometimes,

as we think of this,

we look and we say,

the information is there,

and yet,

they choose not to believe.

And,

as we communicate

Jesus to others,

we find that there are

often questions to be had,

concerns to be presented,

reasons to not believe

that they put before us.

Sometimes,

we can't answer

all the questions,

and we can't delay

all their concerns.

But I would remind you,

as you communicate

Jesus to others,

that if every question

could be answered,

belief would not be needed.

If every doubt

could be put aside,

faith would not be required.

People in this account today,

they believe in Jesus

despite their questions

and despite their doubts.

People today

also believe in Jesus.

Despite questions,

despite some doubts,

people still believe.

Now,

I'm not espousing

an irrational belief.

We'll talk more

as we move through

the message,

this idea.

But I do want you to know

that as you communicate

Jesus to others,

we can't answer

all the questions.

We can't answer

all of their doubts.

at some point,

the person makes

a decision to believe.

Just like the people

in this account

made a decision

to believe.

Jesus didn't quite match

what they thought

the Christ should look like.

Jesus didn't quite match

the ideas

that they had grown up with,

that they had developed,

but yet,

they believed.

There's a certain irony

to the people

who doubted Jesus.

Jesus.

They doubted Jesus

because they said,

we will know where,

we will not know

where the Christ comes from,

but we know Jesus.

He comes from Nazareth.

The reality is

that Jesus didn't actually

come from Nazareth

at all,

did he?

That Jesus was

miraculously conceived

and born in Bethlehem.

Thus,

they didn't even know

where Jesus was from,

even though they thought

they did.

Our fourth preconception

that we're going

to look at today

is that Jesus speaks

only about

the physical world.

The religious leaders

of the day,

they finally decide

that they are going

to arrest Jesus.

They've heard enough of him.

And so they send

officers out

to arrest Jesus.

And then Jesus speaks

to the people about this.

There in verse 33,

he says,

I will be with you

a little longer

and then I am going

to him who sent me.

You will seek me

and you will not find me.

Where I am,

you cannot come.

And there's confusion

among the people

as they hear Jesus

speaking this.

Like,

where's Jesus going?

He says he's leaving somewhere?

Is he going to see

the Greeks?

Yes.

And the confusion results

because they think

Jesus is speaking

only about

the physical world.

But we know

that Jesus speaks

spiritual truths.

And Jesus,

as he says,

where I am going,

that you cannot come

and that he will be leaving.

He's looking forward

to his ascension.

He's looking forward

to a time

that is to come.

And so while Jesus

speaks to a time

that is to come,

to a spiritual truth,

the people are confused

because all they think

is in terms

of their physical reality.

we see Jesus then

on the very last day

of the feast

that he declares

to the people

there in verse 37,

If anyone thirsts,

let him come to me

and drink.

Whoever believes in me,

as the scripture has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

This passage,

this idea

that Jesus says,

let him come

to me and drink,

that whoever believes

in me,

as the scriptures

have said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

This idea

connects perfectly

in with the feast

of Booth

that the people

are celebrating.

A significant part

of the feast of Booth

was a water rite

that remembered

Moses' deliverance

of the people

as they were

in the wilderness.

And one of the great things

that they needed

was water.

And God,

working through his leader

Moses,

provides water

for the people

in the wilderness.

And Jesus comes

and his teaching

reflects upon

that moment

of God's deliverance

through Moses

for the provision

of water.

But Jesus says,

you come to me

and there will be

living water.

It's an eternal water.

There will be

no more thirst.

Come to me.

So the question

that we have

been looking at,

is Jesus the Christ?

We do find

that some believe,

as we have seen,

and we see even more

believe there

in verse 40.

This is the Christ.

We have people

who have answered

that question,

yes,

Jesus is the Christ.

Christ.

They believe Jesus

after hearing

his proclamation

about the need

to believe

and that he

is the living water.

But these people,

they did not

understand what

he meant.

These people

did not understand

what he meant

because Jesus,

as he looks to himself

as this living water,

he's looking ahead

to his work

on the cross.

There on the cross,

Jesus will come

and take the sins

of people upon him.

And he will take

those sins

and he will be,

go with him

as he's put up

onto the cross

and there he is crucified.

And there he is

put to death.

And these religious leaders

who have conspired

against him

will have their

day of victory

as they think,

we have finally

put an end to Jesus.

We have finally

put an end

to this man

who teaches

but doesn't have

the same authority

that we have.

We have finally

put an end

to this man

who teaches

and people follow

and believe him.

Is he the Christ?

They will say,

look,

we put him

in the grave.

He's dead.

But we will know

that's not the end

of the story of Jesus.

Right?

Because the grave

couldn't hold him.

The grave held

everyone else

but it could not

hold Jesus.

And Jesus

will defeat

the power of death.

Because he was sinless.

And death

had no claim

upon him.

Jesus will be

resurrected

back to life.

And Jesus

will continue

to live.

And unlike

other people

who have cheated

death,

Jesus will never

face death again.

He has faced

death once

and he has

defeated it.

And when we

believe in Jesus,

we take part

of that.

We take part

of that

resurrection

that Jesus

has that

puts us

right with God.

That makes

our relationship

with God

as it should

be.

And so when

Jesus comes

and he says,

come to me

for the living

water.

Come to me

and drink.

He says,

come to me.

I am the one

who will defeat

the power of death.

I am the one

who will put you

right with God.

So is

Jesus the Christ?

As we have seen,

some answer,

yes.

Yes,

Jesus is the Christ.

But some

don't believe.

Some don't believe.

Finally,

we see that

the religious leaders,

they have come

to arrest Jesus.

The religious leaders

response then

is to send out

these officers

to arrest Jesus.

But as these

officers go out

to arrest Jesus,

they fail to do so.

With this lingering

question,

is Jesus the Christ?

These officers

go and they see

Jesus teaching

and they see

him speaking

and they say,

can't do it.

And of course

they come back

to their superiors

and the superiors

say,

where's Jesus?

Like,

we didn't do it.

Like,

and they say there

in verse 46,

no one ever spoke

like this man.

They've seen

something special

and unique

about Jesus.

And of course

the religious leaders

have great condemnation.

They say,

what?

Have you been tricked

to?

Have you been tricked?

Amidst the

anger on the part

of the religious leaders,

we find Nicodemus

emerging.

Nicodemus

is a character

who emerges

three times

in the book of John.

And in the book

of John,

Nicodemus

is a bit

of a subplot.

If you'll follow

the three instances

of Nicodemus' appearance,

you'll have

the story of John

mostly laid out

for you.

We've seen

Nicodemus

who was a Pharisee,

was a Pharisee,

he was among

the religious leaders.

And he comes

to Jesus

first in John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

And he comes

to Jesus

in secret.

And he comes

to Jesus

with questions.

Jesus,

I need to

understand more.

The second

appearance then

of Nicodemus

is here.

And the third

appearance of Nicodemus,

I'll let you

find that one

on your own.

So Nicodemus

here in his

second appearance

says to the

religious leaders,

there in verse 51.

Does our law

judge a man

without first

giving him a hearing

and learning

what he does?

Nicodemus realizes

that Jesus'

teachings contrast

to their current

notions,

a contrast

to their current

beliefs.

It doesn't fit in

well with what

they've been taught

before.

But he refused

to simply discount

Jesus because

of this contrast.

He offers

this suggestion

to the other

leaders,

to his fellow

religious leaders.

Let's hear more

from Jesus

and give us

ideas,

consideration.

Of course,

the religious leaders,

they refuse

this suggestion.

The religious leaders

have a flaw.

Nicodemus'

suggestion exposes

this fatal flaw

of the religious leaders.

It is this.

The religious leaders

have much knowledge

but no understanding.

They have knowledge

but no understanding.

They have much knowledge

of God that comes

from the study

of the scripture.

They studied the scripture

extensively.

But they have no

understanding

of God's character.

They're oblivious

to the nature of God.

So what does it look

like to have knowledge

but no understanding?

I'll tell you a little

bit of what it looks

like.

It looks like me

when I am trying

to cook.

So when it's my turn

to cook around the house,

my meals tend to start

in a packaged,

frozen dinner.

And I take out

that frozen chicken

that's already been

seasoned and cooked

and heated up.

And then I take out

the vegetables

that are frozen

and I pile them on.

And then I take out

the sauce that came

in the package

and squeeze it on.

Heat it up

and I have developed

a meal.

I have knowledge

of how to provide

a meal for the family.

But if you

were to give me

the raw ingredients

there in the kitchen,

some chicken

and vegetables

and things to make

some sort of sauce,

I could never

reproduce that.

I don't have

understanding

of these things

to be able

to reproduce

that meal.

If you were to put me

on the farm

and say there are

the chickens over there

and there are the crops

over there,

I most certainly

could never

reproduce

that meal.

I have knowledge

of how to cook.

I really don't have

any understanding

of how to cook.

The religious leaders

in the same way.

They have much

knowledge of God,

but they do not

have understanding.

That's what happens

when Jesus comes

is he exposes

their lack

of understanding.

If we want to gain

an understanding

of Jesus,

let's follow the advice

of Nicodemus.

He says,

let's give Jesus

a hearing

and learn what he does

and consider belief.

And how are we going

to do that

in our contemporary context?

I wish I had some

special advice

for you

that you say,

that's the greatest

advice I've ever heard

to understand

and understand more

about who Jesus is.

But really the advice

is quite simple.

Read your Bible.

Read your Bible.

Next thing I would say,

come to a worship service.

It's nice to see you all.

So come to a worship service.

These are two

of the greatest ways

that we have

to develop an understanding

of who Jesus is.

You remember Kitten?

We talked about Kitten

when we started.

Yes.

Kitten,

she thought the moon

was a bowl of milk.

In the story

with Kitten,

the moon

is either

a bowl of milk

or it is not.

In the same way,

Jesus is either

the Christ

or he

is not.

So what do you say?

Do you believe

that Jesus

is the Christ?

There may be

concerns that you have.

There may be

perhaps

misunderstandings

that you have.

There may be

questions that you have.

These need not

keep you

from making that decision

to follow Jesus.

As we've seen

today,

when asked,

is Jesus the Christ?

We've seen people

who said,

it's not quite

what I expected.

But that's the one.

That's the one

in whom I believe.

Kitten,

Kitten went home.

I've got to tell you

how the story

of Kitten.

Kitten went home.

And Kitten,

as she goes home,

she finds a bowl

of milk

waiting for her

on the porch

and lapsed

that milk up,

happy to have

finally found

the milk

that she was

looking for.

Jesus says to us,

if anyone thirsts,

let him come

to me and drink.

Whoever believes

in me,

as the scripture

has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

Today,

the question,

is Jesus the Christ?

What do you say?

Remember,

you can choose belief

because perhaps

like those officers

who were sent

to arrest Jesus,

you realize

there is something

special about him.

Or perhaps

you realize

you have a spiritual thirst

that only Jesus

can satisfy

and you make

that decision

to say,

yes,

Jesus is the Christ.

Let me close

the sermon in prayer.

God,

we come before you

grateful that you

have sent Jesus.

Grateful that you

have sent Jesus

on our behalf

so that we can have

a relationship

with you.

God,

we come,

we are thankful

for his word.

God,

and we acknowledge

his goodness

and his authority

and his sovereignty

over us

and our lives.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.