Were continuing our series, Looking Under the Hood. Were talking about not just the what of our faith but the why and the how. This morning we are turning our attention to understanding why the church believes that Christ is divine and not just a man, not just a good teacher or even a Prophet. Why do we believe He is God incarnate? Many of you know Im a Bears fan. I have not attempted to hide that fact over the years. Years ago, it was a Sunday night game, and the Bears were playing the Falcons. To show you what a diehard fan I am, it was seven below zero for that Sunday night game. It was just freezing. The quarterback that we had-this was B.C., before Cutler. If youre a sports fan, you understand that. We had a quarterback by the name of Rex Grossman who was hurt. His backup, Kyle Orton, was in the game, and he was not doing well. Everybody in the stands was cheering, Rex! Rex! Rex! Rex! In the second half, he comes running out-the first action since his injury, and the place goes nuts. Hes moving the ball, we scored and we won the game. Everybody loved him, Rex is a savior! Rex is going to lead us to the Promised Land. The next year, he was not having a good season. I made my annual voyage to Soldier Field. While he was playing, they were booing basically every time he came onto the field. We want Orton back! We want the other guy back! The guy that we booed last year-now were cheering him, and we want him in the game. The guy that we cheered for last year-the guy that was our savior-were now booing him and we want him out! I just remember thinking to myself how fickle people are, how fickle we are. Friends, people have not changed. If people are fickle now, they were fickle in the times of the Bible too. This crowd-this Palm Sunday that we reflect on and are chanting, Here comes the King! Hosanna Lord, save us! Those who are pledging their allegiance to Him, throwing down their cloaks and throwing down their palm branches, some of that same crowd just days later is going to be cheering for Him to be crucified. They dont like the idea of the Messiah being arrested or the Messiah being beaten. Thats not their idea of the Messiah. The Messiah is to come and conquer. Hes going to lead, and there were times when they tried to get Jesus to be king if you recall; and He rejected those attempts, but the crowd was fickle. Thats how people are. Jesus was not a safe teacher. There are some churches in America where you hear a very different Gospel. They try to present Jesus as somebody who is very safe, somebody who only said nice things like turn the other cheek and love your enemies- the Golden Rule. But Jesus was anything but a safe teacher. In fact the Bible says that many of the things Jesus said were scandalous. The Old Testament-the Prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would be a scandalon. Peter in 1 Peter 2:8 said that Jesus was a scandalon. That meant a trap, a rock of offense, something that causes people to stumble and fall. Jesus was not safe. Jesus said things that were controversial. Jesus said things that caused men to stumble in their walk and their faith-not in the sense of telling them air, but in the sense that though it was true, they could not understand it. It was offensive to say the things that He said about Himself. Still today, if you say that Christ is God in the flesh, it is offensive to people. Say that to somebody who is an Orthodox Jew and see what their response is. Say that to somebody who is committed to Allah-that Jesus was not just a Prophet but He is the divine Son of God, and watch the response. The response to the things that Jesus said was very strong in the times of the Bible. In fact there were times when He said things that were so egregious that they immediately were filled with rage and wanted to kill Him. Have you ever heard somebody say something that just enraged you instantly? Maybe youre traveling abroad and somebody says something about your country, says something about Americans, and it just makes you mad. I remember I was a pretty peaceful kid growing up. In grade school, I got into a couple scraps. Both times it was when they said something about my mom. Say anything you want about me, but if you say something about my mama, theres trouble. To this day if you say something about my mom, Ill punch you in the nose. If someone says something about your child or somebody that is precious to you, it immediately causes this visceral reaction, this rage. If somebody says something derogatory about your God or if somebody says something blasphemous about Jesus… Maybe youre watching television. Theyll do something that mocks Christ. Tell me that doesnt cause anger to well up inside of you. Friends, there were things Jesus said about Himself, things that He did that caused this kind of anger-this kind of rage. Were going to join the story here in John 8 of a dialogue that has become increasingly tense between the Pharisees and Jesus. Keep in mind that the Pharisees are the religious leaders. The Pharisees are the ones who claim to know God the most. Yet, they were the very ones that Christ had the most confrontations with. In Verse 48 of John 8 (page 1060 of pew Bibles), The Jews answered Him and said, Arent we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed? To call Christ a Samaritan was a racial slur. Think of a racial slur, something very derogatory you could say about another race that would cause instant anger. Thats what theyre seeking to entice in Christ; by calling Him a Samaritan, they are making a racially prejudice remark designed to get under His skin-designed to cause Him to become angry or to be hurt. Of course, saying Hes possessed of a demon is to have a similar effect. I am not possessed by a demon, said Jesus, but I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. I am not seeking glory for Myself; but there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death. Thats a controversial thing to say, isnt it? Now Hes talking here not about physical death, but Hes talking about spiritual death. They understand it to be physical death. …the Jews exclaimed, Now we know that You are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the Prophets, yet You say that if anyone keeps Your Word, he will never taste death. Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the Prophets. Who do You think You are? Thats an interesting question. Thats a question that people have been trying to answer for many centuries. Who is Jesus? Who did He claim to be? Some would have us believe that Hes just a man, that He taught that He was just a man, or that His followers believed He was nothing more than a great man or a Prophet of God. Were going to listen right now to a short clip before we finish this text from the movie, Da Vinci Code, which we started last week. Last week, by the way, over 40 percent of you were gone because of the weather; so we did talk about the credibility of the New Testament and how the Bible came to be. You might want to pick that up as part of your series in case you missed it. We showed a clip from the Da Vinci Code with Leigh Teabing, also known as Professor X or Gandalf the Grey. It is talking about how the Bible came to be and how the deity of Christ came to be, so lets listen to what he says. Well I could take the remainder of our time this morning and correct a lot of the things that he said there. Im not going to do that because thats not our topic, but the deity of the Christ-the divinity of Christ-was not at stake at Nicaea. Nicaea was about whether He was equal with the Father and co-eternal with the Father; or the same substance as the Father; or was He of a similar substance-still divine but also created by God? That was the debate. Bishops from around the world-the east and the west-gathered in Nicaea. They did hold a vote; they did adopt a creed. The vote was over 300 to 2. There were 2 that sided with whats called Aryanism-that He is a created being. The majority of the bishops-99 point some percent of the bishops-said and affirmed the deity of Christ, what the church had always believed. Lets look at history. Does it make sense that the Apostles died for their faith-that they thought that Christ was just a man or a Prophet? That would not get them killed. Would it make sense that under Nero and other emperors that Christians would be fed to the lions and burned alive at the stake if all they thought was that Christ was a man? They were tortured and killed because they would not worship the Roman gods; because they would not worship Caesar as God; because their allegiance was to Christ as God. So where does that come from? Where does this whole idea of the divinity of Christ come from? It comes from Christ Himself. It comes from the words that He spoke. Remember this dialogue that were in, and its getting increasingly agitated. Theyre getting increasingly hot under the collar, so theyve resorted to name calling back and forth. Who do you think You are? Jesus replied in Verse 54, If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the One who glorifies Me. Though you do not know Him, I know Him. Understand Hes saying this to the religious leaders. These are the poster boys for faith, and Jesus has the audacity to say, You dont even know God! That's certainly going to demand a response! Though you do not know Him, I know Him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you… Well, that will calm things down right away. But I do know Him and keep His Word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day. He saw it and was glad. Oh, time out. Wait a second now; youve just taken a train to crazy town here. You are saying that You saw Abrahams response to Your coming? Abraham is a couple thousand years old, right? You have to be thinking this? You would think somebody was delusional if they are being patriotic and she or he says, You know, when our country signed the Declaration of Independence, what a great day that was! I remember watching George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and seeing the smiles on their faces when they signed that document! Youd go, You know, come on! Who are you kidding? So thats what they say to Jesus. They say, Youre not even fifty years old, and Youve seen Abraham? You have to know that some are chuckling and laughing. This guy is wacked! He is absolutely crazy if He thinks He has seen Abraham with His own eyes. Then Jesus is going to take the conversation to another level. He is going to say something that is so controversial that causes such anger that the dialogue is going to end. Its going to end with them wanting to kill Him. I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, before Abraham was born, I am! At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. If your Bible says, I am He, the He will be in italics. Most of your Bibles will simply say, I am. Why did that so enrage the Pharisees? The words I am or the verb to be is the covenant name for God. In the Old Testament when God appears to Moses in the burning bush, thats whats called a theophany or physical manifestation of the presence of God that can be seen by the eye of man. Moses is told to go to Pharaoh to say, Let my people go, and he says, Who shall I say sent me? God says through the burning bush, Tell him I am. Tell them I am has sent you, so that became the covenant name for God. Jehovah, Yahweh, I am. So when Jesus takes and says, Before Abraham was born, I am, He has taken the covenant name of God to Himself and applying it to Himself. They understand that, and you can tell they understand it because theyre going to pick up rocks. If He is just a crazy man, hed be like, Yeah, Im 2,000 years old! I lived before Abraham! Whoo! Im crazy! Theyre not going to pick up rocks; theyre going to feel sorry for the guy. Theyd probably pat Him on the back and go, Okay, sure you were. Thats all right, pal. Yeah, sure, You knew Abraham. Lets leave Him alone. Hes nuts! But straight-faced, He takes the covenant name for God to Himself, meaning that He saw Abrahams day. It gets worse after that. John 10, Jesus is talking about the fact that Hes our good shepherd-that were His flock. He even talks about you and me here, literally. In Verse 16, He says, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen… Thats Gentiles. …I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock… Following this discourse, many of these same people confront Christ again in Verse 19. At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to Him? But others said, These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? They start to use their reason. Demon-possessed people froth at the mouth; they cut themselves; they growl; they snarl. They dont teach as Christ taught. They dont say things that will stump the wisest theologian of the day. No, no-these are not the words of a crazy man. There must be another explanation. Verse 22, Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. Whats that? Do you know what that is? Its winter-thats a clue. Its Hanukkah; its the Festival of lights. Its the rededication of the temple when Maccabeus drove out Antiochus, Epiphanies and the Seleucids. Actually for a period of time, Jerusalem is in control of their destiny. Theyre not under Rome; theyre not under anybody. Its a very happy time in the history of Israel. Jesus comes, and Hes celebrating that. Its the Feast of Dedication; its Hanukkah. While Hes walking there in Solomons Colonnade, it said that Jews gathered around Him. Theyre curious-who is this Man? They say, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. He has their curiosity aroused. Apparently, taking the covenant name of Jehovah on to Himself was not enough. Some want more proof. Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in My Fathers name speak for Me. Its interesting, and this is an apologetic in and of itself, the miracles of Christ testify to His deity. Do they not? If you have control over the elements, if you have control over life and death, is that not a testament to the deity of Christ? Whats more is the critics of Christ-the enemies of Christ-do not question the miracles. That is an apologetic. That is a defense of the faith. They try to come up with other rational explanations for the miracles, but they never question the miracles. They become angry about how He did it and when He did it, but they never question the fact that He did it. So before you got me off track, where was I here? He says, …but you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life… That is a bold thing to say, to tell someone you give them eternal life-that you have the authority and capability to give someone eternal life. …and they shall never parish; no one shall snatch them out of my hand. They understand when He says My Father that Hes speaking about God in Heaven. My Father is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Fathers hand. I and the Father are one. Some have taught that when He says one, it means Hes in agreement with God. Theyre on the same page. Hes saying, Yeah God! Im on Gods side. Were one. Were united. Were a team! Really, does that get rocks thrown at you? If you go to religious people, and you say, Hey, thumbs up for God, are they going to try to kill you? No, theyre going to go, Oh, okay. Yeah, youre one of us. You love God too. Would you say that these people understood the language Christ was speaking and that words meant better than the scholars that are alive today? If English became extinct like Koinonia Greek is no longer spoken, if our English-our modern-day English became extinct, in 2,000 years from now if somebody was an expert in English, would they understand the language better than us who lived it? No way. We would know the language better than them. Even the most-learned scholar 2,000 years from now would not understand our language because we speak it every day. Make no mistake about it when Christ claims the oneness with the Father, they understand He is referencing His equality with God. That is seen by their words; that is seen by their response. It says, Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me? We are not stoning You for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be God. The understanding that Christ is divine comes from none other than Christ Himself. It is what the early church taught and believed. It was not the result of a council in Nicaea in 325 A.D. It was not the decree of an emperor. It was from the words of Christ Himself. The visceral response was, Were going to murder You! The law said in Leviticus if somebody blasphemes God, you stone them; but that was only after trial and evidence and a jury made a verdict. Then you were sentenced and then you were stoned. They were saying, Were going to be Your judge and Your jury. Were going to kill You right now! They were so angry, so offended. He is a scandalon; He is a rock of offense that causes men to stumble. That was a scandalous thing to say, and, friends, it still is. If someone were to say the things that Jesus said, you would be offended. You certainly would not follow them. Jesus said to see Him was to see God; to know Him was to know God; to believe in Him was to believe in God; to obey Him was to obey God; to follow Him was to follow God; to serve Him was to serve God. He was the source of eternal life; no one came to God but through Him; that He was the way to Heaven; He was the truth of God. Can you imagine? Ill pick on Pastor Jerry now. Hes not here, so Ill pick on him. Oh, he is here. Sorry, Jerry. Ill do it anyway. You go to Pastor Jerrys class. I dont normally do that, Jerry. I dont pick on you because youre not here. Anyway, Im in big trouble. Jerrys a good teacher, so you go to one of his classes. Ill always ask, Hey, how was that marriage class with Pastor Jerry today? Its a normal conversation. Ill hear, Oh, it was great. So you go to Pastor Jerrys class, How was Pastor Jerrys class? It was great! Thats good to hear. Hes a good teacher! Yeah, yeah. We learned a lot today. I learned this and that. I am like, Wonderful! Great, Im glad you liked the class. The next week, I say, How was class with Pastor Jerry? Oh, it was really good. Today Pastor Jerry told us hes athletic. Yeah, he is. He played three sports, and hes a pretty athletic guy. Hes a coach; yeah thats true. Yeah, hes an athletic guy. I see you the next week, How were things with Pastor Jerry? Oh, it was a great class. Jerry is a good Bible teacher. Today he told us that he was strong, and he broke a railroad tie with his hands. These are things Jerry actually does-truthfully. Hes won some contests-bench press contests. Hes a strong guy. He told us that today. Well, thats true. He is a strong guy. How was class with Jerry? I ask the next week. Oh, it was good. Jerry told us today hes a good-looking man. Well, yeah. Jerrys a good-looking guy, sure. And he reminded us again that he was athletic. Well, yeah, he is. I see you the next week, How was class with Pastor Jerry? Well, you know, hes a good teacher, but today he told us that if we saw him, we saw God, and he told us that hes the way to Heaven. He did? Are you sure you werent mistaken? No, he wrote it on the board, Im the way to Heaven. Im the truth, and no one gets to Heaven but through me. Now what do you think about Pastor Jerry? Do you think hes a great teacher still, or do you think maybe hes cuckoo? He has issues, loco in the cabeza. Good teachers dont go around claiming to be God. That's the point of C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis says, Look at the claims of Christ. You have the same choices to make about the words of Christ according to Scripture as you would with our hypothetical story of Pastor Jerry. Either he is crazy, delusional, really believes that he is the Messiah-you could go into any psychiatric ward in the country and you could find a lot of Jesuses… But nobody believes them. Theyre not walking on any water. Or, around our world today there are cult leaders. Right now there is a Hispanic-Latin man who is teaching that hes Jesus, and people believe him-whether you know that or not. They believe he is God incarnate. He smokes; he drinks; he tells people there is no sin. Sin is a bad word. This is true! People believe he is the incarnation of Christ. Hes rich; hes making a lot of money. Hes living quite a lifestyle. You could say, Well, hes trying to deceive people. He knows hes not. In that case, hes wicked. Listen, Jesus said in John 8 to His enemies, Who among you accuses Me of sin? Try saying that even to your family. Go to your family and say, Hey, have I ever done anything wrong? Do that to your friends, Hey, youve never seen me do anything wrong, have you? We laugh, but try doing that with your enemies. Go to somebody who doesnt like you-if there is such a person-and say, Hey, Ive never done anything wrong, have I? That takes a lot of nerve to go to your enemies and say, Who of you accuses Me of sin, and have silence be the response. Jesus is a moral man. No one questioned that. Hes an intelligent man. Nobody thought He was crazy. Whats our third alternative? Our third alternative is He is who He claimed to be. He is Lord. His miracles testify; His Resurrection testifies that He is who He claimed to be. Now this kind of an understanding of the nature of Jesus should not be reserved to a theological discussion, a creed or an intellectual statement or doctrine. This truth demands much more personal response, an emotional spiritual response. In the same Book, we find the story of a man who had been born blind. Jesus encounters him begging and uses him as a moment to teach. He says in Verse 5 of Chapter 9 (page 1061 of pew Bibles), While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. He spits upon the mud, and He makes clay and rubs it on the mans eyes. He tells him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. The mans eyes are open, and he begins to see. For the first time in his life, he sees color. He sees people; he sees his own hand; he sees trees; he sees water. His senses are overwhelmed. This man who was a beggar now has sight, and the people who have seen him year after year after year-the people are coming up to him and saying, Arent you the guy? Who did this to you? What happened? They ask him in Verse 10, How were your eyes opened? He replied, The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. Where is this man? they asked him. I dont know, he said. How does he see Jesus? He sees Him as a man. Hes a pretty special man, but as far as this man knows, Hes a man. Thats all he knows. Then they bring him before the Pharisees. The Pharisees ask him what happened. He tells them the same story again. The Pharisees say, Well, this man is not from God. He doesnt keep the Sabbath. Theyre not rejoicing in this miracle of a blind man seeing. Theyre upset because it happened on the Sabbath day when you shouldnt work. To make mud was to work. …How can a sinner do such miraculous signs? others asked. Finally they turned to the blind man and said, What do you have to say about Him? It was your eyes He opened. The man replied, He is a Prophet. His viewpoint has changed, hasnt it? I now dont just see Him as a man, I see Him as a Prophet of God. I have new understanding of who He is because of what He has done. He couldnt possibly be just a man. The dialogue deteriorates here. As they question the man, he gets a little snotty. He gets a little bit too big for his britches, and they cast him out of the synagogue. Who are you to talk to us like that? You were born in sin. Were the leaders, and get out of here, so they kick him out. Verse 35, it says, Jesus heard that theyd thrown him out, and when He found him… Who found whom? Did the blind man find Jesus, or did Jesus find the blind man? Jesus found the blind man, and it still works that way, friends. God is a seeker. God is the initiator. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If youve found Christ today, its not that you found Christ; its that Christ found you. Christ is the seeker of the souls of men. He said, Do you belive in the Son of Man? Jesus still asks that question. The Son of Man, by the way, comes from the Book of Daniel. In Daniel, he prophesized about the Son of Man receiving a kingdom from the ancient of days-thats an eternal kingdom, and that Hell rule over that kingdom for all of eternity. So it was understood that the Son of Man was a Messianic figure, the Son of God. This is one like the Son of God who received a kingdom that would last forever. Jesus takes that prophesy from Daniel, and He applies it to Himself. Again, an assertion of deity. Who is He, sir? the man asked. Tell me so that I may believe in Him. Jesus said, You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you. In other words, I am the Son of Man. The man replied, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped Him. How had he changed? Hed gone from seeing Him as a man to a Prophet, and now he sees Him as Lord. Hes the Lord, and he worships Him. What does Jesus do when the man worships Him? Does Jesus say, Oh, dont worship Me. Im just a Man. Dont worship Me! Im a Prophet!? Anytime in the Bible like somebody like Paul or Peter or a Prophet-when people try to worship them, what did they do? An angel? Dont worship me. Im just a man! When Jesus is worshipped, what does He do? He receives the worship. He receives the worship. Only God receives worship, right? Correct. By Jesus receiving the worship, that also is a statement of deity. Jesus still demands a response from every single person. The Jesus that we preach here is not a safe Jesus. Hes not just a good teacher that walks around blessing everybody, healing people and saying, Love your neighbor. He is a Jesus that came and died for your sins. He is a Jesus that said, Unless you believe I am He, you will remain in your sins. He is a Jesus who said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me. Friends, those words are as offensive as when they were spoken to some people. That is a stumbling block for them. But there are many ways to God! There are many sources of salvation! they will say. There is only One who died for you, and that is Christ. There is only One qualified to save your soul; and that is Jesus. Its a scandal. Its a stumbling block. One of my favorite artists-I dont know if hes recording music so much anymore, but because he is a scholar and a theologian, he wrote some very rich music. One of his most famous tunes, Love Crucified a Rose, will be sung on Easter Sunday around the nation. His name is Michael Card. He wrote a song called, Scandalon, using this Greek word, using this Old Testament Prophesy from Isaiah about the Messiah. Were going to listen to song-just text only. There are no images in this one. Lets reflect on Michal Cards song. (Click here for lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/m/michaelcard9232/lovecrucifiedarose543715.html). It is my prayer today that if youre here this morning, and you dont know Christ, you can know Him today. It is Jesus who we studied and learned so much about and longs to have a relationship with you. Pray this with me: If youre here this morning, you do not know Christ and you wish to respond to Him today-Heavenly Father, I come to You today in Jesus name. Lord, I believe in my heart that You are the Son of God, that You died in my place upon the cross and that You rose again on the third day-that Youre Lord. I give my life to You, my soul to You. Forgive my sins and cleanse me. I pray your Holy Spirit would enter my life, empower me to live for You all my days and that one day I will live with You in Heaven for all eternity. In Jesus name. Father, for those who prayed that prayer, extended their faith, received You by faith, Your promise is their sins are forgiven. A miracle of a different kind is taking place, a miracle that we cannot see with our eyes, but we can know with our hearts a new life in Christ is theirs. Lord, weve tried to present an accurate representation of what You taught and what You did at our church, that You are not a safe teacher. Your message was a very dangerous one, and there were many who fell. It was a scandalous thing and still is to say that a human being is divine. You demonstrated that not only through Your teaching as You taught as no man has ever taught; and only through Your miracles which even your enemies could not dismiss; but Lord most importantly through Your Resurrection and the empty tomb. Next week well talk about that. Well invite friends, families, coworkers and neighbors to come and hear this message, to come and hear the story of the Savior who loved them, who was crucified and who rose again. I pray even now that You prepare hearts, grant us favor as we speak, that this place would be full of people who want to hear the good news of Christ. Lord, like the blind man who had seen physically and then began to see spiritually, might we see You for who You are. Might we celebrate that every day of our lives-that the God of the universe visited this planet and that He gives our life meaning, significance and purpose-we might be determined all the more to live for You. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.