September 25, 2016 | John 1:1-5, 14-15: Why the Deity of Christ Matters

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening taken from John 1:1-2, 14-15 looking at the doctrine of Christ's deity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. . . . 


¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’”

Audio
Notes


For more:
September 4, 2016 | Ephesians 1:3-14: On Why the Trinity Matter, Part 1
September 4, 2016 | 2 Corinthians 12:4-31: On Why the Trinity Matter, Part 2
September 11, 2016 | Psalm 33:6-17: Why Creation Matters  
September 18, 2016 | Romans 7:14-25: Why the Fall Matters
September 25, 2016 | 1 John 4:2-3: Why the Humanity of Jesus Matters

September 25, 2016 | John 1:1-5, 14-15: Why the Deity of Christ Matters
If Yahweh, then Christ
12 Proofs of Jesus' Deity From the Synoptic Gospels

12 Proofs of Jesus' Deity From the Synoptic Gospels

One of the leaders of the once former Emergent Church, Tony Jones, wrote a series of blog posts "Questions that Haunt Christianity." In one such post, the following question was asked:

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes many confident self-proclamations (conservative Evangelical’s favorite verses which seemingly demonstrates the exclusivity of Jesus). Now, I’m sure that claiming to be God in 1st century Judiasm is a really big deal; however, how is it that none of these self-proclamations make it into any of the synoptic gospels? Is it possible that Jesus never made these self-proclamations? If not, how does this effect our understanding of Trinitarian theology in the gospel accounts?

It should be briefly mentioned that Jones does not answer this question directly. He deals primarily, and almost exclusively, with the Gospel of John. However, as the title of his article (It's Probably True, Even If Jesus Didn't Say It) suggests Jesus never clearly claimed to be divine. Instead what we have, as (post)modern liberals have argued, the doctrine of Jesus' deity was later created by the church (blame Constantine, Athanasius, and Nicea). The Synoptics, the argument oftentimes goes, did not present a divine Jesus and the Man Himself never claimed deity for Himself. It is John that makes that explicit claim and being that John was written at the end of the first century, it is less reliable as a reflection of the earliest form of Christianity.

Is this true? No. I have put together 12 reasons proofs of Jesus' deity from the Synoptic Gospels (in no particular order).*


1. Jesus claimed to have the authority to forgive sins

Mark 2:1-12 (parallels in Matthew 9:1-8; Luke 5:17-26) records the famous story of the paralytic lowered from the roof and eventually healed by Jesus. Before Jesus healed Him, the Nazarene claimed rather boldly and shockingly to have forgiven His sins (vs. 5). The religious elite rightly, from their perspective, protest. They ask “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” (vs. 7) Jesus responds, not by just proclaiming his deity but by proving his deity. When Jesus heals the paralytic, the crowd got the message; this is no mere miracle worker (see vs. 12).


2. The Demons proclaimed He was God

In both Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:33-34 demons confess that Jesus is "the Holy One of God." Similarly in Luke 4:40-41, demons refer to Jesus as "the Son of God." If your enemies proclaim you divine, then you are divine.  


3. Jesus Possesses the Attributes and Names of God

Consider, first, the attributes of God present in the ministry of Jesus the following:

• Omnipotence (Matthew 8:26-27, 14:19, 28:18)
• Omnipresence (Matthew 28:20)
• Omniscience (Matthew 11:27)
• Sovereign over the Future (Matthew 16:21, 17:22, 20:18-19, 26:1-2)
• Without Sin - (Matthew 27:3-4; Luke 23:22, 41, 47; Acts 3:14) 
• Suggestion of pre-existence - Mark 1:38; 10:45;

Consider also the titles of God attributed to Jesus throughout His ministry:

•  Immanuel - Matthew 1:21-23
•  Son of God (Matthew 4:3, 6; 8:29; 16:16; 26:63; 27:40; 27:43, 54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 5:7; 15:39; Luke 1:32, 35; 4:3, 9, 41 8:28; 22:70)
• Son of Man (Matthew 8:20; 9:6; 10:23; 11:19; 12:8, 32, 40; 13:37, 41; 16:13, 27-28; 17:9, 12, 22, 19:28; 20:18, 28; 24:27, 30, 37, 39; 24:44; 25:31; 26:2; 26:24, 45, 64 - I'll stop there)

4. He Accepted Worship

Only God is to be worshiped, but in Matthew 15:25, the Canaanite woman "knelt before him" and said, "Lord, heal me." More explicitly, in Matthew 28:8-9 reads, "And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him." Consider also Acts 7:59-60 where Stephen prays to Jesus.



5. Jesus claims to be the final judge of the world - Matthew 25:31-46


6. He bestowed Eternal Life (Matthew 19:16-21; Mark 10:17-21; Luke 18:18-22)


7. Jesus applied a number of Old Testament texts about God to himself (cf. Matthew 21:16 with Psalm 8:2)


8. He is Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus makes the claim of being Lord of the Sabbath in Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5; 13:15. Millard Erickson says here that Jesus "was clearly claiming the right to redefine the status of the Sabbath, a right that belongs only to someone virtually equal with God" (Christian Theology, 702).


9. He juxtaposes His words with that of the Old Testament - Matthew 5:21-22 and 27-28.


10. If He was not divine then His condemnation and punishment were just.


11. Similarly, if Jesus is not divine then his enemies were sorely mistaken.


12. He is the risen and ascended Lord!


More could be added and said, but these 12 points should be clear enough. Jesus did not merely claim to be God He proved it.


* It should be noted that I include references to the book of Acts since its author is the same as one of the Synoptic Gospel writers, Luke.


Tony Jones - It’s Probably True, Even If Jesus Didn’t Say It [Questions That Haunt]


For more:
"Christian Theology": Blogging Through Erickson - Christology 2
John Knox on the Threefold Office of Christ
John Knox on the Importance of the Ascension
John Knox on the Importance of the Ascension

If Yahweh, then Christ

From David Wells' book The Person of Christ:

If Yahweh is our sanctifier (Exod. 31:13), is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), is our peace (Judg. 6:24), is our righteousness (Jer. 23:6), is our victory (Exod. 17:8-16), and is our healer (Exod. 15:26), then so is Christ all of these things (1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:27; Eph. 2:14). If the gospel is God’s (1 Thess. 2:2, 6-9; Gal. 3:8), then that same gospel is also Christ’s (1 Thess. 3:2; Gal. 1:7). If the church is God’s (Gal. 1:13; 1 Cor. 15:9), then that same church is also Christ’s (Rom. 16:16). God’s Kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12) is Christ’s (Eph. 5:5); God’s love (Eph. 1:3-5) is Christ’s (Rom. 8:35); God’s Word (Col. 1:25; 1 Thess. 2:13) is Christ’s (1 Thess. 1:8; 4:15); God’s Spirit (1 Thess. 4:8) is Christ’s (Phil. 1:19); God’s peace (Gal. 5:22; Phil. 4:9) is Christ’s (Col. 3:15; cf. Col. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; 4:7); God’s “Day” of judgment (Isa. 13:6) is Christ’s “Day” of judgment (Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Cor. 1:8); God’s grace (Eph. 2:8, 9; Col. 1:6; Gal. 1:15) is Christ’s grace (1 Thess. 5:28; Gal. 1:6; 6:18); God’s salvation (Col. 1:13) is Christ’s salvation (1 Thess. 1:10); and God’s will (Eph. 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:3; Gal. 1:4) is Christ’s will (Eph. 5:17; cf. 1 Thess. 5:18). So it is no surprise to hear Paul say that he is both God’s slave (Rom. 1:9) and Christ’s (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10), that he lives for that glory which is both God’s (Rom. 5:2; Gal. 1:24) and Christ’s (2 Cor. 8: 19,23; cf. 2 Cor. 4:6), that his faith is in God (1 Thess. 1:8, 9; Rom. 4:1-5) and in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:22), and that to know God, which is salvation (Gal. 4:8; 1 Thess. 4:5), is to know Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

June 26, 2016 | Matthew 15:29-39

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening taken from Matthew 15:29-39:

²⁹ Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

³² And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 24, 2016 | Exodus 1:1-2:10: Your Best Slavery Now
May 1, 2016 | Exodus 2:11-4:17 - Your Rod and Your Staff They Deliver Me
May 15, 2016 | Exodus 4:18-7:7: When Pharaoh Tempts Me To Despair
May 22, 2016 | Exodus 7:8-10:29
May 31, 2016 | Exodus 11:1-13:16 - Gospel Forgotten is Gospel Forsaken
June 5, 2016 | Exodus 13:17-15:21: The Grace that Saves is the Same Grace that Sustains
June 12, 2016 | Exodus 15:22-17:7: Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine? or Why the Gospel is Better than Our Appetites  
April 24, 2016 | Genesis 37-50: Joseph
May 1, 2016 | Psalm 23
May 31, 2016 | Salvation is Creation: A Theology of Revelation
June 5, 2016 | Ecclesiastes 1-2
June 12, 2016 | Number 20:1-13
June 26, 2016 | Matthew 14:13-33

June 26, 2016 | Matthew 15:29-39 
A Bridegroom of Blood: Interpreting Exodus 4:24-26
"Patters of Evidence" Trailer

June 26, 2016 | Matthew 14:13-33

Here is the sermon from Sunday morning taken from Matthew 14:13-33:

¹³ Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰ and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

²² Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. ²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Audio
Notes


For more:
April 24, 2016 | Exodus 1:1-2:10: Your Best Slavery Now
May 1, 2016 | Exodus 2:11-4:17 - Your Rod and Your Staff They Deliver Me
May 15, 2016 | Exodus 4:18-7:7: When Pharaoh Tempts Me To Despair
May 22, 2016 | Exodus 7:8-10:29
May 31, 2016 | Exodus 11:1-13:16 - Gospel Forgotten is Gospel Forsaken
June 5, 2016 | Exodus 13:17-15:21: The Grace that Saves is the Same Grace that Sustains
June 12, 2016 | Exodus 15:22-17:7: Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine? or Why the Gospel is Better than Our Appetites  
April 24, 2016 | Genesis 37-50: Joseph
May 1, 2016 | Psalm 23
May 31, 2016 | Salvation is Creation: A Theology of Revelation
June 5, 2016 | Ecclesiastes 1-2
June 12, 2016 | Number 20:1-13
A Bridegroom of Blood: Interpreting Exodus 4:24-26
"Patters of Evidence" Trailer

Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 2

Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 1
Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 2


In part one, I introduced the basic exegetical concept that Jesus fulfills all that the Old Testament anticipates. In that post I provided Isaac and Israel as examples. The parallels force us to see their connections with Jesus. We must conclude, then, that Jesus is a true and better Isaac and Israel.

With all of that as background, let us turn our attention to Jesus' Gethsemane experience and how it relates to Adam and Eden. One way to see Gethsemane as the fulfillment of Eden is to note the numerous contrasts.

• Eden is a beautiful garden full of life. Gethsemane is marked by tragedy, betrayal, and death. 
• Adam failed. Jesus persevered.
• Adam's temptation took place in the daytime. Jesus' took place at night.
• Adam ate the forbidden fruit. Jesus drank the cup of wrath.
• Jesus says, "not my will but yours." Adam says, "not your will but mine."
• Paul describes Jesus as the second Adam (Romans 5)

We should note other connections. First, there is an emphasis on "sorrow." In handling out his curses, God repeatedly says there will be sorrow. Eve, for example, is told that God will "increase her sorrow" in childbirth. In Gethsemane, we clearly see a sorrowful Savior. Regarding this point, author Patrick Henry Rearden elaborates:

The context of this assertion indicates that Jesus assumed the primeval curse of man’s sorrow unto death, in order to reverse Adam’s disobedience. In the garden he bore our sadness unto death, becoming the “Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). . . . In the garden Jesus returns to the very place of Adam’s fall, taking upon himself Adam’s sorrow unto death. (The Jesus We Missed, 160, 161)

Ultimately, what we need to see at Gethsemane in narrative is what Paul described in his epistles. Jesus, as the second Adam, succeeds where our first father failed. Jesus, then, is a true and better Adam. Another important theological point needs to be made clear here. Yes Jesus is Israel's messiah yet he is not only Israel's messiah. By taking upon himself the story of Adam, the Evangelists make the central point that Jesus is man's messiah. He is the Savior of both Jew and Gentile, Israel and the rest of the nation.

Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 1

Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 1
Jesus is a Better Adam: How Gethsamane Corresponds to Eden - Part 2


Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament anticipates. Proper exegesis must take into consideration this important theological principle. Before connecting Gethsemane to Eden, perhaps it would be beneficial to provide other examples in order to illustrate this principle.

All four Evangelists unfold the crucifixion story in a way that forces us to see that Jesus is a true and better Isaac. In Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to offer his son - his only begotten son - as a sacrifice. It is an appalling commanding and we should be offended by Abraham's obedience. Consider briefly the following parallels between Jesus and Isaac:

• Isaac and Jesus were both sons of a promise that was given many years before their birth.*
• Isaac and Jesus were both born to women who could not have conceived apart from a miracle.
• Isaac and Jesus were both firstborn sons. 
• Isaac and Jesus were both sons of Abraham.
• Isaac and Jesus were both greatly loved by their father/Father.
• Isaac carried his own wood to the sacrifice just as Jesus carried His own wooden cross to his crucifixion.  
• Isaac and Jesus each willingly laid down their lives to their father/Father.
• Isaac and Jesus were both laid down as a burnt offering for sin. 
• Isaac was brought back from the dead figuratively and Jesus was brought back from the dead literally.
• Isaac was almost sacrificed in Moriah which many believe became Jerusalem.

More parallels could be given. We should further add that Abraham promised his son a lamb would be provided by God(Jehovah-Jirah). And yet, no lamb was provided in place of Isaac. The text is clear that Abraham ended up sacrifices a ram after the Angel of the Lord (a pre-incarnate Jesus?). The reason for this is that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the fulfillment of Abraham's prophecy.

Another example to consider regards Jesus and Israel. Jesus, we conclude here, is a true and better Israel. We see this the clearest in Matthew's Gospel though the other Synoptics hint at this connection.

In Matthew's version of the Nativity, Jesus is forced to flee to Egypt (of all places) due to the rampage of a king who sought to kill the innocents. Clearly, Matthew is drawing a parallel between the nameless Pharaoh in Exodus and Herod. Likewise, Jesus is spared the king's wrath just as Moses Israel's great deliverer, was.

The narrative quickly comes to the beginning of Jesus' ministry marked by his baptism. He enters the Jordan river from the west and is baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." But instead returning to Israel the way he came, Jesus continues to march east entering the wilderness where he will be tempted by the serpent for forty years.

All of this should sound familiar. Israel, following its emancipation, is symbolically baptized by marching through the parted waters of the Red Sea. They, like Jesus, immediately enter the wilderness. Israel faces constant, demonic temptation for forty years and ultimately fail. God is forced to wipe out an entire generation before leading them to the Promise Land. Jesus, however, conquers where Israel failed.

The parallels should be obvious, but they go even further when we look at the temptations themselves. In each of the temptations, Satan questions the Sonship of Christ (this is more clear in Luke where he introduces the temptation story with Jesus' genealogy). "If you are the Son of God," Satan says. Israel is said to be God's son by adoption. Christ, the Evangelists proclaim, is God's only begotten Son - one with the Father. Furthermore, the first temptation in Matthew's account regards bread. Interestingly enough, it is bread that makes Israel desire to be slaves again.

More parallels can be drawn but you get the point. One cannot interpret the first four chapters of Matthew's Gospel without stepping back and seeing how Jesus fits in redemptive history. Christ is the climax of the story and all that takes place in the Old Testament is anticipated and fulfilled in Christ.

In the next post, we will turn our attention to how Jesus' experience in the Garden of Gethsamane parallels that of Adam's in the Garden of Eden.


*Much of the following is taken from Mark Driscoll, Abraham Nearly Sacrifices Isaac. See also his notes here.

August 2, 2015 | John 3:1-21

Here is the sermon from Sunday evening taken from John 3:1-21:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” ³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
 
⁴ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. ¹⁴ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; ¹⁵ so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Audio


For more:
April 26, 2015 | Galatians 1:1-5: The Gospel is Freedom
May 3, 2015 | Galatians 1:6-10: The Gospel is Primary
May 17, 2015 | Galatians 1:11-24: The Gospel is Real
May 24, 2015 | Galatians 2:1-10: The Gospel is Apostolic PDF 
May 31, 2015 | Galatians 2:11-16: The Gospel is Alive
June 7, 2015 | Galatians 2:17-21: The Gospel is Authentic
June 14, 2015 | Galatians 3:1: The Gospel is Wise - Part 1
July 5, 2015 | Galatians 3:1-14: The Gospel is Wise - Part 2
July 12, 2015 | Galatians 3:15-29: The Gospel is Promise
July 19, 2015 | Galatians 4:1-11: The Gospel is Adoption
July 26, 2015 | Galatians 4:12-20 - The Gospel is Love 
August 2, 2015 | Galatians 4:21-51 - The Gospel is New Life 
May 24, 2015 | Some Things Never Change: The Immutability of God & Why That Matters
July 26, 2015 | 1 Kings 19:1-18
August 2, 2015 | John 3:1-21