Who Is this Jesus?

Isaiah 53:1-3

            Who is this Jesus we sing about, talk about, and to whom we pray? For all the centuries that have passed since His birth, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus is still controversial today. Even in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian people are quick to thank God, call on angels, but the name of Jesus is despised and Jesus Himself is still rejected. People are not interested in knowing Jesus today rationalizing that to do so is to participate in a religion that is a dead thing and something they do not want. But Christianity is not ultimately about participating in a religion but rather it is about having a relationship with the person Jesus which, because He is alive and living, is a living thing.

            I feel led to preach this series because the past couple of years, while in a pandemic, has yanked the cover off a Church that promotes, protects, and invites people into membership in a religion that is, as Bishop Jackson emphasized, a headless horseman. But Jesus is the head and is still the answer for the world today. As the songwriter put it, “Oh, it is Jesus! Yes, it is Jesus! It’s Jesus in my soul. For I have touched the hem of His garment, and His blood has made me whole!” So, I want to present and re-present Jesus to a people who have become disconnected from Him, who think He is no longer relevant, or that have become complacent remaining at home scrolling across their electronic devices having their ears pricked but not their souls touched.

1. It was foretold that people would not believe in Him (vs. 1). The Jews heard repeatedly that Messiah was coming but could not receive Him because they were looking for one with a sword of violence.
2. He did not have an appearance we associate with leadership, fame, and fortune (vs. 2). People are drawn to those they elect to office at times because they look the part. Saul was King of Israel, the first king, and was handsome, a whole head taller than other men and yet God ended up rejecting him as king in favor of David.

3. He was and is able to empathize with us regardless of what we suffer (vs. 3). There is no sorrow with which He is unfamiliar, including disease, even though He had none.

“Who is this Jesus Christ? He is, history will record, the most captivating, the most influential person who ever lived. The most studied, the most examined, the most written about, sung about, discussed person ever. He is the only One who can produce forgiveness, who can bring true peace, joy in this life, eternal blessing in the life to come. He is the only One who can take you to heaven.

He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to God but by me.” That is either the illusion of a madman, the powerful deception of a clever liar, or the truth, and no other options exist. When the media and elite educators search for the true Jesus, and it shows up in books and television, inevitably, they fail to find Him. The Jesus they come up with is some Jesus of their own invention or the invention of others – or even worse, the invention of demons. The reason they look and never find the real Jesus is they never look in the place where He’s revealed. They fail to look at the Bible and take the Bible as absolutely, unequivocally true. But it is. The Bible is true.

Let the record stand. There never has been anybody like Jesus, no one. No one even close. He is the master of everything. He is the master of hungry crowds. He is the master of the sick. He is the master of the sinful. He is the master of demons and Satan. He is the master of nature. He is the master of angry Pharisees. He is the master of clever theologians whom He confounds. He is the master of a Roman governor. He is the master of Herod, a puppet king. He is the master of Himself, struggling in the midnight of His passion on the Mount of Olives, fighting sweat, blood, and tears and who comes forth triumphant and victorious in dedication to His Father’s will. In the terrible agony of the cross, He is the master of everything. All around Him, there is fury. All around Him, there is chaos. But He is calm. He has the mastery of His own heart and mind and tongue and will. Even there at the cross, He pauses to forgive a penitent thief and opens the doors of paradise for him that very day.

No one ever lived like Him and what He said lays claims on every life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me.” “The Son of man,” He said, “has power on earth to forgive sins. Whoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven.” He said, “Whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” He said, “I am the light of the world,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the resurrection and the life.” These are the unambiguous claims that Jesus made.

Let me sum it up this way: If God became human, we would expect Him to have a miraculous entrance into this world, wouldn’t we? And He did, born of a virgin. If God became a human, we would expect Him to be sinless and live a holy life, and He did. Pilate could not find a fault in Him, Satan could not find a fault in Him because He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He was without sin. If God became a human, we would expect that His words would be the clearest, truest, purest, most authoritative ever spoken, and they were.

If God became a human, we would expect Him to manifest supernatural power, and He did. If God became a human, we would expect Him to have a universal and permanent influence on the world, and He does. If God became a human, we would expect Him to accomplish His purpose, and He has. So, who is this man? He is God!