They knew He was the Christ

Isaiah 10:20–12:6, Luke 4:1–44, Job 3:17–26

One truth separates Christianity from “religion” and that is the identity of Jesus Christ. At best, the Jews and others call Him a teacher. Some say He was a prophet. Most would say He was a good man. Only a few will point to Him as the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Only Christians affirm that He is God in human flesh.

The prophet Isaiah knew His identity. He spoke of Him several hundred years before He arrived:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord . . . . And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.” (Isaiah 11:1–2, 16)

Isaiah puts my mind on Jesus who has given me life, but also the exodus or first deliverance from bondage and comparing it to the second deliverance where the people of God were taken captive to Babylon then finally allowed to return to their home. God created the highway, a euphemism for the way He opened the doors and put them on the road to freedom.

Being set free from bondage in Egypt parallels the experience of a Christian. So does the second deliverance, but that one does not mean being saved twice. Being in Babylon was an exile related to their disobedience. For some who did obey, it was a test of faith. It helped all of them realize of the power of sin and of their own helplessness.

Christians experience this also. It might be sin, or it might be a test of faith, but that “Babylon” is an unpleasant captivity. And when that test is finished, the deliverance feels like being born again, yet it is not. It is more like graduation after being in school for a difficult, even impossible course of study. Or it can be a release from God’s deeper cleansing. When in “Babylon” it feels as if God is angry, so that release is a time of great blessing. Isaiah told them . . .

“You will say in that day: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel’.” (Isaiah 12:1-6)

It is easy to see that Job was in one of those testing periods. He was already a child of God, but the day came when his faith was being tested. He wished he had never been born: “Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.” (Job 3:23–26) Job endured, and God restored him to former blessings.

Jesus was tested too. He, “full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.” (Luke 4:1–2)

Satan came to Him with tests related to those that Israel failed. (An interesting aside is that food was the first test, just as it was for Eve and for the Israelites when they left Egypt.)

Satan knows where we are the weakest. However, Jesus passed the tests, specific yet broad enough that I can see how my tests fit in the same three categories. The good news is that because of what Jesus did, and because He lives in me, I am able to pass tests to my faith.

I am overjoyed that God brought me through the Exodus. I am also overjoyed that He also brings me through any exile to Babylon. I might feel as if there is no hope (like Job), yet He does not give up. God sent Jesus with a mission . . .

“And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to (Jesus). He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...’” (Luke 4:17–18)

Because of this and the reality of it, I also know what Isaiah knew: Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. I shake my head in wonder, realizing that many people decide Jesus is not what He claimed to be. How can that happen? “And demons also came out of many, crying, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.” (Luke 4:41) Evil demonic beings know who Jesus is. Why then are millions oblivious to or ignorant of the great reality of His identity?

Humbled by God's goodness

Abraham sent a servant to a faraway land to find a wife for his son, Isaac. The servant gave the Lord a very specific prayer request, something like, “If I do this, and a young woman comes up and does that, then let that woman be the one for Isaac.”

I’ve not prayed quite like that but do remember one outrageous request. We lived in Alaska and I was drawn to some scrimshaw jewelry. I talked to God about it saying I would like to have some but couldn’t think of any reason He should give it to me except that He loved me. That was a much more brazen a prayer than the servant of Abraham, but I’ve since wondered if God likes those prayers.

He answered mine. I went to the shop where I saw the jewelry, told the shop owner I could not afford them, and she said, “Tell you what, I’ll trade you two pieces you like for one of your paintings.”

That experience still gives me goose bumps, and I’m sure the servant of Abraham had a similar reaction. God answered his prayer too; what he asked for happened exactly as he had asked. Of course, “The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.” (Genesis 24:26)

The story also had a happy ending. The young woman went with the servant and was given to Abraham’s son. Would this ‘arranged’ marriage work out? The Bible says, “Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:67)

God does answer radical prayers, maybe not all of them, but He surprises His people with blessings we do not expect and shows loving care to those who pray in faith and bring glory to His name. This humbles me. If I were God, would I be so gracious?

The next bit of Scripture is about another kind of love, the one the NT calls “the root of all evil.” This passage explains one reason why this love is folly: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10–11)

We watched part of the Barrett-Jackson car collectors event on television tonight. While collecting things is not necessarily evil, we wondered what motivates those who spend a great deal of money and time buying things just to look at them. Most of the vehicles sold at this auction sale will never be used. It is that way with many collections. They only grow bigger, as if the collectors are never satisfied.

However, I cannot talk . . . I’m collecting pictures on Pinterest, up in the hundreds. I say these are inspiration for art quilts, but I will never live long enough to tap into that collection and make that many quilts. Is such hoarding a desire to be secure? An evidence of not being satisfied? Isn’t God’s provision enough?

These thoughts are also humbling. I worship a God who has the power and authority to speak worlds into existence. Surely He can provide what I need when I need it (and He does this all the time). He even gave me that scrimshaw that I really didn’t need, as an expression of His power and love. After many years, I’m still convinced this is so, and just like Abraham’s servant, I am in awe of God.

The last passage tells of an incident that took place in an area where people worshiped the king as a god. Jesus talked to His disciples about the local chatter, asking who the people thought He was. When the twelve gave Him a variety of answers, then He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

At that time, they didn’t realize the significance of this question, but since then, one of the clearest doctrines of Christianity and the most vital test of being a child of God involves the answer to that question. Only those who believe will understand and have the right answer . . .

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15–17)

Peter understood, not because he was smarter than the average fisherman, or because someone convinced him this was true, but because God revealed this truth to Him. Humanity can know there is a God by thoughtfully looking at nature (see Romans 12) and even thoughtfully considering ourselves (we are made in His image), but nothing gives us a hint that God Himself would pull on humanity and walk among us.

Even seeing Jesus in the flesh did not reveal His identity. Many saw Him and had no clue that He was the great “I AM.” Had they done so, they would not have put Him on a cross.

The amazing truth of the Gospel is that God reveals Himself to whomever He chooses. We are helpless and unable to see Him even though He is not far from any of us. Human wisdom and perception, education, nothing can prepare us for the wonder of God with us – except God – who does it by somehow opening our blind eyes. He uses many ways, including answers to odd prayers, and even making us dissatisfied with everything else.

This too is humbling. What a wonder is this God, and like the servant of Abraham, I bow my head and worship Him.

Who is Jesus?

Some say that Jesus was a great prophet sent by God to show the world how to live. Others say He was a good teacher whose words, if followed, would make us better people. The Jews of His day had mixed definitions. Some thought He was Elijah or Jeremiah (but they did not believe in reincarnation), or the predicted one, John the Baptist.

When Jesus asked Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

For years, this has been the standard declaration of faith. If a person understands that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, they are “believers.”

Another standard comes from Romans 10:9-10. It says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

This one requires the same belief in the identity of Jesus Christ, adding faith that He has risen from the dead, and a verbal confession of the same. Those who do and say this are “saved.”

But these standards no longer work because people keep changing the definitions. Jesus Christ is not the same person that Peter said He was. Now He is defined as a symbol, or the essence of an idea, or some other entity that if described to Peter, he would shake his head and say, “Huh?”

Because the definitions are changed, two people can say they believe in Jesus, but they are not talking about the same Person, and only the real Jesus has the power to save.

So who is Jesus? Plainly put, the Bible teaches that the Word of God, the very expression of His being, came to earth and pulled on humanity (something like we put on a pair of trousers). He took on human form without diminishing who He is, and by doing that, He became one of us. Jesus was God the Son, God in a human body.

The Jews couldn’t handle that. They knew their Messiah, the anointed One from God would be God, but they were under Roman oppression and expected a Messiah who would deliver them. They expected a conquering King who would rule the earth with an iron rod.

And along came Jesus, born in a stable, not at all kingly, but telling them they must repent of their sins. They looked at their own religious zeal, compared themselves with the Gentiles, including their godless oppressors, and decided this Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about. His claim to be God and their Messiah was sheer blasphemy.

But Peter knew. So did Paul. So did hundreds of others who watched Him die, then saw Him again after He rose from the dead. Many of them also watched Him ascend to heaven and heard His promise to return. The next time it would be as that conquering King who would rule the earth and every other realm of creation.

They knew and they believed it with all their heart. They were vocal too, which got them into trouble with non-believing Jews and Gentiles alike, those who refused all the evidence that, for the disciples, proved the identity of Jesus Christ. Many of those disciples were so convinced that they died as martyrs rather than say they were wrong, or that Jesus was not God in the flesh. They knew.

Today’s Christianity is a mixed lot. Some are like Peter; they know who Jesus is and have staked their lives on that belief. Others are like the Jews and say, “We have our own way of being righteous . . . “ and leave Jesus out of it. Some want to keep the name (Jesus has a nice ring to it), but they change the identity, water Him down to someone more compliant, less demanding, a good teacher perhaps, or a son of God who really is not deity, just another created being.

Others know about Jesus, but not enough to realize that it was He who said, “I am the way . . . no one comes to the Father but by me.” They say, “whatever works for you,” because for them, Jesus is only one way among many, and they are all quite acceptable.

The identity of Jesus Christ is important. Since believing in Him gives me eternal life, I better believe in the right Jesus. How do I know who He is? And can I be absolutely certain?

The Bible is the record we have of His life, death and resurrection. I can read it, but that doesn’t guarantee knowing. I read it for sixteen years, daily, and didn’t figure it out. Yet reading it is important because “Faith comes by hearing . . . the Word of God.”

The Bible also says faith is a gift from God, which puts the conversion experience somewhat outside my control. I didn’t even ask God to show me the identity of Christ. One day, He just gifted me. After that, I’ve never had any doubts at all. None of the ‘new’ ideas, none of the older heresies have even tempted or side-swiped me.

Because of this resolute understanding, an understanding reflected in Peter’s declaration, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” my faith stands. Yet I know this is not my own doing, nor is it because of any teaching I’ve had. I know who Jesus is the same way Peter knew, the way expressed in Jesus’ answer to Peter in verse 17: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Indeed, blessed I am! Not due to any flesh and blood revelation but because the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ pulled back the darkness and let me see His Son.