who is jesus?2019/03/31 · jesus is not “merely human” but “fully human”: he enjoyed the...

Who is Jesus?

Mike TaylorForest Community ChurchSunday 31 March 2019

Luke 9:1–36

Let’s talk about Sikhs

Sikhism, founded by Nanak in the late 1400s, is a branch of Hinduism. God is considered formless, sovereign, unknowable and absolute. […] The final goal of life is to be absorbed into God.

— Jesus Christ, A Biblical Defence of his Deity,Josh McDowell & Bart Larson, 1983.

A belief system that offers no hope of knowing God.

Let’s talk about Sikhs

The central truth of Christianity:Not a doctrine but a person.

Jesus Christ: a real flesh-and-blood human who is also God.

Why Christianity is different

1. Jesus is God

2. Jesus is Man

3. (Special mystery point)

Who Jesus Is

Four stories from Luke 9.

1. Jesus is God

One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

— Luke 9:1–2.

Jesus sends out the twelve

When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.

— Luke 9:7–8.

Elijah had the authority to perform miracles.

But never the power to delegate that authority to others.

Who can do this?


When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.

— Luke 9:7–8.

Jesus not only had authority to cast out demons,but to delegate that authority.


Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.

— Luke 9:16–17.

The feeding of the five thousand

Jesus’ most popular miracle!

“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

— John 6:26.


A compressed demonstration of God's natural order.

Jesus does in minutes what nature usually does in a year.


One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”— Luke 9:18-20.

Peter saw what Herod did not.

Peter sees who Jesus is

One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”— Luke 9:18-20.

Peter saw that Jesus was more than a prophet.


Luke records that Peter recognised Jesus as anointed by God, but Matthew goes further:

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”— Matthew 16:16.


As [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. They were glorious to see. […]Peter and the others had fallen asleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him. […]A cloud overshadowed [Peter, John and James], and terror gripped them as the cloud covered them. Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.”

— Luke 9:29–31a, 32, 34b–35.

The transfiguration

And if Peter had been in any doubt,And if Peter had been in any doubt,God himself speaks from the cloud:God himself speaks from the cloud:

““This is my Son, my Chosen One”.This is my Son, my Chosen One”.

The transfigurationThe transfiguration

God himselfGod himself clearly stated who Jesus is. clearly stated who Jesus is.

The transfiguration

… and elsewhere in the New Testament

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

— John 1:18.



— John 1:18.

Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise!

— Romans 9:5.



— John 1:18.

Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise!

— Romans 9:5.

We look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

— Titus 2:13.


1. Jesus is GodIt’s simply not possible to read the New Testament any other way.

“Man” here means “human”.

The issue is not maleness.

2. Jesus is Man

The Bible shows us over and over that Jesus was human.

Eating (dinner with Mary and Martha)

2. Jesus is Man



Drinking (at the last supper)

2. Jesus is Man




Crying (at Lazarus's tomb)

2. Jesus is Man





Being tired (at the well where he met the Samaritan woman)

2. Jesus is Man





Being tired (at the well where he met the Samaritan woman)

Having limited knowledge (asking questions in the Temple)

2. Jesus is Man

Jesus is not “merely human” but “fully human”:

2. Jesus is Man


He enjoyed the company of his friends (breakfast after the resurrection)

2. Jesus is Man



“The Son of Man […] feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard'.” — Luke 7:34.

2. Jesus is Man



“The Son of Man […] feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard'.” — Luke 7:34.

“He faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” — Hebrews 4:15.

2. Jesus is Man

When we consider humanity as Jesus expressed it, we begin to realise what poor shadows of what a human being should be we often are as a result of our sinfulness. As one theologian has put it, the real question is not whether Jesus was fully human but whether we are!

— The Christ of the Bible and the Church's Faith,Geoffrey Grogan, Christian Focus Publications, 1998.

2. Jesus is Man

3. The mystery point!

??

This is the crux of the whole matter:

If God but not Man,he cannot bear the burden of man's sin.

If Man but not God,he does not have the power to deal with sin.

3. Jesus is God and Man

He is not sometimes God and sometimes Man.

He is always God and always Man.


Not “half man, half god”.

Not switching between two modes, like a computer user going into “administrator” mode.

Not “In this verse he is God, in that verse he is Man.”


Not “balance” between the Godhood and Manhood of Jesus.

Just as his attitude to us is not a balance of holiness and mercy.


Like the Trinity, this is hard for us to understand

Because it's about a reality that is not in our own experience.


Here is where all our explanations come up short.


Here is where all our explanations come up short.

That's why C. S. Lewis has to fall back on “obstinate tin soldiers” in Mere Christianity.


The Hitchhiker's Guide […] introduction begins like this:

“Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-boggling big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. Listen …”

To be fair though, when confronted by the sheer enormity of the distances between the stars, better minds than the one responsible for the Guide's introduction have faltered. Some invite you to consider for a moment a peanut in Reading and a small walnut in Johannesburg, and other such dizzying concepts. The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination.

— Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The wonder of the incarnationThe wonder of the incarnation

Though he was God,he did not think of equality with Godas something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;he took the humble position of a slaveand was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,he humbled himself in obedience to Godand died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honourand gave him the name above all other names,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:6–11

Who is Jesus?

Mike TaylorForest Community ChurchSunday 31 March 2019

Luke 9:1–36

who is jesus?2019/03/31 · jesus is not “merely human” but “fully human”: he enjoyed the...

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