Controversial Claims

Introduction

As our services began this morning, I asked Mark to read from Matthew chapter 16. A passage, no doubt you’re familiar with. When Jesus asked his disciples, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am. Obviously, there was all many different opinions already being discussed among those who had heard Jesus. Well, the disciples replied, Well, some say you are John the Baptist or Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. And then Jesus said, Well, who do you say that I am? And Peter then recorded this answering, You’re the Christ, the Son of God. Upon that confession made by Peter, Jesus then replied, It is upon this rock, that is upon the fact that he is the Son of God. He said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, Peter. In fact, it was from God the Father. I give unto you the keys of the kingdom, and whatsoever you shall bind shall be bound on earth, and whatsoever you shall loose shall be loosed on earth.

In fact, that his own disciples now, having traveled with him thus far, probably about two years at this point in time of his earthly ministry, that even they have now come to discern that Jesus really is the Son of God. There are yet today many different opinions about who Jesus is. Though the atheists who would say, well, he’s just merely a good man. There was a Jesus who was born, but he’s nothing more than just a good moral man and a good moral teacher. Our Muslim friends would say, well, he’s just a prophet. In fact, they would say they believe in Jesus as a prophet of God, but he certainly was not the Son of God. In fact, the Muslims deny that he was crucified. They say that it was probably Judas by mistake who was taken.

And some thought that was Jesus. It wasn’t Jesus that was raised from the grave. Our Jehovah’s Witness friends even have another point of view. They say, well, he really was created as an angel and became a God. And thus on and on you might go with various ones who would say, well, Jesus is not at all what Peter claimed that he was. All of us, no doubt, though, would acknowledge the fact that it was a little over 2,000 years ago that Jesus, during the reign of a powerful Roman ruler, Caesar, that they would say this man was born in Palestine. Fulfillment really a prophecy from I from uh from the book of Isaiah. He was born in Bethlehem, 700 years after the prophecy was being made.

In fact, that he indeed was crucified, nailed to the cross, just again, even you may say, a thousand years before his birth, found in the Psalm, a crucifixion so described. Jesus. And yet, when you look at his life, he was raised in, you might say, a small town north of in Galilee, north of Jerusalem. Raised of ordinary parents, at least from the world’s point of view. Except for maybe a brief period of time when at age 12, an encounter with the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Yet, other than that, we know nothing more about his life. We say he was raised as a normal child would be, his father being a carpenter. And therefore, Jesus. What is so significant about him? Certainly nothing about his, as the world would look, about his birth or about his early life.

And yet, at about age 30, when he was baptized of John the Baptist, then for a brief three-year period, Jesus made such statements and performed so many signs or miracles, that indeed he made a significant impact upon society. Not only of his day, but even down to this period of time. So much so that even our calendar is dated concerning his birth. BC before Christ, A.D. in the year of our Lord. The significance of this man, Jesus, is so important. H. G. Wells, a famous historian of a past generation, made this quote. He said, I am an historian. I am not a believer. But I must confess, as an historian, this penniless creature from Galilee is irresistibly the center of history. The center of history of all men who ever lived, therefore.

No one ever made the stupendous claims that Jesus made. If they are not true, why would he not have been long ago rejected as indeed a liar or someone who was crazy? When you stop and think about the claims of Jesus, they are they’re so overwhelming. Our Muslim friends may say, well, he really isn’t the Son of God. In fact, they would say he never really even claimed to be the Son of God. Our Muslim friends say that that’s what his disciples said of him. They said he was the Son of God. But I want you to look at some of the claims that really are made about Jesus that are so significant. We’re studying in our auditorium class, the gospel of John. A significant study and an important one, and I hope each of the adults who are in this class will study carefully every every service, every every lesson that you’ll be present.

1. In the Beginning Was the Word

And think about. John is written from a different point of view. We sometimes say Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels. They’re seen together. In fact, if you want to learn about the actual birth of Jesus, it’s recorded in Matthew and in Luke. But when you study the gospel of John, it does not begin with his physical birth. In fact, it starts in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made. You stop to think about that claim. That’s quite a tribute to this man Jesus. He’s simply a moral teacher, then such a statement would be a lie.

In the beginning, where did he start? He always has been. For he was with the Father, eternal. He is the Word. He is the declaration. If you want to know who the Father is, in fact, in John 1 and verse 18, Jesus made the statement that while no man has ever seen God and lived, yet Jesus declares the Father unto us. If you want to understand the characteristics of the Father of his love, even of his displeasure at sin, you can look at the life of Jesus Christ. A significant claim.

2. I Who Speak to You Am He

And the woman, the Samaritan woman comes to draw water from Jacob’s well, and Jesus simply says, Give me a drink. And to her surprise, you, a Jew, would ask of a Samaritan to give you a drink. Jesus said, really. He then confounded her somewhat. When he said, actually, if you knew who it was, it was asking you for a drink, you would have asked of him, that is of Jesus. And he would give you living water. Now that even more stunned the woman, no doubt. For she, even from that point of view described, well, here you’ve come and you have nothing with which to draw from the well, and you want to talk about water that is living. Jesus said, Actually, the water from this well that you’re drawing, you will thirst again.

But if you have the water that I can give unto you, you will never thirst again. What a statement. Don’t you think the woman is beginning to say, whoo-hoo, it’s this man that’s making such a claim? Until then Jesus says to her, Go call your husband and come here. Being she says, Well, I don’t have a husband. Now the light turns on when Jesus said, Well, that you’ve spoken correctly. You don’t have a husband. You’ve had five husbands, and the one with whom you’re now living is not your husband. How does a man know this? And to that, the woman says, You must be a prophet. Indeed, how can you know these things about me unless you have some kind of revelation from God? And the conversation pursues where, in fact, they talk about even the true worship.

She said, I perceive that you are a prophet. You’re able to tell me things that no one else could know. In fact, though, she says in verse 20, our fathers worshiped in this mountain. And you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the fathers. You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman then made a statement. She said, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. Now the word Messiah really comes from a Greek word. That we would say in English literally is translated, the anointed one. And it can be said, Oh, yeah, there are a lot of others who are anointed, kings were anointed. And in that general use of the word, you may say they were Messiah. But not like Jesus. From Isaiah, even the prophet had foretold that this one who would come, they were looking for the Messiah. And Jesus would say, I am He to the Samaritan woman. Indeed, that’s what she then went into the city and told others.

3. Making Himself Equal With God

And the men of the city come and later the story is that, of course, they become believers in him. A controversial claim. Did Jesus really tell the truth or not? In chapter 5, you find that the Jews are ready to take up stones to kill Jesus. The story starts in chapter 5 of how that there was a man who at Bethesda, the house of mercy, literally it’s called, where many people were there lying waiting. The tradition was that if an angel would come and stir the water, the first who was put into the water would be healed, no matter what it would be, whether it was blind or lame or whatever. And this man who had been impotent for some thirty-eight years. Jesus simply asked him, Do you wish to be healed?

Do you want to be made well? And obviously the sick men said yes. He had been there several times, but had never been able to get into the pool first, because evidently with his uh infirmary there would be someone else who would get in before him. But when Jesus asked, Do you wish to be made well? And of course he replied, Sir, I have no men to put me in. Jesus simply said, Rise, take up your bed and walk. And so he did. Now you think that the the whole city would be thrilled and rejoicing that a man no doubt was known to all as able to walk. And Jesus simply says, Take up your bed and walk. The reaction? Well, the Jewish leaders began to ask him, Who made what are you doing taking your bed?

Don’t you know it’s the Sabbath day? And the man simply replies, Well, he was made well, and the man who made well told him to take up his bed and walk. Who made you well? And the man said, I did not know. Here’s a case where there was a healing, and it certainly wasn’t based on faith first. You know, there are so-called faith healers today say, Oh, if you just believe strong enough, then this will be performed. But the man said, I don’t even know who it was. And then later it was that he found that it was Jesus. But at the time, to tell the rulers, this man told me. So, what did the true rulers do? They began to seek out and find Jesus.

And they were they’re ready to stone him because when they ask him about what he has done, Jesus said in verse 17, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father, making himself equal with God, ready to stone him. They understood his claim. As I said, our Muslim friends today may say, Oh, Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, but you read the story in the life, it isn’t that the disciples have made up this story, but rather even the Jews understood. That when he said, My Father works, and therefore I also work. But then in John chapter 8, again a very clear explanation of who Jesus is.

When the discussion came about how when Jesus made a statement in John 8 and verse 51, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death. Wow. The Jews responded to that by saying, Well, you have a demon.

And you say, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste dead. Are you greater than our father Abraham? Jesus replied, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God. Yet you’ve not known him, but I know him. And if I say I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. Now again, that certainly puzzles, but Jews, you say, Abraham saw your day. Well, you’re not even 50 years old. How could Abraham? You’re not old enough. How could Abraham have seen your day? You see the puzzling in their own minds.

Jesus said, Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. I am. The Jews comprehended. That word in the Greek ego and e is the same word that was used, or same answer that was used. Back in Exodus chapter 3, when you remember where Moses saw the burning bush, there was not consumed by the fire. And it was the Lord indeed approaching Moses and commanding him to go to Pharaoh and at least be the one through whom the Israelites would be released from Egyptian bondage. And when Moses simply asked, Well, who will I say has sent me? In Exodus 3 and verse 14, you can just simply say, I am has sent you. I am that I am, he said to Moses. And the Jews understood, here’s the eternally existing one.

I am. And when Jesus says, before Abraham, I am, they understood he’s making the claim to be God. That he’s not just simply a good moral teacher, but indeed, he is able to say, even before Abraham, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. How could that be? Because Abraham, earlier, 2,000 years before this statement. Indeed, understood as Jesus would say, he saw my day. And rejoiced to see even this day. The communication, as Abraham indeed would say, as the promise was made to him that through his seed, there would be one through whom God would bless all families of the earth. And so the comprehension. What did the Jews do? Verse 59 of chapter 8, they took up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

4. Do You Believe in the Son of God?

Again, they’re ready to stone him. Why? They understand his claim to be the Son of God. And again, you go to John chapter 9. And John chapter 9 is the story where Jesus healed the man who was born blind. Never before had anyone born blind been made well or able to see. But Jesus told the man to, as he made spittle in the clay and anointed his eyes, and told him to go wash in the pool of siloem, and the man could see. Now what trouble the Jews? You would think they ought to be glad that this man blind could now see, but instead, Jesus did this on the Sabbath day. And to them with their uh you might say sort of human law tradition, they’ve made the Sabbath much more binding than God had made it.

And therefore, he’s broken the Sabbath day. He does these works on the Sabbath day. Who did this? It’s quite a dialogue if you read chapter 9. I don’t go all the way through it, but simply that that, of course, when they asked the man who did it, uh, again uh he he claims that you know who it was that this man made spittle in the clay, anointed with ice. Yes, he was the one who was born blind. They asked his parents. His parents said, Well, I uh I yes, this is our son, and and yes, he was born blind, but if you want to know who made him well, you’ll have to ask him. He’ll speak for himself. They feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that Jesus was Christ, he’d be put out of the synagogue.

And so they simply passed it off. But finally, as the story unfolds. When they again approached the son, who made you well? He said, This man. Jesus, could he do such? And the lad said, I told you already, you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You want to be his disciple? And they reviled him of that. Until finally, this man had been born blind, now able to see. Simply said, He’s not a sinner. And he quotes to them from the Old Testament, that God does not hear sinners. But I know that this man, God heard his prayer. And I can see because of the work that this man has done. They replied to that, who do you think you are? You’re trying to teach us.

You born sinner, and you’re trying to just the reverse. When he made such a statement that was clearly logically true, that Jesus couldn’t have worked this work except he was a righteous man. Again, they were ready to cast him out of the sent of the temple of the synagogue. You were completely born in sins, and you’re trying to teach us. Again, when Jesus then found him, he asked him, Do you believe in the Son of God? Notice, it was Jesus asking the question. And the men born blind said, Well, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, I’m reading John 9 and verse 38, verse 37, you have both seen him and it is he who is talking with you.

Then he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Jesus said, For judgment I’ve come into this world that those who do not see may see, and that those who may be blind, those who see may be made blind. What’s Jesus saying to this man? Indeed, he is the Son of God. John chapter 10. Again, when Jesus in John chapter 10 makes the claim, I and my Father are one. My Father. Again, associating with himself with God. How could Jesus say this? Again, verse 31, the Jews took up stones again, the stoning. This is at least the third time we found this phrase. They would have put him to death long before the crucifixion. They just were not able.

Say that I am. I know Greg told me that in his high school class last Sunday. The question was put to the students, do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? If so, how would you go about telling, let’s say, a Muslim, one who is of a religion of Islam, what would you say to him? I’d have to say to you, Greg was somewhat discouraged that his class didn’t respond to that question. I wonder if the parents of those. I’m asking you this morning. In fact, in the statement of Matthew chapter 16, when Jesus asked his disciples, who do men say that I am, and finally said, Who do you say that I am? How would you go about proving? I know in this audience everyone who’s listening to me would say, Well, I believe Jesus is the Son of God.

You made that confession if you were going to be a Christian, that you believe Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God. I’d like to tell you, you don’t ever have to prove that. You don’t have to ever answer why you believe that. Maybe a few years ago in your neighborhood, you wouldn’t have to worry about your neighbor being an atheist or a neighbor being a member of the religion of Islam. But you know as well as I do that you may have a neighbor someday. You may have some friend of yours. How would you go about proving that these claims of Jesus are real? What would you say? Who is Jesus to you? You say he’s the Son of God? Why? On what basis?

5. Seven Times Jesus Says I Am

There are many claims. I suggest to you that even Jesus, over and over, made statements that were without any doubt what he claimed to be the Son of God. For example, in John chapter 1 and in verse 4, after claiming that all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, the statement was made of him, in him was life. And the life was the light of men. There’s seven times in the Gospel of John that we find Jesus saying, I am. Not just simply that one we referred to a moment ago, where the Jews ask him, how could he have known Abraham before? But Jesus makes bold claims seven times. John chapter six, for example, in verse 35. Jesus says, I am the bread of life.

I am. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst. What does he mean by that statement? That there is the bread of life. If you want to have sustenance, if you really want to know the purpose for life, and I’ll tell you there are a lot of people who are floundering today who do not really know the goal and the reason for which their life, how it should be governed and by what means they should follow. But when Jesus said, I’m the one who gives you sustenance for life. What’s the purpose for life? Come to me. I’ll give you the answers. In fact, in John chapter 8, I am the light of the world. You ever been in a room where, say it’s the middle of the of the night, some electrical storm has occurred, and all of a sudden every light in your house goes out.

Now, in your home, you may know how to get around. But I’ll tell you, there have been a lot of broken toes trying to get around in dark, and they thought they knew where they were. Fact is, in darkness, we struggle to know the way to go. But since Jesus said, I am the light of the world. What Jesus is really declaring by that is you want wisdom, you want understanding, you will know how to prepare not only to live this life to the fullest, but how to prepare to meet God. I’m the way. I’ll turn the light on for you. Listen to the words of Jesus. Listen to the claim in John chapter 10, in verses 7 and again in verse 9, when he says, I am the door.

I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Now we all know as you came into this auditorium, you had to go through the what? The door. The entrance into any place, we go through the door. For Jesus to say, I am the door. He’s simply saying, I’m the means of entrance into God’s fellowship. I am the means of entrance into the protection by the one who is the creator of all and sustainer of life itself. I am the door. In John chapter 10, verse 11. He goes on to say, I am the good shepherd. Again, the shepherd was one who would be in care of the flock, who would protect the flock from the wolves or the enemies that would try to come and snatch them away.

I am the one who would lead the flock to good pasture, to good water, to green grass. Jesus would say, I am that good shepherd. And then in chapter 11, verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. And just shortly before he raised Lazarus from the grave, and he proved that ability to be able to have the ability to give life, not just in a physical way, like Lazarus being raised from the grave, but of eternal life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes into the Father except by me. John 14 and verse 6. And in John 15 and verse 1, I am the true vine, the fruit bearing life. You come to me, life with purpose and with meaning.

Significantly, seven different times. Jesus would say, I’m the one. Follow me. I’d tell you, our world today needs this message. We have a country that we would say, you know, used to be called a Christian nation. It’s no longer a Christian nation. That isn’t the governing principle of our land. We have a country that really, in many ways, has turned its back on God. You don’t hear the politicians, not many, ever say, Well, let’s see what the Bible says about which way we should go with this or that decision. What is the word of God about it? But as Christians, we need to be praying fervently for our leaders that their hearts be turned back to God, that there’d be a view of Jesus being what he claimed to be the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of entrance into real living, the good shepherd, the resurrection and life, the way, the truth and life, the true vine.

6. These Are Written That You Might Believe

How would you go about proving that? You say, well, yeah, these are biblical statements, and I believe them. How would you prove it? My time is really just about up, but I want to quickly refer. Last week we went through these. You may recall those of you who were with us. As you close the Gospel of John and John chapter 20, the statement is made in verses 30 and 31. Truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that believing you may have life in his name. I tell you, my beloved, if I had no other means, I’d at least start right here.

If you want to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, then look at His life. Look at what He did. That He did these signs that you may believe. There’s some 33 different miracles that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But there are only seven specific ones in the Gospel of John. And these seven specific ones are not repeats. They were not done in an assembly where the crowd is already built up and saying, Oh, here’s the faith healer, and he’s done. It wasn’t in a confined setting. And they weren’t the same kind of miracles. But the diversity in them itself gives evidence that only Jesus could do these things. Turn from water to wine. It was the best wine. The quality he had power over.

The nobleman’s son, some 16 to 20 miles away. And Jesus wasn’t even at his bedside. He could say, Go and your son lives. Power over distance. The man afflicted that we talked about a moment ago who had been afflicted for 38 years. Jesus take up your bed and walk. Power over time. He fed the five thousand men, plus women and children. And there were still twelve basketfuls taken up afterwards. Power over quantity. He walked on water. Power over nature. In fact, of the seven miracles that are recorded in John, only these two recorded in John 6, the feeding of the multitude and the walking on the water. The only ones that are recorded in other stories of the life of Christ. But in the Gospel of John, these other five are only recorded.

Conclusion

John 9, healing the blind man. Never before had a man who was born blind, made able to see, raise Lazarus. After four days he had been dead, come forth from the grave. How could Jesus do these except God be with him? The Jews never once said, Whoa, there was no miracle. In fact, they would put Lazarus back to death again. They knew that he had worked a miracle. They knew, as Nicodemus made the confession in John 3, no man can do these works that you do except God be with him. I hope, brethren, that you’ll begin to learn and think about how would you answer the question to your neighbor? You believe Jesus to be the Son of God? Look at the claims. Indeed, as uh I won’t make one more quote to you before we close.

It’s in the book called A Case for Christianity by C.S. Lewis, professor at Oxford University at one time. He’s now passed away, of course. But he said this about Jesus. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he’s the post degrees, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman, or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about us being a great human teacher. He’s not left that open to us. He did not intend to. End of quote. Let us close with a word of prayer. Almighty God, our Father, we are so thankful that you’ve loved us, even when we are unworthy, and that you’ve sent your only begotten Son to minister unto us, that we might know who the Father is, but that we might also have proofs that indeed He is the Son of God. That He was willing to give Himself on the cross, the flesh at least, that He He died in our stead, and that through Him we have hope of life everlasting. Help us and Father to comprehend and even to know how to tell our friends and leavens that Jesus truly is the Son of God.

Help us to build our faith in you and indeed throughout life to have that hope that serves as our anchor of our soul, that we might know life not only here, but more abundantly in the world yet to come. Keep us now, save us finally in the name of Christ. Amen. For those who are visiting.