Jesus - The Son of God

Jesus - The Son of God

(Mt. 16.21-28)

I don't know about you, but Peter is one of my favourite Bible characters. The sort of person who acts on an impulse...

- who cut off the ear of the high priest's servant when Jesus was arrested;

- who ran into the empty tomb on that first Easter morning, when his companion, John, had waited outside;

- who jumped into the sea from a boat, when he recognised Jesus on the shore;

- and in our gospel reading this morning, ...the first person in the world to proclaim that Jesus was the Son of the living God.

That passage stands as a watershed in the ministry of Jesus.

I remember learning about watersheds at school in geography. A watershed is a ridge which divides rain water... (explain)

And similarly this passage is a dividing point in the ministry of Jesus. In everything that's been happening up to this point, the question on everyone's mind is "Who is this bloke, Jesus?"

Jesus hadn't told them who he was, ...instead he's performed many miracles, and talked about the kingdom of God, and let people make up their own minds.

And people had a wide variety of opinions:

- some said that Jesus was John the Baptist, (explain);

- some said that he was Elijah, (explain);

- others said that he was one of the other prophets come back to life.

"But what about you?", Jesus said, ..."Who do you say that I am?"

And this is when Peter blurted out, ...as impulsive as ever, ..."You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

It had taken a couple of years, but at last someone had recognised who Jesus really was, ...the Son of God. ...And you can imagine the joy in Jesus voice as he said:

"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, (incidentally the word Peter means rock), ...and on this rock I will build my church."

And now that his closest disciples understood who he was, Jesus ministry took a new direction. Instead of being concerned with the crowds, Jesus began to focus much more on those who were closest to him, ...trying to help them understand what it really means to be a follower of Jesus, ...and why he needed to die on the cross.

This point in the ministry of Jesus was a watershed. Everything before it led up to it, ...and everything afterwards followed from it.

Jesus said, "Who do you say that I am?"

It's a question that's just as important today, as it was 2000 years ago. In fact, I reckon that it's the most important question in the world.

And today, just as then people give many different answers.

Last year I was involved with a church mission in Wales, and as part of that we carried out a survey of religious beliefs. We would knock on people's doors and ask them if they could spare a few minutes to answer some questions, ...and most people were very happy to.

One of the questions asked who they believed Jesus Christ to be. About 6 out of 10 people said that they thought he was the only Son of God, ...but the remaining 4 out of 10 said something different.

Some thought that he was 'just a good man'.

Others thought that he was a prophet.

Others thought that he was just a myth, or a legend.

We live in a multi-faith society. In our schools Christianity is taught alongside the other major faiths of the world. ...and I agree that children do need to know about other religions. But on the down side, many people think of religion as being a bit like shopping at Tesco's ...there's lots of different varieties to choose from, and it doesn't make much different which brand you buy.

You see, the over-riding philosophy in our society is this...

"There's no one right answer, ...if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that's fine, ...this person happens to believe in re-incarnation, ...it doesn't make any difference. You believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want."

And we too are influenced by this view. It tends to make us see our faith as a very private matter, ...and it reduces our desire to share this faith with others.

But if Jesus really is the unique Son of God, then it does make a difference what we believe. And its something that we need to share with others.

Of course, that means that we need to be clear about our reasons for believing it. ...If one of your friends were to ask you why you believe Jesus was the Son of God, what would you say?

Well let me finish by mentioning a couple of pieces of evidence.

First of all there is absolutely no doubt that Jesus existed as a person. Several people in our survey thought that Jesus was simply a myth, rather like Father Christmas, ...but no reputable historian would accept that view.

Not only do we have the evidence of the documents which now form part of our Bible, ...we also have evidence from other sources. Josephus, a Jewish historian who was born in AD 37 wrote about many historical events of his day, ...and in one of his books he wrote this:

"Now there was at this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works - a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. ...and the tribe of Christians, so named after him, are not extinct at this day."

But just because we know that Jesus existed, doesn't prove that he was the Son of God. Many people argue that he was a prophet, or just a good man.

And this is where passages like our Gospel reading are so important. How did Jesus react when Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."?

Well he rejoiced that Peter had got it right.

Now someone who claims to be the Son of God, can not be described as "just a good man". As CS Lewis has said:

"...he'd either be a lunatic, on a level with a man who said he was a poached egg - or else he'd 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... But don't let us come up with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He hasn't left that option open to us. He didn't intend to.

And I think CS Lewis is quite right. And the end of the day the only plausible options are that:

- Jesus was a mad man; or,

- Jesus was a con man; or, as Peter said,

- Jesus was and is the Son of the living God.

Jesus - The Son of God

Things to bring...

- A halo (a frizbie covered silver foil)

- A red nose

- A pair of children's sun-glasses

Introductory Talk

Who is Jesus? Later in the service, when the children are in their groups, the adults will be thinking about that question. And if you asked the average man or woman in the street, you'd probably get a variety of answers. But with the help of some volunteers, I'd like to share with you some I prepared earlier.! ... actually, they are the four answers which CS Lewis gives in his book "Mere Christianity". They were answers he noticed that people came up with over and over again, when asked that question. So can I have some volunteers please?

The first answer is that Jesus was a really good man. (Give first child a halo). He was a great moral teacher, and showed us a good example of how we should live, ...but in essence he was no different to other religious leaders, (like Mohammed), ...or other selfless people, like Mother Terresa.

Another possibility was that Jesus was a con man. (Give second child a pair of sun-glasses). He deliberately set about trying to con people into thinking that he was the Son of God, ...and he succeeded, and many people believed him, ...but then it all went terribly wrong, ...he upset too many of the religious leaders, and so they arrested him, and had him executed. ...So in the end he got his just deserts!

A third possibility was that Jesus was a lunatic. (Give third child a red nose and ask him to look a bit daft.). He didn't mean to con people, in fact he was perfectly sincere, ...but he was simply deluding himself as well as anyone else. Mental hospitals are full of people who claim to be God, or other famous people, ...and if Jesus had lived today, perhaps that's where he might have ended up. ...Poor chap, you can't help feeling sorry for him!

And a fourth possibility was that Jesus was, and is, the unique Son of God. (Tell fourth child that I couldn't think of anything appropriate for him to wear, ...but could he just try to look like the Son of God). Now that's the answer that Simon Peter gave, 2000 years ago, and Jesus then replied, "Good for you, Simon son of John! For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven." (Mt. 16.17)

(Thank the volunteers)

Sermon

I read a story recently about a college student who as part of the degree he was studying, found he had to take a module in Zoology - he didn't particularly want to, because he'd heard it was a difficult course and the lecturer in charge was very tough. But he tried to get into it, and after only one week, the professor handed out a test paper. It was a sheet of paper divided into squares, and in each square was a carefully drawn picture of some bird legs. Not bodies, not feet, just different birds' legs. The test simply asked the students to identify the birds from the picture of their legs.

Well, the student was completely stuck. He didn't have a clue. He sat and stared at the test and got madder and madder. Eventually he reached boiling point and stormed out to the front of the class. He threw the test on the lecturer's desk and shouted, "This is the worst test I have ever seen, and this is the stupidest module I've ever taken."

The lecturer looked up at him and said, "Young man, you have just failed this test." Then he picked up the paper and saw that the student hadn't even got round to putting his name on the paper, so he asked, "By the way, young man, what is your name?" And so the student bent over, rolled up his trousers to reveal his legs, and said, "Who do you say that I am?"

The question of establishing someone's identity is sometimes tricky. And the question of establishing Jesus' identity is one that many people struggle with, but the answer is vitally important.

Those of you who have been on Alpha will know that the first evening begins with just that, an attempt to answer the question that we looked at earlier, "Who is Jesus?"

It's a very good question, and one for which different people have a wide range of answers, as we saw.

It was the same 2000 years ago. In fact on one occasion Jesus asked his disciples:

"Who do people say that I am?"

...And his disciples gave him a number of different answers:

- "Well, you remember John the Baptist, who was recently beheaded, ...well some people say that you are him, ...they think that John the Baptist has come back to life."

- "But others say, don't be daft, we were there when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, ...so Jesus cant be John the Baptist himself. No, he's one of the Old Testament prophets who's come back to life."

- So some think that you're Elijah, and others say that you're Jeremiah".

"And what about you", Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?"

Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." (Mt. 16.16)

Now if you ask people today, "Who do you think Jesus was?", you still get a variety of different answers. You wouldn't get the same answers as those given 2000 years ago, ...(I don't know of anyone today who thinks that Jesus was John the Baptist, or Elijah), ...but you would get some other answers. We looked at some of them earlier with the children. So was Jesus just a really good man? was he a con man? was he deluded? or was he the unique Son of God.

Well, in our gospel reading today, we saw Jesus at a point in his ministry where people were having to make up their minds about exactly who he was. The account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead is one in which we see a struggle between life and death, a foreshadow perhaps of the even more epic struggle between life and death which was to take place soon afterwards with Jesus' death and resurrection. And for many people it prompted them to make a decision about who they believed Jesus to be.

For Mary and Martha, the question was urgent - only if Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be, could they expect him to help their brother now that he was dead. Martha's answer is a perfect statement of Christian faith, reasoned and careful:

"I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Whereas Mary's response was more emotional, but just as full of faith, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

The disciples were beginning by now to realise who Jesus was, but their reactions to Lazarus's illness and death show that there must still have been some questions in their minds. When Jesus told them that Lazarus had 'fallen asleep', they took him literally at first, and when he put it more plainly and told them Lazarus was dead and that he intended to go to him, Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Hardly a statement of faith and confidence.

And for the Jewish people who witnessed the whole event, the question was important. Was this man the Son of God, the Messiah who they had been awaiting for thousands of years? Or was he a con-man intent on causing trouble. We are told that many of them saw what Jesus did and put their faith in him (v45). But others went to the Pharisees to report what had happened, helping to incite the unrest which was eventually to lead to Jesus' death.

And today, we still have to decide who Jesus is.

I think that a lot of people in Britain today would say that Jesus was a really good man. The comedian, Billy Connolly spoke for many when he said, "I can't believe in Christianity, but I think Jesus was a wonderful man".

But actually, that's the one answer that just doesn't hold water.

You see he went round doing things, and saying things that no 'good man' would ever do.

For example, Jesus claimed that he could forgive people their sins, ...not just the wrong things that they had done to him, but any sins.

A year or two ago Graeme did a school assembly for which he needed a doll. So he went into the girls bedroom, found one lying on Emily's bed, and took it without asking.

After the assembly, he dropped all his things in his study, and forgot all about the doll.

It wasn't until a few days later that we discovered that he had unintentionally kidnapped Emily's favourite doll. She had been very upset when it disappeared, and had spent a lot of time searching for it, ...but she couldn't find it anywhere.

So Graeme went and retrieved the doll from the study, and told Emily that he was sorry. ...And Emily - who has a very forgiving nature - said, "That's alright daddy, I forgive you."

Now it so happens that another little girl overhead him saying sorry, ...and so she said, "And I forgive you too, ...even though it wasn't my doll!"

But, of course, sweet as that may have been, it was only Emily who had the right to decide if Graeme was forgiven or not, ...because it was only Emily who had been wronged against. No-one else had the right to forgive him.

Yet Jesus went round forgiving people for all their sins. And the religious leaders said, "That's blasphemy, ...only God can do that".

And they were quite right, ...a 'good' man, who was just a man, would never do such a thing.

But that wasn't all. Many 'good' people have pointed to God as the answer to our deepest needs, ...but we heard in our gospel reading today that Jesus said,

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (v.25-26).

And on another occasion, he said,

"I am the Light of the World." (Jn. 8:12).

Now no 'good man' would say things like that, ...it would be shear arrogance.

Take for example someone like Nelson Mandela. Now many people would say that he is a 'good' man. But what would you think of him if he claimed that he alone was the answer to life's problems. If he said,

"I am the Way, the truth and the Life" (Jn. 14.6).

I think we would pretty soon revise our ideas about him!

But Jesus went round doing things, and saying things that no 'good man' would ever do.

There's a lovely quotation in one of CS Lewis' books, in which he says:

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make up your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God

or else a madman

or something worse.

You can shut Him up as a fool, you can spit on 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 with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

At the end of the day, each one of us must make up our own mind as to who Jesus is. It's a question that's just as important today as it was 2 000 years ago. In fact, it's probably the most important question in the world.

Perhaps on another occasion we might look at the evidence which shows that Jesus was neither a lunatic nor a con man, ...and there's a great deal of such evidence.

We are then left with the only reasonable alternative, ...that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.

After all, that's exactly what today's gospel reading told us, ...and to believe that Jesus is the Son of God does require a step of faith. But I hope this morning that you can see that such a belief is not blind faith, ...rather it's a step of faith that is backed up much evidence.

We live in a multi-faith society. In our schools Christianity is taught alongside the other major faiths of the world. ...and I agree that children do need to know about other religions. But on the down side, many people think of religion as being a bit like shopping at Tesco's ...there's lots of different varieties to choose from, and it doesn't make much different which brand you buy.

You see, the over-riding philosophy in our society is this...

"There's no one right answer, ...if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that's fine, ...this person happens to believe in re-incarnation, ...it doesn't make any difference. You believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want."

And we too are influenced by this view. It tends to make us see our faith as a very private matter, ...and it reduces our desire to share this faith with others.

But if Jesus really is the unique Son of God, then it does make a difference what we believe. Jesus said, "Whoever ... beleives in me will never die." And that's news that's worth sharing with our confused society.