Yes, Jesus Claimed to Be God | Luke #95 Sermon Notes

From the Oct. 23 sermon, "Jesus, the Son of God," preached by Pastor Mark out of Luke 22:63–71:

Jesus is arrested and dragged through false trials, during which he’s blindfolded, beaten, and blasphemed. He’s asked a series of questions, all of which boil down to one issue: is he the only God? Knowing that he will be crucified, Jesus declares himself to be the only God in three ways: he says he is the Christ, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Some of you have been told Jesus never said he was God. He did. That’s why he was put to death.

We do interpret the Bible literally, but we believe there are two kinds of literalness. There’s plain literal and figurative literal. … Well, that’s what’s happening here. God is, to use the language of John Calvin, he’s using baby talk. When we’re trying to communicate things to our children, "Okay, how do I say this in a way that you’re going to understand?" And we are nowhere near the intelligence of God. We have three-pound fallen brains, and there’s a lot we don’t understand, especially when it comes down to there is one God, three persons, sharing the divine attributes, simultaneously existing together forever in perfect union and communion, without any physical being, but out of nothing they created everything, and they love and serve and glorify one another. Huh? Okay, it’s like a dad and his son. Like Father, like Son, they share similarities. We’ll call them attributes. They love one another, they do life together, they care for one another, they communicate with one another, and they share a deep, unbroken affection. "Oh, okay, it’s a figure of speech." It’s figurative literal.

Jesus is the Son of God. The angel declares it, God the Father declares it, Satan even knows it, and Jesus, on trial, from a bloodied mouth, proclaims it, knowing it will result in his own murder. And those who originally heard the language of, "Jesus is the Son of God," … they heard it as God intended. He is claiming to be equal with God the Father. He is claiming to be the Creator of heaven and earth! He is declaring himself to be Lord over all and not just the best among us, but in a category unto himself! He’s saying he’s God! And if that’s not true, that’s blasphemy, and the penalty is death. … Friends, that’s why Jesus was arrested. That’s why Jesus was blindfolded. That’s why Jesus was beaten. That’s why Jesus was blasphemed. That’s why Jesus was hated. That’s why Jesus was crucified. And they took Jesus, and they beat him some more. They scourged him, ripping the flesh off his back. He was marred beyond human likeness. They made him forcefully carry a heavy Roman crossbar on his barren, bloodied, traumatized back. He fell on his face, and it crushed his chest. He had to have help to carry that crossbar to his place of execution and crucifixion. … And friends, let me say this. If he was lying, you have to explain to me why. All he had to do was recant, "I’m not God," and his life was spared. And he died.

How many of you have judged Jesus? "I don’t like what he said. … I don’t like the way he conducted himself on certain occasions." Friends, let me tell you this: There is a judge, it’s not you. That God was humble enough to come into human history, that God was humble enough to be judged, just shows how horrendous we are. We don’t judge Jesus, Jesus judges us. And Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. He says this in John 5. He says, "The Father judges no one. He’s entrusted all judgment to the Son." Here’s reality, friends. If you’re still sitting in judgment over Jesus, you’re just like those people who crucified him. You’re just as arrogant, and proud, and self-righteous. You think that you’re smarter than he is. You think that you’re better than he is, or you think that your influence—that might be a philosopher, or a religious leader, or a theologian, or a historian—that their criticism of Jesus is valid, because you find them to be more compelling, and more insightful, and more convincing. And here’s my question to you: Will you trust Jesus or someone else? And if you’re going to trust someone else, why? Are they smarter than Jesus? Are they better than Jesus? Have they made a bigger difference than Jesus? Are they more selfless than Jesus? More humble than Jesus? More loving than Jesus? More truthful than Jesus? The answer is no. You’ve got to trust somebody, and at Mars Hill we would encourage you, trust Jesus.

And friends, this is the day of your salvation. Jesus publicly declared himself to be the only God, and some of you don’t know Jesus as God. You have to take him at his word. You can’t make him into someone he is not or less than he truly is. And so you’ve got a decision to make. Is Jesus your God? Not just your teacher, not your leader, not your example, not your inspiration, but your God and your Savior? … For some of you, you’ve borrowed the faith of your parents, or your friends, or your family, and you need to have your own relationship with Jesus, and you can’t just say, "Jesus is our God." You have to say, "Jesus is my God." We love you. We’re so glad you’re here, and we want you to know Jesus as God.