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Responding to the Savior
It has been proposed that "The two greatest men in the world were Socrates
and Jesus of Nazareth. They poisoned one and crucified the other."
Socrates was a Greek philosopher whose manner of teaching and earthly wisdom
has had a significant impact on many cultures. On the other hand, the impact
of Socrates in the world pales in comparison to Jesus of Nazareth. On top
of the millions of books written about Him and the millions of lives that
He has changed, we find that the very mention of His name still provokes
a response from people today. Why is it that Jesus -- an itinerate preacher
from the first century -- is still changing lives today?
Scripture Passage:
Matthew
1:1-2:23
(use the BACK button in your browser to return to this lesson)
Main Thought: The arrival of Jesus of Nazareth almost 2,000 years
ago still provokes a response from each person because of His unique credentials,
His royal status, His special place in history, and His majestic offer.
- Jesus is a Man worth studying because He has the unique
credentials of Messiah.
- Jesus is God who became a Man so He could offer each
of us salvation.
- Jesus is the end of the wise man's quest for truth.
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Jesus is the fulfillment of all the prophet's words.
A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ
the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1, NKJV)
1. Jesus is a Man worth studying because He has the
unique credentials of Messiah. (Mat. 1:1-17)When you undertake a study of Jesus you must admit that you are taking
on the task of studying a great man. By friends and foes alike, Jesus was
great -- great in a good sense by His friends and great in a bad sense
by His foes. What you will not find is the ability to be neutral with Jesus.
Not if you are honest in your study. Jesus Himself did not leave us this
option. In this first chapter, the Apostle Matthew provides an account
of Jesus' family tree. He starts with the two greatest titles any Jewish
person would recognize:
- Jesus is the "son of David" which is a clear messianic title. Jesus was
the King the Jewish people were expecting to usher in an age of unprecedented
peace. God had promised that a descendant of David would sit on the throne
of Jerusalem forever!
- Jesus is also the "son of Abraham" which is a reference to the blessing
God gave to Abraham. He promised to make Abraham into a great nation. He
also promised that the "seed" (singular) of Abraham would be the instrument
of that blessing to all peoples. Jesus is the promised "seed" of Abraham
through whom all peoples are blessed.
It had been four hundred years since the prophets had spoken a word from
the LORD. At this time, one was born who was the Messiah, the Christ, the
Savior promised by God from the beginning of time. How were the Jewish
people to recognize Him? One way was the family line of the Messiah. The
Old Testament writers made a number of direct statements about the family
line of the coming Messiah:
Messianic Family Tree |
Old Testament Reference |
New Testament Reference |
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Gen. 3:15 |
Gal. 4:4 |
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Gen. 9:26 |
Luke 3:36 |
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Gen. 12:3 |
Matt. 1:1 |
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Gen. 17:19 |
Luke 3:34 |
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Num. 24:17 |
Matt. 1:2 |
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Gen. 49:10 |
Luke 3:33 |
- Heir to the throne of David
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Isa. 9:7 |
Luke 1:32, 33 |
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Psalm 2:7 |
Matt. 3:17 |
Each of these prophecies points to a specific family tree which Messiah
would have. Each of these is fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. This alone
does not make Him the Savior promised. But it does point to a Man with
credentials. A Man worth considering if only for the unusual family lineage
He possessed. When you consider the multitude of other prophecies made
about the coming King (See related article
Prophetic
Fulfillment in the Life of Christ. Use the BACK button on
your browser to return here.), it is clear that Jesus is a man worth
knowing. He has credentials.
Since Jesus has the credentials of the Holy One of Israel, God's promised
Savior, isn't it time you studied His life? The challenge before you is
to honestly evaluate His life, His teachings, His death on the cross, His
resurrection from the dead, and His ascension to Heaven. After evaluating
His claims, you will be forced to make a choice between these two options
- To relegate Him to greatness as the greatest liar and deceiver the world
has ever known.
- To acknowledge His greatness as God the Son, God's promised Savior who
came to bring peace to your life.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Man with credentials, requires your choice.
But while he thought about these things,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth
a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from
their sins." So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall
be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name 'Immanuel,'
which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:20-23, NKJV).
2. Jesus is God who became a Man so He could offer
each of us salvation. (Mat. 1:18-25)In Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew presents the birth of Jesus Christ. While referred
to as "Jesus of Nazareth," Matthew accurately records His birth was in
Bethlehem but He grew up in Nazareth. It was a most unusual birth which
was brought about God Himself. Mary was a virgin who enjoyed the most awesome
privilege of giving birth to the Messiah, certainly every Jewish girl's
dream. Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man who was betrothed to Mary
but had no union with her until after the birth of this special child.
This passage points out two very significant facts about Jesus of Nazareth:
- His unique birth: The text says that the Holy One in Mary's womb
was conceived by the Holy Spirit -- God the Holy Spirit place this holy
embryo inside Mary. The account in Luke's gospel makes it clear that it
was God's work and not adulterous activity on Mary's part that brought
this child into the world: "And the angel answered
and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is
to be born will be called the Son of God'" (Luke 1:35, NKJV). The
power of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit together brought the
Son of God into the world. The word "overshadow" indicates Mary was completely
overtaken by this miraculous event. Mary did not contribute to it -- it
was God's work from start to finish. This allowed for two perfect natures
to join together -- the perfect God in a perfect Man. Therefore, we call
Jesus the "God-Man" who is fully God and fully Man with no intermingling
of the two natures. The prophet Isaiah is quoted as predicting the virgin
birth of the God-Man by calling Him Immanuel -- God with us. (Matt. 1:23;
Isaiah 7:14) A mystery? Yes. Impossible? For man, yes, but "...
with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37, NKJV).
- His unique mission: Jesus had a specific mission in His incarnation
(becoming a Human). Matthew relates this mission in the words of the angel:
"you
shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins"
(Matt. 1:21, NKJV). Jesus came to redeem us from the penalty of
sin. This sin was first committed by the first man and woman -- Adam and
Eve -- bringing death, suffering, and evil into the perfect world that
God made. It continues in each one of us born of Adam -- that includes
every human being ever born of an earthly mother and father.
"And
He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries
of their dwellings" (Acts 17:26, NKJV). Jesus, however, was born
of the seed of woman only, not the seed of Adam. So as Adam had no earthly
father but God, so Jesus also had no earthly father but God Himself was
His father. A perfect Man, and only a perfect Man, could be our Savior
from sin. Only a perfect Man could work redemption for sinful humans. This
was the unique mission of Jesus, which means "Jehovah Saves."
The wonder of Jesus' mission is that He came to seek and to save the very
humans who chose to rebel against Him. Sin brought the penalty of death
as God declared to Adam and Eve. (Gen. 2:16-17) Jesus came to save you
from your sins and bring you life eternal. It is a majestic offer which
is freely offered to you: "For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom.
6:23, NKJV). Can you honestly turn down so great a salvation as
that offered by our LORD Jesus Christ?
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East
came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?
For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him" (Matthew
2:1-2, NKJV).
3. Jesus is the end of the wise man's quest for truth.
(Mat. 2:1-12)Where does a wise man go for answers? Socrates, the wise philosopher mentioned
previously, acknowledged that his wisdom could be summed up in the fact
that he knew that he knew nothing. Marilyn Vos Savant is noted for having
the highest IQ ever recorded. Einstein startled the world with an as yet
incomplete and unverifiable unified theory for the nature of the physical
universe. Yet all this wisdom still falls short of the ultimate quest --
the quest for truth.
The object of their search: The account of the wise men in Matthew
2:1-12 demonstrates this clearly. These were well-educated men, men trained
in history, astronomy, biblical prophecy, and diplomacy. They knew it was
the general time for Messiah to be born from the prophetic word given by
our LORD. They specifically referred to Jesus as the "King of the Jews."
This so obviously pointed to Messiah that King Herod immediately asked
his royal counselors where Messiah was to be born. (Mat. 2:4) God's promised
Savior was to be born in Bethlehem, only a small village. They saw a special
sign in the star and undertook a significant quest to find the One for
whom the star was revealed.
The reason for their search: The wise men were truly wise because
they sought this "King of the Jews" not for
greater wisdom but "to worship Him" (Mat. 2:2, NKJV).
The reality of human life is that all the wisdom in the world will never
satisfy the deep, spiritual longing inside for God. No animal desires to
worship anything because animals are not made in image of God. Humans,
however, are made in the image of God. He is our Creator. And inside each
one of us is a void that can only be filled by Him. Our sin separates us
from God but, thanks to the work of Jesus Christ, we united to Him forever!
Jesus satisfies that longing by coming to us Himself. By trusting in the
LORD Jesus Christ, you are made a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) with a new
spirit (John 7:37-39) and new longings inside your heart to worship and
love God with every part of your being. This is reason for the wise men
going so far and risking so much just so they might worship this "King
of the Jews."
Jesus has royal credentials. Let us acknowledge Him as did the wise
men -- with genuine worship and the giving of our treasures to Him. Or
shall you try to destroy the One who competes for the throne of your own
life -- as did King Herod who ordered all the male children in Bethlehem
to be slaughtered to protect his own throne? Your response to King Jesus
will be one or the other as this passage of Scripture demonstrates.
And he came and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,
"He shall be called a Nazarene. (Matthew 2:23, NKJV)
4. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the prophet's
words. (Mat. 2:13-23)In this passage of Matthew, three times an event is recognized as the fulfillment
of prophecy. Prophecy is the "reception and declaration of a word from
the LORD through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human instrument
thereof." (Trent C. Butler, PH.D., "Holman Bible Dictionary", Holman Bible
Publishers: Nashville, Tennessee, copyright 1991, p. 1141) Prophecy, then,
is the forthtelling of God's revelation to mankind. Most of the time, this
involves present-day situations with people that must be corrected according
to the commandments of God. Sometimes, prophecy involves future situations
that people must know are in God's plan. In his gospel account of Jesus,
Matthew specifically notes 17 events which fulfilled that which was spoken
by God through the prophets. He wanted to be sure his Jewish readers understood
clearly that in the gospel accounts, Jesus fulfilled all that God had revealed
about Messiah in the Old Testament. Indeed, Jesus even claimed to be fulfillment
of the Law. (Mat. 5:17-18)
The question comes up, particularly in the Jewish mind, why a New Testament?
Jesus referred to the Scriptures as the "Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets."
(Luke 24:44) The original Greek words, "He Kaine Diatheke," translated
"New Testament" literally mean "New Covenant." The revelation of Jesus
Christ is a revelation from God of a new covenant between God and His creatures.
Again, the question arises, "why a new covenant -- what is wrong with the
old covenant?"
The "old covenant" primarily refers to the covenant God made with the
Israelites at Mount Sinai where He agreed to give them the Promised Land
and they agreed to follow Him. Jeremiah, called the greatest of the prophets,
spoke of this new covenant that God would one day bring:
Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to
them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from
the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jer. 31:31-34,
NKJV).
Was there something wrong with the old covenant? No, but the people
of God broke that covenant. Their unfaithfulness led to much distress for
the whole nation of Israel. This is why God made a new covenant. God promised
that one day He would make this new covenant, unlike the old:
- The law of the new covenant would not be on tablets of stone but on the
tablets of men's hearts. This speaks of the new creation we become in
Christ. Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Law, comes to live in our
hearts forever.
- The kingdom of the new covenant would be a place where all know the LORD.
The
church of Jesus Christ is made up exclusively of those who know the LORD.
Trusting in Jesus Christ brings you into that personal relationship with
the LORD.
- Rather than a high priest who once a year enters the Holy of Holies to
meet God, the new covenant provides equal, direct, and continuous access
to God by the once-for-all work of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ.
Jesus
is Immanuel, God with us.
- The old covenant required repeated sacrifices of a lamb to cover sin but
the new covenant provides complete forgiveness of sins.
Who
is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us"
(Rom. 8:34, NKJV).
While the old covenant served a different purpose for God -- the demonstration
of His holiness through the nation of Israel -- the way of salvation has
always been by the grace of God through faith in Him and His promise of
a Savior. The glory of the new covenant is stated by Jeremiah in that
"I
will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jer.
31:34, NKJV). As the Broadman commentary points out, "The only thing
in the Bible God is said to forget is the very thing we would wish Him
to forget: our sins." He did not do this on a whim but through sending
His son, Jesus Christ, to become the sin-bearer for the whole world. On
the cross, Jesus shed His blood -- the blood of the new covenant -- that
would wash away our sins and make us white as snow.
Consider your life in the clear light of Jesus Christ -- He is the fulfillment
of all the prophets foretold. Three hundred prophecies about His birth,
life, friends, foes, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are all
foretold by the prophets and fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Christ. How have
you responded to Him? The only response that will please Him and fulfill
your deepest longings is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Turn from
your sin -- accept the gracious gift of God which is forgiveness and eternal
life in Jesus Christ. The only other response is to drive another nail
in the hands of Jesus -- the One who loves you and gave Himself for you.
Reflect on YOUR life: The coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ to
the earth is not an event that can be ignored. You must respond individually
to His coming. Either you reject Him and God's gracious gift of salvation
or you accept Him and gain the forgiveness and eternal life He offers.
He left no room for negotiation or procrastination. Today is YOUR day of
salvation when you respond to Jesus Christ by faith.
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