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WHO DO YOU SAY THIS JESUS CHRIST IS?
The following was originally prepared for my presentation to our men's group. It is My theology not necessarily that of St. Mary's or the Episcopal Church.
Many times when talking to others I am surprised at how
unknowledgeable we are when it comes to who Christ claimed to be or who his
disciples knew him to be. When approached by someone wishing to
"witness" to me I find it quite helpful and time saving to ask "just
who do you say this Jesus Christ is". Their answer will tell me in a hurry
where they are coming from. There are those that say "He was a great
prophet like many others." Many will deny His divine nature. Many use the
name Jesus Christ but their Christ is a man, conceived in an act of sexual
intercourse, whose father was a resurrected man, with body parts and passions,
and you too can become a god just like him.
Who did Christ say he was?
Jn 8:53b-59
Who do you claim to be? Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad. The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." so they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Why did they stone him? The Jews understood his reference to the great
"I am ." He was claiming pre-existence to Abraham and identifying
himself with the God of Moses. Ex 3:14-15 "I am who I am" ..."Say
this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'". They understood
him perfectly, Why can't we?
Mk 14:61b-64b
Again the high priest asked him,
"Are you the Christ, The Son of the Blessed?" and Jesus said, "I
am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and
coming with the clouds of heaven." And the high priest tore his garments,
and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his
blasphemy..."
Jesus here affirms he is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? What was the understanding of the title "Christ"
Rom 9:5
to them (Israelites) belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever.
John 13:13-14
(Jesus is speaking) You call me
Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and
teacher, have washed your feet, you also aught to wash one another's feet.
John 10:24-31
So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, Tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I TOLD YOU, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's Hand. I and the Father are one." The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
"I told you, and you do not believe." He did not say I told you I
wasn't and....The rest of the passage not only speaks of salvation through Jesus
but also the oneness of the Godhead. The Jews understood his claim, they didn't
believe him but they understood his claim to be the Christ.
Matthew 16:15-17 & 20 Jesus speaking first
He said to them , "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven...Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
It is clear that Jesus claimed to be THE CHRIST, the Son of the living God. If indeed he wasn't then he is a liar, and a cheat, not a great humanitarian and teacher. He was the Christ or nothing, but was he God?
John 1:1 & 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.......And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
I recommend you read all of John 1:1 to 14. There is much to understand and study in these few verses but in order not to confuse the issue I have skipped over 2-13. I once had a member of "The Way International" tell me that the word translated "word" was really different words. Well I checked and they all are "Logos" When I saw him again I told him that. He said that "One Greek word can have many meanings." Just the opposite has been true in my limited experience. The Greek has many words for the many shadings of meaning of a single English word. When you attempt to deny the obvious meaning of scripture you often have to keep "doing a little side step" to keep from sinking. John, and the early church fathers, obviously thought that Jesus was the Incarnation of God.
What attributes of God are ascribed to Jesus:
All powerful: Mt:28:18
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
All Knowing: Col 2:3
...of Christ, 3 in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Lord: John 20:28
(Jesus speaking) Then he said to Thomas, "put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, "my Lord and my God!"
Pre existence: John 1:1-3 & 14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. ......14 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
John 17:4-6
(Jesus is speaking) I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou givest me to do; and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
Heb 1:5-8
For to what angel did God ever say, "Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee"? or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? And again, When he brings the first-born into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." of the angles he says, "Who makes his angles winds, and his servants flame of fire." But of the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever, the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Many say that there are many ways to
receive "everlasting life". they say. He is a way, a truth, a life,
there are lots of ways to get there even Christ. But what did Christ say?
John 14:6
Jesus said to him," I am THE way, and THE truth, and THE life; NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME."
Clear enough to me. Is this why so many claim the 'other Christ' or that
Jesus' work wasn't finished on the cross, that he has come back in other forms.
Of course Christ himself said "it is finished." ****
To me the scriptures are clear. He is God and he is the Christ and only through his sacrifice can we obtain salvation.
Yours in Christ Dick Bull
The following is My theology not necessarily that of St. Mary's or the Episcopal Church.
I would like to share with you a portion of my life that helped me understand "God our Father".
When I was in the Navy, I was sent to Morocco for my first duty after school. In the months before my wife joined me I spent a fair amount of time in the town of Kenetra (Port Layute) in the native shops etc. Then after she came over I would take the car to Rabat , the capital, to have it serviced. With the best part of a day to kill, the work was good but slow, I would wander the Medina, or native quarters. I know that at times I was in areas that hadn't seen a European let alone a Anglo Infidel in a long time. I never was able to master more than a couple dozen Arabic words in my spoken language, due primarily to the non English sounds inherent in the language.
Although I was unable to speak, by immersion I was able to understand much of what went on around me. I suppose like a baby can understand much more than it can express in words, I could understand a lot of Arabic. A friendly attitude, a smile, gestures, broken English, French, and Arabic enabled me to barter, sometimes for 3 to 4 hours over tea. The Arabic culture is almost totally non European, but of interest to us today is the Arab Father.
The Arab father is the ruler of his domestic domain no matter how poor or rich. When he has guests the men are fed first, then the woman and children eat the prepared food not consumed by the men. Not leftovers from the plates but un-served remainders, often kept in the kitchen. The children's time with their father is strictly at there fathers' convenience. However his love for his children, especially his sons, should never be underestimated.
Skipping forward many years to Pennsylvania, a small Episcopal mission soon to be a parish. The scripture reading was from Galatians.
Gal 4:6
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
My memories of Morocco were suddenly alive. I could smell the Medina and hear the rattle of Arabic being spoken again, visions flooded my mind. After services I got my bible out and found that Mark 14:36 shows that Jesus used "Abba" in Gethsemane. Paul also used it in his letter to the Romans.
Rom 8: 14-18
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The sight of a small Arabic boy walking atop a wall, balancing and calling his father. The little girl in tattered but clean clothes that had fallen in the street calling out with hands raised. The child greeting his father when he returned home.
Abba, Abba!....Abba!
You see Abba doesn't mean father. In all its familiarity Abba means daddy.
WE have a God we can call Daddy. Daddy I'm hurt. Daddy I made a mistake. Daddy help me. And He does hear us. He does love us. He will help us.
This realization has matured to a close relationship with God and especially his Son Jesus. He is no longer my father far away... He has become my friend.
What is your present relationship with God. Distant Father.. Comforting and providing Father.. Nurturing and loving creator.. Helpful daddy.. Friend and companion but still Lord.
Yours in Christ Dick Bull
It has been said that "we Episcopalians give not in proportion to our income but in proportion to our faith." Could they be right? What does this say about our faith? Faith, stewardship, giving are all tied closely together. In fact I find them inseparable and so I will probably say as much about my faith as I do about my struggle with acceptable stewardship. I probably should say our struggle and our faith, for Ann is an inseparable part of all this but I can't speak for her.
What is faith?? "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen."
WE are all at different points in our walk of faith. How strong is our faith in God?
How strong is Your faith??
I was taught from childhood not to tempt the Lord our God. Don't bother him with the little things...
Did you know.. We are invited to test God in one area.
From Malachi:_
Bring full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.
In keeping with the state's labeling law.
**WARNING the following may be hazardous to your status quo.**
In fact one member of St. Mary's told me after hearing my story that they would commit to tithe. You should see the growth that has happened in their faith and their commitment.
I've been an Episcopalian all my life, I knew that the tithe is the standard. But on an enlisted man's pay I didn't think that very realistic. My trip to where I am today after many years of detour and slow progress only started in earnest eighteen years ago,... Has it been that long, boy it almost seems like yesterday.
I can remember giving the same folded dollar that I thought was acceptable as a teenager more years ago than I care to think about. We were back in the states for the first time in many years, I was doing a job that I disliked, Recruiting for the Navy. There was an Episcopal mission near by and I couldn't justify irregular attendance by saying "non liturgical services leave me empty" an excuse I'd used many times before. So we started attending regularly, giving what little we though we could spare.
After a rally led by an extremely effective visiting minister I, along with Ann and half the congregation re-dedicated our life to Christ. I started by giving God the most important thing I could, my time. I set aside a portion of time every day to spend with him in prayer, bible reading and reading of modern Christians growth. It wasn't easy because I was working 14-18 hr days 6 days a week. It was only a short period at first maybe ten minutes, but I kept my appointment faithfully, and God blessed it. How many of you have to work with constant interruptions of the telephone and people coming in to see you without a secretary or receptionist to run interference. Imagine ten minutes of uninterrupted time at your desk after a quick lunch? I soon realized two things, one the lack of interruptions was not a natural happening, and ten minutes wasn't sufficient for the needs I had. It grew to half an hour, and still no interruptions. I would turn on the answering machine but there was no way not to hear the incoming call, It never rang.. That had never happened before.
I received a call one evening from one of our neighbors, who was also our sons scout master, and as I was to find out on the vestry. Sam asked if I would run for the vestry. I didn't want to.. I didn't have any extra time as it was. He said, "well pray about it." That sounded like a good cop-out that would let me think of a better excuse.. Yea I'll pray about it.. Later I heard this voice saying Don=t worry Dick if I wanted you on MY vestry I=d have you elected. Assured that I didn't have anything to worry about I told Sam I would run..
The night of the annual meeting you could have knocked me over with a light breeze when It was announced that I was elected and when I found out later that I was the only one elected unanimously I knew that God had set his hook and there was no escape. The vestry retreat that year was a life "in the Spirit seminar" and I received other undisputable evidences of Gods hand on my life.. But that is another story.
When it came time to pledge Ann and I realized that "the same as last year plus inflation"; wasn't enough. We weren't really putting God first but saying, "What can we spare". We felt that it should be proportional but proportional to what? I think we ended up at 10% of our disposable income. As our faith grew it became 10% after taxes and housing. I later realized I still was not putting God first, but rather after taxes. When I came to understand that all I am and all that I have is in reality a gift from God, I was able to ask my self "do I really deserve to keep 90%".
The percentage does vary some from year to year and even some monthly, But it is always off the top not from the leftovers. Looking back over the past 18 years it becomes apparent that the more we put God first the more he blesses us. It has not been easy. When we were transferred here 18 years ago, I drew advance pay before traveling across country, gave the tithe on the actual income, and then had the engine in the V.W. blow up. But as he did with the time God honored the commitment and the money managed to stretch to fill our needs.
I'm not going to tell you that it has been easy, but our needs have been supplied.. In fact I can say I have the desires of my Heart. When it was time for me to retire from the Navy I found a job in Concord that I enjoy, It doesn't pay the greatest but I get to set my hours, and basically work on what I choose while running the technical side of a small electronics manufacture. I don't live in a grand house, It was awfully small when Liz came along and the two boys were still home, but we added. And now its paid for. My Boat will never take me out of the gate but I still sail the bay as often as I can get out.
I don=t want to say that I have gotten everything I wanted.. Thank goodness.. God has changed many of my wants to his... then He granted them.. And I don=t think you can give to get but I do know that you can=t out give God.
Dick Bull