Jesus the Christ
The text of this lesson is drawn from the first sermon presenting Jesus as the Christ that was ever preached in this world. On the day of Pentecost, Peter, standing up with the eleven, proclaimed to a vast audience assembled in the city of Jerusalem salvation through Jesus Christ. When he had set forth the life of Jesus and the mighty works of God through Him, and told the story of His death and resurrection, he concluded the main arguments in the sermon by saying, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:26). What a fitting text for this sermon!
Our theme is so broad that we might spend a great number of lessons exploring its varying aspects. A lifetime of study could not exhaust such a theme. What can we do in one lesson? It is obvious that many things must be left untouched, but we can deepen our appreciation of Him who is God’s Messiah. We are limiting this lesson, then, to some pictures which come to us from the Holy Scriptures. As one might visit an art gallery and look upon a series of paintings, moving from one to another, we are going down through the gallery of God’s Word to view a series of word pictures concerning Jesus the Christ. Each one will have its own singular beauty, its special message, its contribution to our appreciation. I invite you to take this journey with me in the greatest of all art galleries.
The Eternal Word
The first picture takes us to the very beginning, before the creation of the universe. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). This Word that later became flesh, and bore the earthly name, Jesus of Nazareth, existed in the beginning. We behold Him having equal glory and honor with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. John describes Him as being divine in the beginning in his gospel, and quotes from Him in the last chapter of the Bible the words, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13). The Greek letters Alpha and Omega correspond to our English letters A and Z. All the glory that God had as Father was His as the Son. When Jesus prayed on the night before He went out to die, He asked, “And now Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). The closest and most intimate human relationship that language can express existed between the Father and the Son. The Word is God’s only Son, the only one that shares His nature, that stands truly in the relationship of Son. We Christians are not sons by nature but by grace. Of Him only could it be said that He is God’s only begotten Son. The power and majesty of God the Father was also that of God the Son.
In this picture of the pre-fleshly Christ we see the part that He played in the creation of the universe. “All things were made through him; and without him is not anything made that hath been made.” (John 1:3). The writer of Hebrews reminds us that it was through the Son that God made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:2). Everything in this material universe came from Him. He scattered the stars like a divine sower sows His seed across the fields of the heavens. I see His hand in the rugged mountain and sweeping plain. His touch is evident in fleecy cloud and radiant flower. The unfolding petals of the blossoming rose in all their perfect beauty bespeak His creative power. The lofty crags of mountain peaks, the wild waves of powerful seas, the vast expanses of the earth, the enormity of the realm of space, the intricacies of the world of the atom, the balance and the beauty of all things bear testimony to God the Son, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit created all things. That wonderful work of art, man himself, who in his flesh is so like the animals about him, but in his spirit so like the God above him, was likewise created by the Son. Made in the image of God, he is capable of communion with God. He is endowed with the power of thought, of imagination, and of decision. He can dream and plan; he can work with ideas; he can construct great music and art and buildings that soar. He can conquer the outer reaches of space. What a wonderful work of the Creator! The eternal Word also is responsible for the creation of that great spiritual realm in which worship and fellowship with the Infinite are possible. Spiritual blessings of all kinds find their origin in Him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3).
The Scriptures do not leave us simply to think of the Son’s creative activity as limited to the initial actions of such a creation. Added to this picture of His original glory and majesty, of His activity as the originator of all things is the fact that He sustains the universe. For the universe is not like a watch that can operate apart from its Maker. He upholds “all things by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3). Withdraw that power for one split second, and nothing can stand. His tremendous power everywhere pervades the world that He made, for this world is dependent upon its Creator.
The Prophets Saw
After the heavens and the earth were created and man was placed in the Garden of Eden, sin came to mar the fellowship between God and man. The message of the Scriptures is the message of how a loving God has provided for man’s forgiveness and the restored relationship between God and man is made possible. The second picture that we see in this great gallery is that picture of the Messiah to come, presented to us, stroke by stroke, by the prophets of the Old Testament. No one artist inspired by the Holy Spirit painted the portrait of the Christ in prophecy. A host of artists worked on this picture. One would step up to the canvas of divine revelation and paint a few strokes only to turn the brush over to another prophet who would add to this portrait. By the time one comes to the close of the Old Testament, the features of that Christ that is to come stand out clearly and vividly.
When God called Abraham to sojourn in a land that should afterwards be given to his descendants for an inheritance, He promised, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:18). Paul later tells us the seed mentioned in this promise refers to Christ. ‘‘Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16). The first great stroke in the prophetic portrait has been made.
Time passes, and Abraham’s descendants become slaves in Egypt. From captivity God mightily delivers them under the leadership of Moses and through his mediatorship gives unto these slaves His covenant. That law given at Mount Sinai constituted them a nation under God’s kingship. As Moses the lawgiver was preparing the people for the future, he left to them this promise, “Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” (Deuteronomy 18:15). This prophet from Israel, like unto Moses will have God’s word, even all that God commands him. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken to my words which I shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:19). Later Peter in his sermon on Solomon’s porch tells us that this prophet is Jesus Christ. “Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.” (Acts 3:24).
Now the people settle in the land of Canaan that God had promised to them. The troubled days of the judges pass, and kings rule over the people of God. From keeping his sheep God called David to be the shepherd king of His people, and gives His Holy Spirit to him. The psalmist king gives us the greatest prophecy concerning the sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus Christ that we have in the Old Testament. Psalm 22 opens with Jesus’ great saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (cf. Mark 15:34). It is this psalm that describes the humiliation and shame to which Jesus was subjected. It prophesies concerning the way in which they set upon Him, stuck out their tongues at Him, mocked and laughed Him to scorn. It describes His burning thirst, the piercing of His hands and feet with the nails, the casting of lots for His garments, and the sealing of His lips with the dust of death. The taunts of the crowd that a thousand years later should swirl about His cross like an angry tide are foretold here. This is truly the psalm of the cross. David also adds to the prophetic picture of the Christ the great prophecy concerning His resurrection, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10). It was this passage that Peter made use of in his sermon on Pentecost to show that as a prophet David has foreseen the resurrection of Christ from the dead. (Acts 2:27). It was he that looked forward to Christ’s exaltation to occupy the throne of David forever. Already the outlines of the portrait are beginning to show forth, but the picture is not complete.
A host of prophets are waiting ready to add their own strokes to the portrait on the canvas of the Old Testament. Isaiah reminds us of the coming Prince of Peace. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). His ministry will be to preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the broken hearted and proclaim freedom to the captives, the opening of the prisons to those that are bound and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Isaiah 61:1-2). Under His rule the mountain of the Lord’s house will be exalted above the tops of the hills and all the nations will flow unto it, learning the way of the Lord and finding the ways of true peace. (Isaiah 2:2-3). His rule and kingdom shall be forever and ever. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, and upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever.” (Isaiah 9:7).
But Isaiah also sees another aspect of the Messiah’s ministry, an aspect of suffering, humiliation and shame. Where is it more strikingly brought out than in the glorious 53rd chapter which is the climax of those beautiful Suffering Servant songs? He will be led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before whose shearers is dumb, so He will open not His mouth. Though despised and rejected of men, acquainted with grief and sorrows, He will bear our burdens and carry our sorrows. He will be wounded and chastised for our sins and by those stripes we shall be healed. Our own waywardness has led us away from God, says the prophet, but the iniquity of each one of us will be laid upon Him. Yet though He has done no violence nor is there any evil in Him, God will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied for the sins of men. He will bear the sins of many and make intercession for the transgressors. It is Micah that tells us that Bethlehem will be the place of His birth. (Micah 5:2). Zechariah tells of His triumphant entry, riding upon an ass as a lowly and meek one. (Zechariah 9:9), The Old Testament closes with the promise of Malachi that before the great and notable day of the Lord will come Elijah the prophet will come, that Elijah that we know is John the Baptist.
Now as you stand back and look at this portrait completed with all that prophets have said, you can see clearly outlined the Messiah in both His humiliation, agony, and death, and in His glorious ministry that is life-giving and gracious. He is to come. This is the future. One leaves the Old Testament portrait with breathless anticipation of what is ahead.
The Picture of His Birth
What a strange scene we behold at His birth! He was born in a barn, cradled in a trough from which animals ate their hay, “For there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7). Yet an angelic choir sang His praises in simple shepherds’ ears, and they left their sheep in order to find the one who was to be their Savior. Ignored and shunted aside by those more important, virtually overlooked amid the press of census taking, the arrival of the Son of God in the world was under as humble circumstances as any man has known. I dare say that none of you in this audience came into this world under conditions more humble than those of our Lord’s birth. Jesus emptied Himself in becoming a human infant. (Philippians 2:5 ff.).
It was not long that He was ignored, for word spread that a new king had been born. Herod, the jealous tyrant, set about to destroy Him. He slaughtered all the babies about Bethlehem in his mad attempt. Yet God’s providence protected Jesus and led Him finally to the little village of Nazareth where His boyhood years were spent and where the years of His silent development transpired, He grew to young manhood and knew the art of everyday toil, and the humble life of a carpenter.
His Baptism
One day He closed the door of His carpenter shop in Nazareth, made His way along with a great host of others who were being attracted by a strange preacher in Jordan’s valley. As John the Baptist gave the call to repent and the invitation to be baptized for the remission of sins to the multitudes, Jesus took His place in the throng. But when John saw Him he said, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Jesus’ request was, “Suffer it now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15). Then John baptized Him. As He came from the waters of the Jordan a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Thus began the greatest ministry that the world has ever seen.
His Public Ministry
Time forbids us to describe the ministry that carried Him into humble and wealthy homes, by the lake side, into synagogues, and along the byways and highways of the land of Palestine. He spoke as never man had spoken. He healed the sick, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, the afflicted. He gathered about Him disciples among whom were twelve chosen men. He lived a life that displayed the Spirit of God, and set such an example of love, compassion and interest in each one that He met, enemy or friend, that the world can never forget that example. He never wrote a book. He never traveled far away from His homeland, He never owned any property, He did not live long. He had no army or political organization to foster His claims. Not many rich or mighty were attracted by Him, but what He did and said men can never forget.
Out of this ministry there is one incident that I would have you view with me in more detail. We see Jesus standing in the shadow of towering Mount Hermon, north of Galilee and snowcapped the year around. Here Jesus had gone with His disciples to withdraw from the multitudes that had thronged them. After He had asked them what the verdict of others was concerning Him He asked them, “But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16). You are God’s Messiah, you are God’s Son! For this kind of faith and this thrilling confession our Lord pronounced a blessing upon Peter and promised, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18). This is the first mention in all the teaching of Jesus of the church, yet our Lord’s intention to build it upon this great truth confessed thrills our hearts.
Then He begins to tell His disciples that He must go up to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders humiliation and shame and die a criminal’s death on the cross. This shocking news is too much for them and they are astonished and fearful. On more than one occasion during the closing weeks of His ministry He tries to prepare them for the tragic events of Calvary.
His Cross
Time forbids us to follow carefully those crowded days and weeks that separated Jesus at Caesarea Philippi from Jerusalem. Nor can we follow the events of that last week that took Him from the triumphal entry to the cross.
I would like for you to stand with me and view the scene outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. The place is called Golgotha, the place of the skull. In the background is the temple, and the crowded buildings that cluster inside the sacred city of the Jews. Outside we see a milling throng, cursing and taunting, and in the center a cordon of soldiers, three crosses, and three men to be fastened upon them. They strip His garments from Him. We look with astonishment upon a body that has been bruised and cut to pieces under the bloody scourging. We see that His head is crowned with thorns that pierce and several tiny rivulets of blood run down His brow and hair. We watch them stretch His arms along the cross beams. We hear the sound of the mallet as it drives the spikes into His hands and feet. The blood flows, muscles twitch, and He is fastened to the Roman cross. We see them nail the placard above His head with this writing, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.” We behold them lift the human burden on this cross up between heaven and earth and drop it into the hole where the feet are only a few inches above the level of the ground. There stands the cross and the Christ upon it! Like a great plus sign, He is on that cross that He might reconcile men to God, giving His life that they might live. As they taunt, curse, jeer, He prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). While soldiers gamble for His garments, as David had foretold, He commits His grief stricken mother to the care of His beloved disciple. (John 19:26-27). One of the thieves crucified with Him is so impressed by what He beholds that He calls out, “Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.” And the Lord answered, “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42, 43). When darkness swept over all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour and the sun’s light failed, He cried in the language of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Then after expressing His thirst, He said, “It is finished.” “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit,” and died. (John 19:30; Luke 23:46). There He hanged on the cross, having died a criminal’s death, to express the love of God for all mankind.
His Glorification
But I cannot conclude the lesson here. The gospel does not end here. I must tell you of that empty tomb on the first day of the week. I must tell you of a woman who, looking up through her tears and beholding one that she supposed to be a gardener, said, “Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.” (John 20:15). And He called her by name, “Mary,” and she knew Him as the Lord. I must tell you of His coming to those fearful disciples behind closed doors on the evening of that same first day giving them His peace, and showing them His hands, feet, and side. I must tell you how that a week later He came to the group once more in order to convince doubting Thomas that He was the same Jesus who had died and who was now living. This same risen Jesus also gathered with His disciples out on the Mount of Olives some forty days after that resurrection day, and as He was praying He began slowly to be taken up from their midst. As their eyes followed Him as He arose higher and higher into the heavens, they saw a cloud receive Him from their sight and He was lost to their view. As they stood gazing at the very spot where He had disappeared, they were brought earthward again by two men in white apparel who reminded them that as they had seen this Jesus going from them, He should so come again in like manner. Is it any wonder that ten days from that exciting day, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and the eleven who had seen Him as the risen Lord and had watched Him as He ascended on high should proclaim the gospel of salvation through Him and say to the great throng there gathered, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus whom ye have crucified Lord and Christ?” (Acts 2:36).
This same Christ is the Christ who can save you today. All of God’s plan and program, all of the preparation of the Old Covenant, all of the ministry, healing activity, suffering, agony and death of Jesus, all the power of God proclaimed in His resurrection and glorification—all of this was for your salvation. Jesus the Christ stands before you at this hour in all of His glory, His power and love. As your Savior He invites you to come that you might have His salvation. Do you not believe in Him? Will you not repent of your sins as He calls upon you to do? (Luke 13:3). Will you not confess Him as your Lord and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins as He commands? (Matthew 28:19-20). Will you not surrender to Him now?
Great Preachers of Today (1963)
pp. 19-29
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