[Biblemat] S:> What Will You Do With Jesus of Nazareth?
Ethan R. Longhenry
disciple_of_iesus at hotmail.com
Tue Apr 10 13:16:20 CDT 2007
http://www.deusvitae.com/faith/outlines/index.html
What Will You Do With Jesus of Nazareth?
I. Introduction
A. Acts 2:22
1. Christianity has never been a religion of events in the
shadows
2. The claim of Christianity is a public claim, based on a
person known in the first century and attested by words
and deeds
3. The claims have always been open to examination and
criticism
4. If the Jews had never heard of Jesus of Nazareth, why
would Peter preach as if they had?
B. Jesus of Nazareth, by His public personality and His words
and deeds done in the sight of men (cf. Matthew 5:14-16), in
a sense demands that every person make decisions about how
they perceive Him
C. The question, therefore, must come: what will you do with
Jesus of Nazareth?
D. This question was acutely felt while He walked the earth
1. The Jews saw Him and all that He said and did, and we can
see from the Scriptures how they strove to grapple with
this question
2. Different persons ended up having different responses to
Jesus
E. Let us consider these responses
II. Responding to Jesus
A. How did the Jews respond to Jesus?
B. The Pharisees and other religious authorities
1. We hear much of the responses of the Pharisees
2. The Pharisees, along with the chief priests and elders, have
much to lose if Jesus in the Christ, for His teachings
expose their faults and their arrogance (Matthew 23:12)
3. The Pharisees contemptuously dismiss Jesus as a sinner and
a fraud
a. After all, the Scriptures do not say that any prophet
comes from Galilee (John 7:52)
b. He is a sinner, for He "works" on the Sabbath
(John 9:16, 24)!
c. He casts out demons by Beelzebul (Matthew 12:24)
4. The Pharisees, of course, believed that they were somehow
exempt from being born in sin and did not stand to have
their authority questioned (John 9:34)
5. They therefore leapt upon any thing they could find to
discredit Him, and they often went out of their way to find
some way to trap Him (cf. Matthew 19:3, John 8:6, etc.)
6. They could not believe in Jesus-- to do so would mean the
loss of their power and their identity (cf. John 11:47-48)
7. Not only this, but to maintain their power, they cast out
all who would accept Jesus (John 9:22), and therefore they
not only shut themselves out of the Kingdom, but they
hindered others from entering (Matthew 23:13)
8. For their constant and willful unbelief, the Pharisees were
condemned (Matthew 23:33)
C. Those Having Doubts
1. We read that many Jews would speak together regarding Jesus
and who He was (cf. John 7)
2. Some such persons always found reason to doubt
3. They perhaps could not explain the signs and wonders He was
doing (John 7:25-26, 41)...
4. ...but they always found a reason to not believe!
a. They "knew" where He was from, but they do not know from
where the Christ will come (John 7:27)
b. After all, He was from Galilee, not Bethlehem
(John 7:41-42), in their view!
5. Let us not think that if such persons were told that Jesus
was really born in Bethlehem but was really from Heaven that
they would suddenly believe
6. Such persons are doubters, and would have found other
reasons to doubt!
D. Shallow Belief
1. There were other Jews, however, who were willing to say that
He was a prophet or the Christ (John 7:41)
2. Many believed because they saw His signs and wonders, like
the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:14)
3. There were even some who believed because they heard some
of His words (John 8:30)
4. Nevertheless, the majority of such persons did not fully or
truly believe, but had a shallow belief based on what they
saw or what they were willing to accept
5. John 6: the people were willing to believe that He was the
prophet when He gave them food, but when He taught them the
need to follow Him, do what the Father says, and to eat His
body/drink His blood, the majority no longer walk with Him
(cf. John 6:26-66)
6. John 8: Some "believe" in Him, but Jesus knows that they
are not really committed to Him proper, for they still
follow their spiritual father Satan; after some difficult
teachings, those who are said to "believe" in Jesus
(John 8:30) pick up stones with which to stone Him
(John 8:59)
7. John 12:37-43: many did not believe because they were
hardened, but many did not believe because they loved the
glory from men more than the glory from God
E. His Disciples
1. There are some, however, who fully believe and accept Him
2. The Samaritan woman and her neighbors believe in Him, even
if the Jews do not (John 4:1-42)
3. There were some who followed Him and remained with Him even
if the teachings were not always pleasant or convenient--
the Twelve!
4. John 6:68-69
5. Notice that Peter does not necessarily show enthusiasm for
everything that was taught, but he was wise enough to
recognize that they were true because they came from the
Holy One of God
6. Peter and the eleven could go nowhere else, for they knew
that Jesus had the words of eternal life!
III. Responding to Jesus Today
A. Such is how persons in the first century responded to Jesus
B. The question regarding Jesus demands an answer as much today
as it did then
C. Even though two millennia have passed, we still have the same
types of persons today as then
D. "The Pharisees": Religious Authorities
1. There are many today who cannot and will not accept Christ
and His true teachings because such would require them to
lose their positions and accept that they were not right
2. How many "authorities" in other religions or in
denominations simply will not accept what Jesus says because
it offends their belief systems?
3. How often will we see some of the most patently ludicrous
arguments being presented to get around the manifest
reality of what Jesus has said and done?
4. Furthermore, how often will all claims regarding what Jesus
taught be rejected because such a one holds tenaciously to
some tradition or belief of what is true and is unwilling
to give that up, even if a mountain of evidence is piled up
against it?
5. How often do we see this in discussions about baptism, or
about instrumental music, or about elders and deacons, or
other such things?
6. Are we guilty of this ourselves?
E. Those Who Doubt
1. The world today is full of skeptics and doubters
2. Such persons have already established that they do not
believe, and then they go ahead and find any reason to
justify their unbelief
3. They will look for anything that could be considered a
contradiction or an inconsistency
4. Even if each contradiction or inconsistency were answered,
the person would quickly move on to another
5. It does not matter if the objection sustained is only a
technical matter and pales in comparison to the mountain
of evidence presented: if it allows one to feel justified
in unbelief, then it will be tenaciously maintained
F. Shallow Belief
1. Shallow belief is endemic in our society
2. How many polls show that a majority of Americans believe
that Jesus is the Christ, and that there is a Heaven?
3. A good number even believe in Hell.but of course no one
thinks that they are going there!
4. Such persons are willing to believe because it provides a
benefit or as long as it is convenient
5. If one seeks food from a church-run food pantry, or medical
care from a church-run hospital, it is easy to profess
Jesus to receive a better quality of physical life
6. (Such is why such practices are beyond the work of the
church and confuse matters more than help)
7. Many are willing to believe and to accept Jesus as long as
they can remain comfortable
8. If their lifestyles get challenged beyond what they think
is reasonable, or if the teachings of Jesus go against a
cherished view of the world, or if great financial and
physical cost is necessary to follow Jesus, they no longer
walk with Him!
9. Such persons correspond to the rocky and thorny soils in
Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23!
G. True Disciples
1. Those who end up being Christ's true disciples are few
(Matthew 7:13-14)
2. As with the Samaritans, so today: many times believers are
found in the unlikeliest of places, among the people whom
we would consider least expected to believe
3. Nevertheless, the true disciple is marked by the willingness
to constantly humble himself before his Teacher, and follow
Him, whether for good or ill (Matthew 10:24-25)!
4. The true disciple will say, as did Peter, that even though
many things that Jesus of Nazareth taught are hard, and His
path is often difficult, he can go nowhere else, for Jesus
has the words of eternal life (John 6:68, John 11:25,
John 14:6)
5. Such persons who persevere are the ones who will be saved
(Matthew 10:22)!
IV. Conclusion
A. The life and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth demand that every man
make a decision about Him
1. One cannot go through life without making some kind of
decision as to whether Jesus is the Christ and what they
will do with Him
2. One can either choose to be with Him or against Him, to
walk in His ways or to not walk with Him
3. There are eternal consequences for this decision!
B. The question, then, comes to you today: what will you do with
Jesus of Nazareth?
C. Will you not believe, as the Pharisees and those who doubt did
not?
D. Do you think that you can be comfortable believing to a
certain extent and a certain extent only?
E. Or are you willing to become Jesus' humble and obedient disciple
today, and be saved?
F. Invitation/songbook
Ethan R. Longhenry/ disciple_of_iesus at hotmail.com
Evangelist, church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio
(http://www.norwalkchurch.org)
Website: http://www.deusvitae.com
AIM: Deus Vitae / ICQ#: 28317056
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Yahoo! Messenger ID: discipuliiesus
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