A few weeks ago, I was preparing for another message and I had two topics in my mind at that time. I was trying to decide which was more appropriate. Then, pastor Lazarus told us that next year’s theme would be on knowing Jesus. It struck my heart. I felt that God has decided for me on what I should be preaching this Sunday morning. Knowing Jesus.
I actually typed out the structure of the message that Sunday itself. At that time, I gave it a cheeky title. Fast-Food, or Wholesome Meal?
Why? How is fast food related to Jesus? The type of food we eat affects our health. Similarly, our understanding of Jesus affects our spiritual health. If our understanding of Jesus is like fast food, then it will make us happy for a moment, but in long run, it will affect our health. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart diseases are some of the problems. A healthy understanding of Jesus will help nourish our spiritual body. We are what we eat. Likewise, we are what we think.
How do we know Jesus? One of the many ways is by looking at the titles given to him in the bible. Last week, pastor used the title Wonderful Counsellor and used this to explain God’s character. This week, I am going to try to use the title Son of God.
However, the title Son of God is like an already packed meal. It is ready to be eaten. We often use this title to tell others about Jesus. We also accept very quickly that the Son of God means the divine Son in the Holy Trinity of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But, this understanding is actually the result of a slow Spirit-inspired process. To understand it is like cooking a gourmet meal. It requires careful selection of quality ingredient, patience and skills in cooking. If we simply use this title without properly knowing what it means, we are like eating fast-food. We just eat without knowing what it actually contains. This will hurt our spiritual health. We need to understand it like the way we enjoy our gourmet meal. [
So, to cook you a gourmet meal, I am going to use three ingredients, history, bible and the Spirit.
First ingredient, a bit of history on the title, son of god.
Let me again bring you back to ancient times. We travel back as far as ancient Egypt. That is almost about 1500 years or more before Jesus. Egyptian pharaohs were often given the title of sons of god/Re. They were given these titles to show that they descended from their gods. They were considered divine, but not equal to their supreme god by the name of Re.
We travel forward to ancient Israel, during the time of Davidic kings, which is about 1000 to 600 years before Jesus. During this time, the Israelites associated kings from the lineage of David as having a father and son relationship (2 Sam. 7:14, Ps. 2, Ps. 89:27). But they did not think that these kings were divine. They were different from the Egyptians.
We now travel forward further to the global Macedonian empire that Alexander the Great built about 350 years before Jesus. He too claimed that he was the son of Zeus, which meant that he was the son of god according to Greek-Egypt culture. He claimed he was divine.
Then we travel forward to a time nearest to Jesus. We will find the Roman emperor, Augustus, Julius Caesar’s son, calling himself the son of god because Caesar was worshipped as a god. He too claimed divinity and this was the start of the Roman emperor cult. Temples were built in major cities throughout the Roman Empire to worship the emperor as a god. It has similarities even with our own Chinese history.
That was the first ingredient. Now, we add the second ingredient, the gospels.
Remember, by the time of Jesus, the title son of god has already been used by the pharaohs, kings and emperors of several ancient kingdoms and empires. Most claimed to be divine, but only as a smaller god.
The disciples did not from the beginning think that Jesus was the divine Son of God. They were in fact not sure who he really was. Actually, most people during Jewish time were not sure who Jesus really was (Lk. 4:22; Lk. 5:21, etc.). That was why his enemies kept asking who He was.
Even, Mary, who was told by an angel that Jesus would be called Son of God, and John the Baptist who heard God speaking that Jesus was His beloved Son did not fully think that He was divine. As a matter of fact, those who knew that Jesus was the divine Son of God were only beings from the spiritual realm! One of the first two disciples, Andrew, recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the human Saviour chosen by God to save Israel. The first disciple to have called Jesus as the Son of God was Nathaniel. But he understood Son of God as being the human King of Israel, chosen by God and spoken of by Moses. Not the divine Son of God. In fact, for Andrew and Nathaniel, Son of God and Messiah have the same meaning, the human King chosen by God to save Israel from her enemies.
Because the disciples were confused, halfway through his 3 years of ministry, Jesus brought his disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asked them who they thought He was.
Who do the people think I am? This was the first question. From the answer, we know how the Jewish people understood Jesus. He was considered a prophet of the Old Testament, like Elijah, Jeremiah and other prophets, calling the people to repent. They even believed that Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist. In our own time, many people still believe Jesus is no more than a prophet of God or a teacher of good morals. The same understanding continued even after 2000 years.
Who do you think I am? This was the second question Jesus asked. Who do you say I am? Peter's reply is now the most often used answer when our friends ask us the same question. Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour, the Son of the living God. Jesus affirmed Peter's understanding of him. But what did Peter really mean? Did he think that Jesus is the divine Son of God, God the Son, the second in the Trinity who died for our sins? No, he did not. Why? If he did, Peter would not have rebuked Jesus. No one believing Jesus as the divine Son of God would have dared to scold Him as Peter did. Peter deservedly got his rebuke from the Lord.
Peter understood Jesus as the human Messiah who was anointed by God and sent to save the Jewish people from the Romans. That was how Peter understood the meaning of the title, Son of God. He was not wrong because Jesus affirmed him. His understanding was considered much better because Peter knew the Lord as the Messiah whereas the rest of the crowd did not. However, at this point of time at Caesarea Philippi, he did not know Jesus as the divine Son of God.
What changed his understanding of the Lord?
It was the resurrection. All the disciples and Paul understood Jesus as the Son of God because of His resurrection. All the disciples believed when they saw the resurrected Lord. Saul became Paul, when he saw the glory of the resurrected Lord on the way to Damascus.
The most important point of knowing Jesus as the divine Son of God is to know the resurrected Lord. The disciples and, especially, Paul came to know Jesus as the divine Son of God because Jesus’ resurrection fulfilled all that was spoken of his suffering, death and resurrection in the scriptures of the Old Testament. Initially, the disciples were uncertain of who Jesus was until Peter’s confession. From that point, they knew Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ. But when Jesus was resurrected, the finally knew Him as the divine Son of God.
Now, to end, the final ingredient will be added. The Holy Spirit.
To know Jesus as the divine Son of God, we need to know the resurrected Lord. To know the resurrected Jesus, we need not only the word of God, but also the Holy Spirit to guide us to understand. The last ingredient is an application, a response from us. Because knowing the resurrected Lord is a live changing experience, it is not just an intellectual exercise. Like the two disciples travelling to Emmaus, we need to experience the Lord opening the Scriptures to us and feel the passion burning in our hearts to be witnesses of His resurrection. Prayerfully, ask God to grant us by the Spirit the understanding to know the resurrected Lord through the reading of the scriptures and to experience Jesus as the resurrected Son of God in our lives.
Let us pray.
I actually typed out the structure of the message that Sunday itself. At that time, I gave it a cheeky title. Fast-Food, or Wholesome Meal?
Why? How is fast food related to Jesus? The type of food we eat affects our health. Similarly, our understanding of Jesus affects our spiritual health. If our understanding of Jesus is like fast food, then it will make us happy for a moment, but in long run, it will affect our health. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart diseases are some of the problems. A healthy understanding of Jesus will help nourish our spiritual body. We are what we eat. Likewise, we are what we think.
How do we know Jesus? One of the many ways is by looking at the titles given to him in the bible. Last week, pastor used the title Wonderful Counsellor and used this to explain God’s character. This week, I am going to try to use the title Son of God.
However, the title Son of God is like an already packed meal. It is ready to be eaten. We often use this title to tell others about Jesus. We also accept very quickly that the Son of God means the divine Son in the Holy Trinity of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But, this understanding is actually the result of a slow Spirit-inspired process. To understand it is like cooking a gourmet meal. It requires careful selection of quality ingredient, patience and skills in cooking. If we simply use this title without properly knowing what it means, we are like eating fast-food. We just eat without knowing what it actually contains. This will hurt our spiritual health. We need to understand it like the way we enjoy our gourmet meal. [
So, to cook you a gourmet meal, I am going to use three ingredients, history, bible and the Spirit.
First ingredient, a bit of history on the title, son of god.
Let me again bring you back to ancient times. We travel back as far as ancient Egypt. That is almost about 1500 years or more before Jesus. Egyptian pharaohs were often given the title of sons of god/Re. They were given these titles to show that they descended from their gods. They were considered divine, but not equal to their supreme god by the name of Re.
We travel forward to ancient Israel, during the time of Davidic kings, which is about 1000 to 600 years before Jesus. During this time, the Israelites associated kings from the lineage of David as having a father and son relationship (2 Sam. 7:14, Ps. 2, Ps. 89:27). But they did not think that these kings were divine. They were different from the Egyptians.
We now travel forward further to the global Macedonian empire that Alexander the Great built about 350 years before Jesus. He too claimed that he was the son of Zeus, which meant that he was the son of god according to Greek-Egypt culture. He claimed he was divine.
Then we travel forward to a time nearest to Jesus. We will find the Roman emperor, Augustus, Julius Caesar’s son, calling himself the son of god because Caesar was worshipped as a god. He too claimed divinity and this was the start of the Roman emperor cult. Temples were built in major cities throughout the Roman Empire to worship the emperor as a god. It has similarities even with our own Chinese history.
That was the first ingredient. Now, we add the second ingredient, the gospels.
Remember, by the time of Jesus, the title son of god has already been used by the pharaohs, kings and emperors of several ancient kingdoms and empires. Most claimed to be divine, but only as a smaller god.
The disciples did not from the beginning think that Jesus was the divine Son of God. They were in fact not sure who he really was. Actually, most people during Jewish time were not sure who Jesus really was (Lk. 4:22; Lk. 5:21, etc.). That was why his enemies kept asking who He was.
Even, Mary, who was told by an angel that Jesus would be called Son of God, and John the Baptist who heard God speaking that Jesus was His beloved Son did not fully think that He was divine. As a matter of fact, those who knew that Jesus was the divine Son of God were only beings from the spiritual realm! One of the first two disciples, Andrew, recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the human Saviour chosen by God to save Israel. The first disciple to have called Jesus as the Son of God was Nathaniel. But he understood Son of God as being the human King of Israel, chosen by God and spoken of by Moses. Not the divine Son of God. In fact, for Andrew and Nathaniel, Son of God and Messiah have the same meaning, the human King chosen by God to save Israel from her enemies.
Because the disciples were confused, halfway through his 3 years of ministry, Jesus brought his disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asked them who they thought He was.
Who do the people think I am? This was the first question. From the answer, we know how the Jewish people understood Jesus. He was considered a prophet of the Old Testament, like Elijah, Jeremiah and other prophets, calling the people to repent. They even believed that Jesus was the resurrected John the Baptist. In our own time, many people still believe Jesus is no more than a prophet of God or a teacher of good morals. The same understanding continued even after 2000 years.
Who do you think I am? This was the second question Jesus asked. Who do you say I am? Peter's reply is now the most often used answer when our friends ask us the same question. Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour, the Son of the living God. Jesus affirmed Peter's understanding of him. But what did Peter really mean? Did he think that Jesus is the divine Son of God, God the Son, the second in the Trinity who died for our sins? No, he did not. Why? If he did, Peter would not have rebuked Jesus. No one believing Jesus as the divine Son of God would have dared to scold Him as Peter did. Peter deservedly got his rebuke from the Lord.
Peter understood Jesus as the human Messiah who was anointed by God and sent to save the Jewish people from the Romans. That was how Peter understood the meaning of the title, Son of God. He was not wrong because Jesus affirmed him. His understanding was considered much better because Peter knew the Lord as the Messiah whereas the rest of the crowd did not. However, at this point of time at Caesarea Philippi, he did not know Jesus as the divine Son of God.
What changed his understanding of the Lord?
It was the resurrection. All the disciples and Paul understood Jesus as the Son of God because of His resurrection. All the disciples believed when they saw the resurrected Lord. Saul became Paul, when he saw the glory of the resurrected Lord on the way to Damascus.
The most important point of knowing Jesus as the divine Son of God is to know the resurrected Lord. The disciples and, especially, Paul came to know Jesus as the divine Son of God because Jesus’ resurrection fulfilled all that was spoken of his suffering, death and resurrection in the scriptures of the Old Testament. Initially, the disciples were uncertain of who Jesus was until Peter’s confession. From that point, they knew Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ. But when Jesus was resurrected, the finally knew Him as the divine Son of God.
Now, to end, the final ingredient will be added. The Holy Spirit.
To know Jesus as the divine Son of God, we need to know the resurrected Lord. To know the resurrected Jesus, we need not only the word of God, but also the Holy Spirit to guide us to understand. The last ingredient is an application, a response from us. Because knowing the resurrected Lord is a live changing experience, it is not just an intellectual exercise. Like the two disciples travelling to Emmaus, we need to experience the Lord opening the Scriptures to us and feel the passion burning in our hearts to be witnesses of His resurrection. Prayerfully, ask God to grant us by the Spirit the understanding to know the resurrected Lord through the reading of the scriptures and to experience Jesus as the resurrected Son of God in our lives.
Let us pray.
Knowing Jesus - a beginning
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