FROM WHENCE CAME JESUS?

Jno. 16:28 ... "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world."

      Who was Jesus Christ? This is one of the most profound questions ever considered by man. In fact, many would rephrase it, changing "was" to "is." The question of who Jesus WAS concerns the identity of the historical Jesus; who was the Man of Nazareth in the 1st Century A.D. who was called Jesus? Posed in the form, 'Who IS Jesus?," concerns His eternal existence and office.  There has been continual controversy for two millennia over both of these questions. Once He Himself posed the question to His apostles, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets," (Mt. 16:13-14). The people, therefore, saw Jesus as extraordinary; yet, they conceded Him a status no higher than that of a mortal man. And since that day, now so long in the past, the conception of people has not changed. It is the opinion of many that Jesus was (not "is"!) a master Teacher who founded one of the major world religions; but He was nevertheless only a mortal man.

      A question closely connected to those just considered is anticipated in Jesus' statement in the initial text above. From whence did Jesus come? This question was also debated during Jesus' life on earth. In Jno. 7:40-43 it is reported that "some of the multitude, when they heard (Jesus') words, were saying, 'This certainly is the Prophet.' Others were saying, 'This is the Christ.' Still others were saying, 'Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?' So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him." Part of the Jews, marveling at the miraculous acts and superior words of Jesus, concluded that He had to be the Prophet foretold by Moses (Dt. 18:15-19) whether He came out of Galilee or not. Other Jews, however, stumbled over the apparent fact that Jesus could not be the Christ since He came from Galilee and since Mic. 5:2 required that He come from Bethlehem in Judea. They perceived another problem in that the Christ had to be of the house and lineage of David, (II Sam. 7:12-16), and seemingly this Jesus of Nazareth did not possess that ancestry.

      When the inspired writers penned the New Testament scriptures, they addressed these questions which made it difficult for the Jews to believe Jesus was the Messiah, or Christ. Matthew (in chp. 2) gave testimony that Jesus had indeed been born in Bethlehem, and in the preceding chapter produced a genealogy linking Jesus to David. Luke (in chp. 3) showed that Jesus also had a second genealogy connecting Him to David, apparently through Mary. Jesus therefore fulfilled all the Old Testament prophetical requirements about where the Christ was to come from. It was necessary that they be met to verify He was the Christ and that His coming had been planned for many centuries.

      The most important matters concerning where Jesus came from, however, were by no means His geographical or genealogical origin. The ultimate answer to the fundamental question is found in Jesus' declaration, "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world." Except to fulfill prophecy, (certainly an essential matter!), it was irrelevant whether Jesus came from Bethlehem or Beth-horon, or whether He came from the family of David or of Daniel. God could have decreed Beth-horon and Daniel rather than Bethlehem and David, if it had so pleased Him. The matter of ultimate importance is that Jesus came forth from the Father when He entered the world. The power by which Jesus performed His great deeds, and the authority that validated His teaching, were not dependent on Bethlehem being His birthplace or David being His forefather. The requisite power and authority were invested in Him by God when "He came forth from the Father." The real reason people today want to discredit Jesus with some spurious account of a mundane origin is to escape that very power and authority inherent in His words, which define the limitations of beneficial human thought and conduct.

THE VINEYARD PARABLE

Jno. 15:2 ... "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit."

      In the first part of this chapter Jesus is painting a verbal picture of a vine, probably a grapevine, growing in someone's vineyard. From the trunk of the vine radiate out many branches, some full of life and bearing fruit, while others are stunted or dead  and void of fruit. The husbandman regularly comes to each plant and cuts off the stunted and dead branches, which he gathers into a pile outside the vineyard and burns them. He also prunes the luxuriant branches to enhance their ability to grow better and produce more. Those who heard Jesus paint this verbal picture could easily comprehend it, since vineyards were common in Palestine. Many of His disciples at some time in the past had likely worked in vineyards doing just what Jesus portrayed the husbandman doing. The picture is thus quite plain; but, since it is obvious Jesus is teaching a spiritual lesson with this physical model, what is His message?

      First, the vine is a figure for Christ, and the branches are people who are His disciples. This identification is made clear in v.5 where Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches." The idea that the branches represent divisions of the Christian church is a fallacy. Jesus had individual people in mind rather than human organizations when He spoke of branches, because in v.6 He said that "if ANYONE (a person) does not abide in Me, HE is thrown away as a branch." Since Jesus is the vine, and Christians are the branches, the vineyard is the Lord's church, since that is the body in which Christ is united with His disciples. We are told in Eph. 1:22-23 that the Father gave Christ "to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body." The husbandman, who cuts off the barren branches and burns them, and who prunes the productive branches to enable them to bear even more fruit, is God the Father, (see v.1). This, then, is the spiritual reality modeled in the physical image. But what is the practical application in human experience? It is apparent that Jesus had two such applications in mind.

      The first is that spiritual life and productivity come only through fellowship with Christ. Jesus declared in v.4 that "as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me." Lest anyone not understand what it means to "abide in Me," Jesus expands on the concept in v.10, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." To abide in Christ therefore means to keep the commandments He has given us. Also, as a person stores up in his mind the knowledge of Jesus' commandments by diligently studying the New Testament, and then faithfully conducts his life by the guidelines set by these commandments, he is bringing forth the fruit the Lord expects.  One's obedience to the teachings of Christ is the fruit that He intends every branch to produce.

      The second application Jesus makes is that failure to bear fruit for Him will lead to rejection and destruction. In v.6 He declared, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." When a person becomes a disciple of Christ by being "baptized into Christ," (Gal. 3:27), he becomes a new, tender shoot out of that Holy Vine. That person must then begin to bear fruit as he becomes involved in the activities of spiritual service commanded by Jesus. If this does not happen, or if a Christian stops doing them, the Lord will eventually cut that person off from Him and have no further fellowship with Him. Finally, He will sorrowfully (I Pet. 3:9) destroy that soul in "fire," meaning the eternal fire of hell (Gehenna). And that is the ultimate human tragedy! 

A HEAVENLY PLACE PREPARED

Jno. 14:3 ... "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

      One of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is that there is an afterlife. The New Testament teaches that a human being is not totally physical in nature, but is constituted of both a physical part and a spirit made "in the image of God," (Gen. 1:27), or "in the likeness of God, (Jas. 3:9). At death these two parts separate, as Eccl. 12:7 states: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." The spirit, or soul, of a person is therefore eternal. Beyond the gate of death there stretches out an endless road of which we now know nothing, other than what God in Sacred Scripture has revealed. Being a spiritual entity in a spiritual context is a condition quite beyond the perception and investigation of human science.

      Because the spiritual state is outside of science and cannot be empirically examined, there are people who either outright deny its reality or, somewhat more conservatively express agnosticism toward it. For them, life is a self-contained package of existential experience. In this view man is supreme and human wisdom the measure of all things. Ethics and morality are based on what appears to maximize good for the greater part of humanity. The physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social, and psychological pleasure that a person derives from interacting with life is considered to be the only reward he will receive from it. Man's only immortality is the legacy, or heritage, he leaves behind to others. For example, George Washington still lives only in the lingering consequences of his deeds and in the records thereof that survive.

      The person who subscribes to this secular, materialistic view of human nature is investing in very risky philosophical capital. Since the empiricist is not able to detect or investigate the spiritual state, he cannot really know if it exists or not. If it does not really exist, then he is none the worse when his life terminates in the material world, which alone he affirmed. But if the spiritual world does exist, as the Bible asserts, then the materialist with great surprise enters into a new domain for which he has made no preparation. If a Christian dies in the faith, and there is no spiritual world beyond the grave to receive his soul, in the annihilation of his consciousness he will never know the difference and will be none the worse for it. But if his faith in the Bible is confirmed in death, and his soul enters a new realm of existence, he will be eligible for divine grace and mercy to participate in its eternal joys. To this writer it is wise to live steadfastly in Christian faith without reservation until the separation of the soul and body in death.

      The New Testament also asserts that in the spiritual world there are separate areas of existence for the faithful Christian and the agnostic or atheist. The text above quotes Jesus revealing the eternal abode of the faithful. In v.2 He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions ... I go to prepare a place for you." The spiritual home of the faithful is a place "prepared" for them. Hence, those who would live in them must make the proper preparation by devoting themselves to Christ with a lifetime of faith, loyalty, and active service. The gospel is our guide for this period of preparation. At the time set by God alone, He will send Christ back to earth to gather from it those who believed and prepared for that unique hour. This faith, moreover, is not blind faith without a substantial foundation. Jesus gave evidence to the truth of His assertions in the miraculous deeds He performed, (Jno. 10:38), which were recorded by reliable witnesses in documents that are at least no less historically reliable than other documents rarely questioned by the world of critical scholarship. Victory at death lies only in faith, (I Jno. 5:4).

The Mark of a True Disciple

Jno. 13:35 ... "By this all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

      One may ask, "What is the most evident characteristic of a Christian?" As you survey a group of people in a community, what feature of their lives identifies them most readily as followers of Jesus? There will, in fact, be many things about their conduct, speech, and attitudes that will reveal their discipleship. Qualities such as courtesy, kindness, charity, gentleness, benevolence, optimism, and moral uprightness will stand out as distinctive. And yet, in Jesus' statement quoted above, there is another distinguishing mark that must precede all the rest. It is the pure, sincere love that Christians are to have without fail for other Christians. The genuine love that bonds one Christian to any other anywhere else in the world is to be the most apparent single characteristic of disciples of Christ.

      This is not to say that Christians love only fellow Christians and that this exclusive intra-faith love is what the Lord values. Our love is comprehensive in the fellowship of saints, but it is not exclusive. Christ teaches us to love all men, for they, too, are made in the similitude of God and are potential disciples of Christ if they can be reached with the gospel. In fact, it is love for those who are spiritually lost in sin that couples with response to the Great Commission to motivate Christians to take the gospel to them to realize that wonderful potential. In an address to some men about to go into the mission field, Henry Drummond brought out this point when he said, "And I beg the little band of would-be missionaries to remember that, though you give your bodies to be burned, and have not love, it profits nothing -- nothing! You can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the love of God upon your own character. That is the universal language."

      Nevertheless, it is the unfeigned love that one Christian has for the other that singles him out to be a Christian. But what are the features of this kind of love that differentiates it from the other shades of meaning of this much abused word in contemporary speech? The answer is best given by considering the inspired analysis of it in I Cor. 13:4-8. First, it is patient. Christians are able to wait on each other so that together they can move successfully along the road of life. Second, it is kind. Christians do nice things willingly for each other to help them along. Third, it is generous, which is the basic idea in "love is not jealous." Christians rejoice in the achievements of their brethren. Fourth, it is humble. "Love does not brag and is not arrogant." Christians think of themselves as servants to one another, not as lords to be served by other brethren. Fifth, it is courteous. "Love does not act unbecomingly." Christians practice good manners toward one another ... and toward everyone else as well! Sixth, it is unselfish. "Love does not seek its own." Christians consider themselves stewards of God with respect to material things and are readily willing to share with brethren who are in need. Seventh, it is self-controlled. "Love is not provoked." Christians have ways, revealed in Holy Scripture, of resolving differences, other than through anger and violence. Eighth, it is guileless. "Love does not take into account a wrong suffered." Christians do not judge another's motives and then color their intentions evil. Even when a disciple commits an "iniquity," the rest do not rejoice; but in a grave "spirit of meekness" work to restore that individual, (Gal. 6:1)). Space fails to exhaust this analysis of love. To be sure, Jesus' disciples fall far short of its standard. But to the extent we build this love into our fellowship, to the same extent we identify ourselves as true disciples.

WHOSE APPROVAL DO YOU SEEK?

Jno. 12:42-43 ... "Many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God."

      When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the news caused a great deal of talk among the Jews of Judea. It generated faith in the hearts of the common people, for it says in Jno. 11:45 that "many of the Jews, who had come to Mary and beheld what He had done, therefore believed in Him. Afterward they eagerly sought for Jesus to show up wherever they went, (v.56). But the Pharisees, the hardened enemies of Jesus, reacted differently. Together with the chief priests they soon held a council and determined that it was in their best interests to find some way to put Jesus to death, (vs. 47-53). They also decided it would be a good idea to execute Lazarus also, since it was he who testified to Jesus' unique power, (Jno. 12:10-11). Not long thereafter, Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem and was enthusiastically supported by the multitudes, who remembered specifically that He had raised Lazarus, (vs. 17-18). In their consternation the Pharisees looked upon the scene and remarked, "The world has gone after Him!" (v.10).

      The truth and power in Jesus simply could not be denied. One either had to attribute His authority to God or to the devil, and the Pharisees did the latter, (Mat. 12:24). In that society this party of Jews, though not politically the ruling class, were nevertheless the most influential force. If they wished, they could disenfranchise a person and make him an outcast. So, when the chief rulers found they were unable to do other than believe in Jesus, they realized they were caught in a dilemma. If they confessed their faith, the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue.  This meant they would become social pariahs. To go from being a ruler to the lowly level of a leper was quite a demotion! On the other hand, if they held on to their position and status by keeping their faith locked in their hearts in silence, they could not become disciples of Jesus and inherit the wonderful blessings He had promised. But because "they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God," they chose the second horn of the dilemma. In doing so, they preserved their privileges as chief rulers but were impaled by the curse upon all who reject the Son of God.

      The society of ancient Judea, dominated by Pharisees and their ideology, has long been a thing of the past. But in every age there exists its counterpart in some segment of the people who are hostile to Christ. Usually, this segment is possessed of popularity, status, and some kind of power (political, economic, social, ideological, or whatever). Most people are anxious to identify with the dominant group in order to partake of its apparent advantages. But what will they do when they realize they cannot identify with the "in crowd" and with Jesus at the same time? One must assess the alternatives and make a decision. If the "approval of men" is more important. the person must deny Jesus and settle for the reward of what the here and now offers. If the "approval of God" is more important, the person will withdraw from the thinking and behavior of the world and look for his reward after this life has ended. This latter choice will likely bring about varying degrees of disapproval and ridicule from the prevailing segment of society, but those who want to serve Christ must be ready to endure all this. As we present Christ and His gospel to the people about us, we must make this situation known beforehand so that they may take it into consideration as they make their decision. Many disciples are lost because they do not fully realize that to accept Christ often means to deny the way of life and thinking of many, if not most, of the people who share this earth with them.

THE RESURRECTION OF A DEAD MAN

Jno. 11:33-35  "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept."

      Through the long span of human history people have worshiped countless gods. But the God whom Christians worship and serve is unique in every way. First, He is real, whereas they are either idols manufactured by human hands or else forces of nature which men have deified. Any similarity which the true God and the gods of human imagination might appear to have is immediately erased when considered in the context of the real versus the imagined. The gods worshiped by the Gentiles in Jesus' time were all the creation of human fantasy, yet the people had their faith fixed upon them. Jesus' visit to earth was in part designed to show us what God really is. This goal He accomplished so perfectly that He was able to say, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father," (Jno. 14:9). In the initial text above, Jesus is showing us a fundamental feature of God's character that has great significance for suffering humanity.

      The predominant world view in the First Century was derived from Greek culture, which had been spread across the realm of civilization by Alexander and his successors. Even Judaism had felt the irresistible pressure of this Hellenizing influence. To the Greek mind the major characteristic of God was what they called apatheia.  Our word "apathy" is derived from that term, but the Greek original conveyed a different meaning. Apatheia referred to the absolute inability to feel emotion, whereas our word "apathy" means the ability is present but is not used. The Greek people believed that feeling emotion is impossible for gods because it is the result of an external power imposed upon them, and the gods are not subject to any power other than their own.  Our featured text is important because it shows Jesus, who was God in the flesh, feeling emotion very keenly.

      The essential meaning this holds for us is revealed in Heb. 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses." Jesus, our great High Priest, is not detached from the impact upon our emotions of the "weaknesses" which plague us. Mary and Martha were in agony of grief over the loss of their beloved brother Lazarus. When Jesus observed their agitation, He was "deeply moved in spirit ... troubled ... (and) wept." He did not weep over the death of Lazarus, as they helplessly did, because Lazarus was not beyond the reach of power of this One who said, "I have the keys of Death and Hades," (Rev. 1:18). Within a few moments Jesus used those "keys" to unlock the sinister gates of Hades, release the soul of Lazarus, and reunite it with his already decaying body (which He renewed), thus depriving Death of its victim. In reality, "Jesus wept" through empathy. He entered into the emotional distress of the two sisters and helped bear their burden by weeping with them.

      Jesus is a close and very personal God who will sincerely "sympathize with our weaknesses." Consequently, as the Hebrew writer points out, we as Christians may "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,' (4:16). Jesus extended grace and mercy to Mary and Martha by restoring their brother alive to them. That was certainly "help in time of need." If we are as devoted to Jesus in faith and love as this humble family in Bethany of Judea two millennia ago, we can be sure our Lord will sympathize with us in our difficulties and bestow upon us whatever help we need to shore up our sagging spirits and bear us through to more stable times. That is the valuable lesson we may learn from this amazing event of so long ago, but so contemporary in meaning.

      

Jesus' Definition of "Christian"

Jno. 10:27 ... "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

      Of all the definitions that might be given for "Christian," this statement by Jesus is for me the best. It will be noticed that it lays down four conditions which, when fully met, perfectly delineate the status of a Christian. First, a Christian is one who is a sheep in Jesus' flock. Sheep are frequently used in the Bible to represent the people of God. It says in Psa. 100:3 that "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Even more emphatic is the scene of the Great Judgment drawn by Jesus in Matthew 25. There all mankind is summoned before God and divided into two vast groups. We read in v.33 that "God shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." The significance of this division is made clear in the declarations of vs. 34 and 41. "Then shall the King say to those on His right (the sheep), 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' ... Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'" A Christian, then, is beyond doubt a person who qualifies as a "sheep" in the flock of Christ. This spiritual "flock" is identified in the New Testament as the church, (e.g., I Pet. 5:1-4). A Christian is therefore one who holds actual membership in Christ's church.

      Second, a Christian is one who hears the voice of Christ. Jesus used the verb "hear" in His teaching to mean "to listen attentively, respectfully, and obediently." At any point in life a person is always being exposed to numerous voices that would persuade him to put his faith in them and follow their way into some supposed utopia. Religions and philosophies, both esoteric and popular, line the roadside of life like billboards along a highway with strong appeals for us to turn aside into them to participate in their activities and conform to their interpretation of the human condition. But it is the distinctive trait of a Christian not to be distracted by these appealing voices. He will not "hear" them but will keep his attention riveted on Jesus. In Jno. 10:4-5 Jesus proclaims that "the sheep follow Him because they do not know the voice of strangers."

      Third, Jesus identifies a Christian as a person whom He knows. In this special usage of the verb "know" Jesus means both knowledge and approval. He certainly has knowledge of the vilest sinner, and in the End will visit eternal punishment upon him for his impenitent evil. But Jesus confers approval upon those whom He knows live in faith by His standard of righteousness. So we read in II Tim. 2:19, "The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The Lord knows those who are His.'" To be known by the Lord is to belong to the Lord and to bear His own seal of approval.

      Fourth, a Christian is a person who follows Christ. He has developed the solid conviction that no leader or teacher on earth really knows where he is going or what lies ahead, except Jesus. For no one other than Jesus knows where or what heaven is, and no one but Jesus has the wisdom and foresight to know what lies ahead and whether it should be welcomed or shunned. Jesus always leads His followers through the shoals and narrows of life safely, but other leaders suffer their followers to shipwreck  their lives all along the way. Only Jesus, having finished His ministry, can say, "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your (the Father's) name whom You have given Me, and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, (Jno. 17:11-12)."