Where Jesus Came From ~ 20201220 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
12/20 Jesus in His Own Words; Where He Came From; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20201220_where-jesus-came-from.mp3
This week is Christmas! We remember, we celebrate, we wonder at the coming of Jesus. We are looking at Jesus in his own words; what he said about himself, about his coming. Last week we looked at why he came. Jesus said that he came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mk.2:17). He came to seek and to save the lost (Lk.19:10). Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk.10:45). He came to lay down his life for his sheep (Jn.10:10-11). Jesus came because we had gone astray; we were sick, lost, hopeless sinners. He came because we were that bad; to pursue us and rescue us, to redeem us and forgive our sins, he had to die in our place. That’s why he came.
Jesus came. But what does it mean to say that Jesus came? Where did he come from? Who really is this Jesus?
John was Sent and Came
In the beginning of John’s gospel we are told
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
John the baptist came. John was sent by God. But was he sent in the same way that Jesus was sent? Did John come in the same way that Jesus came?
John was the son of the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.
Luke begins his gospel by telling us their story. Elizabeth was barren; she was unable to have children. They were both ‘advanced in years;’ they were getting old. Zechariah was chosen to burn incense in the temple in Jerusalem. In the temple, he saw an angel, and he was terrified. The angel told him that his prayer had been heard and his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son, and they were to name him John.
He was told that the boy would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. He would go before the Lord God ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah ...to make ready for the Lord a people prepared’ (Lk.1:15-17).
Luke tells us
Luke 1:23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived...
Zechariah went home to his wife, and she became pregnant. John was sent by God with a task. He was sent to ‘prepare the way for the Lord’ He was empowered by the Spirit of God for this task. He came into this world in a supernatural way; he was born to a woman who was barren. He was born to parents who were ‘advanced in years;’ beyond the typical age of childbearing. In much the same way as Isaac to Abraham and Sarah some 2000 years earlier, John was born in a supernatural way.
But in another sense he, like Isaac, was born in the natural normal way. His parents came together and he was conceived.
Uniqueness of Jesus
But Jesus came differently. Luke records the angel came also to Mary and announced:
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. ...
But Mary’s question to the angel:
Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God.
Jesus was different. Jesus would not be born in the natural normal way. Matthew records:
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
John himself said:
John 1:15 ...“This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”
John, who is 6 months older than Jesus (Lk.1:36), born 6 months before Jesus, tells us that Jesus, who comes after him existed before him. John was sent by God with a mission and empowered by God. The circumstances of his birth were supernatural, but he was conceived in the natural way. But John claims that his younger cousin who came after him existed before him. John didn’t exist before he was conceived. But John believed that Jesus did.
Angel Gabriel was Sent and Came
The text also tells us that the angel Gabriel was sent from God; he came. Gabriel said to Zechariah:
Luke 1:19 ...“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
And to Mary:
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.
Gabriel was sent from God, but in a different sense than John was sent. We understand from Scripture that angels are supernatural beings created by God to serve God. Gabriel was in the presence of God; unlike John, he existed before he was sent. He was sent to deliver a message. He appeared, he delivered the good news, and then he left.
Both John and Gabriel were said to have been sent by God, they were said to have come. But in very different ways.
Jesus was Sent and Came
But what does Jesus have to say about himself? Last time we looked at John 3, a conversation between the teacher of Israel and Jesus. Nicodemus comes to him by night, seeking to understand who Jesus really is. He has concluded that Jesus is ‘a teacher come from God’ and that God is with him. Jesus points him to his own need; he is in need of total transformation, he needs to be born anew, born from above, born of the Spirit. Nicodemus is confused. Jesus says it is an issue not of understanding, but of belief. He says:
John 3:12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
Jesus is claiming to be telling Nicodemus heavenly things. He claims to tell him heavenly things because he claims to have been there. Jesus is claiming to be the one who descended from heaven.
And Jesus goes on to say:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Jesus claims to be God’s unique one-and-only Son, given by the Father. Jesus claims to have been sent into the world on a rescue mission.
Bread From Heaven
We looked at John 6, where Jesus compares himself to the manna in the wilderness, the bread God gave his people to sustain them those 40 years.
John 6:32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Jesus claims that the bread from God is a person.
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Jesus said:
John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Here Jesus again claims to have been given by the Father, to have come down from heaven. He claims to give up his own life to give eternal life to his followers.
I Am From Above
In John 8, where Jesus claims to be the light of the world, the Pharisees are questioning the validity of his testimony.
John 8:14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ...16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
Jesus claims to have been sent by the Father and with his Father’s authority to judge. Jesus tells them rather cryptically that they don’t know where he comes from and where he is going, but he knows where he came from and where he is going. He clarifies in verse 23.
John 8:23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Jesus claims to have an origin different from the rest of mankind. I am from above. I am not of this world. In fact, Jesus here claims to be God the I Am, and that they must believe this or they will die in their sins.
Jesus promises that ‘if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death’ (Jn.8:51). The Jews begin to catch on to what he is saying. They ask:
John 8:53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
Jesus claims that the God of the Jews is his Father, and God the Father is glorifying Jesus.
John 8:57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Jesus claims to have existed before Abraham existed. Even more than that, he claims to be the I AM, the self-existent God. The Jews understood what he was claiming. He was claiming to be God come in the flesh.
John 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him...
Come From and Going Back to God
In John 13, in the upper room,
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ...3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
Jesus was preparing to die. He was preparing to depart out of this world to the Father. Jesus, knowing that he had come from God and was going back to God,
John 13:4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
It was Jesus’ self awareness of who he was, where he had come from and where he was going that motivated him as their Lord and Master to set an example for them of loving self-sacrificial service.
In John 16, Jesus told his disciples:
John 16:27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
Jesus came into the world from the Father. His disciples were coming to believe in him, who he is, that he came from God.
Before the World Existed
In John 17,
John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Jesus prays and asks that his Father would glorify him. Jesus is the one who has authority to give eternal life, and eternal life consists in knowing God, being in relation with the Father and the Son whom the Father sent. Jesus asks that his Father would glorify him with the glory he had with his Father before the world existed. This goes back long before Abraham, even before Adam, before creation. Jesus is claiming to have existed with the Father before the world existed.
And Jesus prays for us:
John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Eternal life consists in knowing God and Jesus Christ. Eternal life is being with Jesus, seeing his glory, participating in the eternal inter-trinitarian love between the Father and the Son.
My Lord and My God
In John 21, when Thomas sees the resurrected Jesus, Jesus says to him:
John 21:27 ...Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Even doubting Thomas came to believe that Jesus is both Lord and God. John goes on to tell us why he wrote what he wrote.
John 21:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus eternally existed as God, enjoying relationship with his Father. And God gave us his only Son. The Father sent his Son into the world. Jesus came into the world to rescue us.
The Word Who Was God
If we jump back to the beginning of John, the Apostle gives us his understanding of what Jesus meant when he said that he was sent, and that he came.
John 1:1 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.
In verse 14, we see
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
...18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
So Jesus, the Word, the only Son from the Father, was in the beginning. He didn't begin, he simply was. He existed eternally with God, and he was himself God. And he came. He came to make God known. He came to make God knowable. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to seek you! Let this sink in. Let this fill your heart with wonder and worship.
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org