Jesus The Christ

John 10:24-25

My title for this morning is Jesus The Christ. And I am attempting to answer the question of the Jews in the verse we read “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” Hopefully, we should leave here with a conviction of why Jesus is the Christ and it’s implication over our lives. If Jesus is who he claimed to be, and he is, then we are following the true One God who once lived amongst us and is with us never to leave us or forsake us. These are great words of assurance for all who have put their faith and trust in Jesus.

During the week, I went back to read C.S Lewis’ Mere Christianity during my commute to the office and something he wrote in the preface struck me. He warned readers about what not to expect in the book. I quote him.

The reader should be warned that I offer no help to anyone who is hesitating between two Christian denominations. You will not learn from me whether to become Anglican, a Methodist, a Presbyterian, or a Roman Catholic. This omission is intentional… There is no mystery about my position. I am a very ordinary layman of the church of England, and not especially “high”, nor especially “low”, nor especially anything else. But in this book I am not trying to convert anyone to my position. Ever since I became a Christian I have thought that the best, perharps the only service I could do for my unbelieving neighbours was to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all time.

Simply, C.S Lewis says the reason he wrote his book is to explain and defend beliefs that are common to all Christians. Now one common belief held among all Christians is the identity of Jesus, that he is God.

Now this statement struck because of what the apostle John also said he set forth to do when he wrote the gospel of John. He says he didn’t set out to talk about everyrthing Jesus did. But he set forth to do this one common thing, prove that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. So that his readers will believe when they read.

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.

The purpose of John for writing we can say was to point out that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…”. His writing was evangelistic, to bring people to salvation.

How did he achieve that? He was selective in his writings about the life of Jesus. He didn’t write everything Jesus did. He just wrote the things that will help him establish the Identity of Jesus he set out to prove. So in his writings, he selected events that points to Jesus as Christ. As you read through the Gospel of John, you will notice this focus on Jesus as Christ. Whenever, an event involves the Identity of Jesus as Christ, John records it.

In the opening chapters of John’s gospel, he records an event where the Jews went to find out fron John the Baptist whether he is the Christ (1:19-23). Again in the same opening Chapters, we see Jesus as Christ affirmed when Jesus called the disciples (1:40-41). Further down John 3:25-28, another argument arose about the identity of John the Baptist and he reminds his followers he is not the Christ. Now as John’s account progresses, we meet Jesus and the Samaritan woman where Jesus revealed his identity as The Christ (John 4:25-26). There are many more instances where John records arguments and disputations about the person of Jesus as The Christ

And the verses we read are one of the verses that points us to disputes about who Jesus is.

Who Is The Christ?

Confusion About Jesus’ Identity

Jesus’ relationship with the Pharisess has been that of constant confrontations. Confrontations over his words, confrontations over his works and actions. Everytime Jesus has said something or done something, it results in confusion and suspicion about who he is. The verses we read is one of those many confusions. It firstly began with his words. Observe the verses 19: “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.” “There was again a division…” This points us to a prior division. Remember the people Jesus is interacting with goes back to John 9. When the blind man was healed, there was a dispute about who Jesus is. So they were divided over his works. Now in this verse they are divided over his words: “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words”

Because of these words.

What words? All that Jesus has said from the beginning of the chapter (vv.7 & 9), (vv.11&14), (v.15-18). The Jews got the message, all the things he was saying were not the words of an ordinary man. He is using words that are only applicable to God.  Think of “I am the good shepherd”. Clearly, every Jew will think Psalm 23. So they will clearly understand Jesus is laying claim to divinity.

Clarity About Jesus’ Identity

Mind you at this point, Jesus is explaining a figure of speech he has earlier used (v.6). It is possible they are getting what he is saying. They only have to be sure they are not misinterpreting him, so they went to him suspect they needed to be sure the things Jesus is saying, so they sought Clarity from him. They gathered around him. Possibly they encircled him and asked him to tell them plainly if he is the Christ:(vv.22-24). “If you are the Christ tell us plainly? In other words, all you are saying points to The Christ. Are you The Christ? Stop, confusing us, just tell us who you are?

The Christ

At this point it will be worth exploring what The Christ means. Don’t forget John’s agenda with which he wrote his gospel as we stated earlier on. He wrote to prove that Jesus is The Christ.
Now the word Christ, is a Greek word Christos which means “The Anointed One”. The Hebrew equivalent of Christos is the Hebrew word Mashiah, which also means “The Anointed one”. Masiah is what we have in our English Bible as Messiah. So if you hear Christ, it is the same as Messiah.And in the Old Testament, God promised his people a Messiah, a Messiah who will deliver them from their sin and oppression. And you know the Jews were constantly taken into captivity as a form of discipline and chastisement for their sins. And anytime they are taken into captivity, they looked forward to this promised Messiah. As at the time of the life of Jesus, this anticipation has heightened and the Jews indeed were looking expectantly to the Messiah. In the lowest moment in his life when he was in prison, John The Baptist sent his disciples to go and ask Jesus whether he is the Messiah:

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another (Matthew 11:2-3).

In his encounter, with the woman at the well, this expectation of the Messiah was also expressed: “The woman said to him , “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”(John 4:25). So there was a national anticipation of The Messiah, the Christ

Confirmation of Jesus’ Identity

The apostles in their writings clearly pointed us to the fact that Jesus Christ is that promised Messiah. In the encounter with the woman at the well we just read, Jesus identified himself as the Messiah: “Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 5:26). Jesus in these words identified himself as the Christ. And in this confrontation with the Jews, Jesus did confirm he is the Christ (v.25). How? He pointed to his works as evidence. Then he further explained to them why they didn’t believe. They didn’t believe because they didn’t belong to him, they are not one of his (v.26). This is quiet perplexing. How can Jesus be saying all these to Jews, who are the people of God? This is what we call in Reformed Theology, the doctrine of election. It tells us that everyone who has believed in Jesus believed because he was Jesus’ sheep. You didn’t believe to become a sheep or follower of Jesus. You believed because you are his sheep. You have been predestined to believe. The Father gave you as a gift to the son (vv.26-29).

The identity of Jesus Christ dear friends is not just for information, but also for an assurance that those who have believed in him are saved and secured. You belong to the good shepherd and this should produce in you hope and comfort. You belong to the God of the universe. He is your Father and he gave you to Jesus. We hopefully will flesh this out next week Lord wiling

But this morning what I am trying to establish the Divinity of Jesus, the fact that he is God. His answer to the Jews is basically that “I am the Christ”. Not only that, but also I am One with the Father” (John 10:30). That simply means he is God. He is one in essence in being with the Father. Who the Father is, Jesus is.

Some people have argued that Jesus never said he is God. Well, they are looking for an exact phrase where Jesus announced “I am God”. They are expecting Jesus to be saying things exactly how they want to hear it. But there are many places where Jesus’ statements points to the fact that he is God. For example in John 8:58, he said “before Abraham was, I am.

Now when Jesus said the Jews clearly understood what Jesus meant when he said “I and my Father are One”. They understood he was laying claim to divinity, they understood his words. Another confusion and confrontationbegan between Jesus and the Jews. They wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy (vv.31-33).

Dear, friends, as Christians, there is no confusion about who Jesus is. He is Christ. He is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. He is God come in human flesh to save sinners. In a few days we will be celebrating that great event in human history where God came to live among human beings in the person of Jesus. He came, as the Christmas Carols says

born that we no more may die,

born to raise us from the earth,

born to give us second birth. 

What we have heard about Christ is not just for information, but also for an assurance that those who have believed in him are saved and secured. You belong to the good shepherd and this should produce in you hope and comfort. You belong to the God of the universe. He is your Father and he gave you to Jesus (vv.28-29). Let me close with C.S Lewis’ defense of Jesus as God

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [that is, Christ]: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”