So why are we talking about this?
SURVEY SAYS…. The results were clear!
And… we’ve been discussing this on Wed night Bible study.
We’ve been discussing the 7 miracles and the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus in the Gospel
of John.
I’ve never had a sermon with so few notes before. Why? Because this one is fun.
Most of the time, for a sermon, you have to dig deep… get vulnerable…
But this one… this one is fun
Let me ask you a question that most people get wrong….
Who here is a theologian? Anyone? Wrong. You all are. If you’ve ever read the bible, then you
are someone who has studied God… henceforth, you are a theologian. Congrats!
I did something nuts in 2014 when the church started… I went to Liberty University
Theological Seminary and got a Masters degree in this stuff…
And do you want to know what they taught me about Jesus?
NOTHING… Absolutely nothing! Just look at all of those books.
So where did I learn about Jesus? From one of His disciples, John.
Let’s dive right in –
Is Jesus a man or a god? Can he be both? One or the other? Neither?
The Jews believed at first that he was just a man… then a prophet… then a charlatan… and
finally that he was using demons to perform his miracles.
The Greeks and the Romans thought he was one of their many gods in human form.
They were all wrong.
And John wanted to set the record straight.
I want to take just a moment to talk about John…
Why do I use his books so much?
John never calls himself John.
He calls himself the “disciple whom Jesus loved”
He and his brother are called the sons of thunder.
Fisherman. Mother was very possibly a sister to Mary. Jesus mom. John 19:25
He started out very selfish. Very proud
Always in competition with Peter.
He uses the word believe 100 times.
He makes reference to the word love 80 times.
He says the word truth 45 times.
Why? Because…
Matthew Mark and Luke look at the earthly life. His physical travels
Matthew was written for the Jews, Luke for the Romans, Mark for the Greeks.
John was written for the rest of us.
And he wrote it 50 years after the death of Christ?
Why???
Because by this time, John would have been able to read and hear what Mark wrote, how
Matthew and Luke added on to Marks writings, and how specific the audiences were.
John was written for the rest of us.
In John, God gives us the earthly, heavenly and supernatural view of Christ.
This is literally a first-hand view of the life of Jesus. And only where John was with Jesus.
No filler, just Jesus, how John viewed him. As a friend, as a brother, as a rabbi and eventually
as a savior. Which is why he ends his book with this:
John 20:31 John wanted to convince you of who Jesus really is. All of him.
31 But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name.
21 chapters tell the story of how he was truly and fully God and fully man.
The seven I AM’s and the seven miracles.
This is the only Book of the Bible that you would need to read to understand salvation.
All aspects of Jesus and God is put on display in his book. John 17 prayer.
Thomas declares him my Lord and my God
One God. Three persons. And he became fully human and fully man
Jesus is the incarnation of God
John 1:1-5
I want to read you these verses twice. Once in the NIV, and then a second time, in the way it
would be spoken today if we lived in the time of John.
The word “was” indicates Jesus already existed. Jesus predates our concept of time. Proverbs 8
John 1:9-14
John 1 9:14 (NIV)
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world,
and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to
those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—.
13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of
God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory
of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth
For me, these verses changed my understanding of Jesus, God, creation, physics and everything.
FOR THOSE TAKING NOTES:
FIRST POINT –
In these verses we discover that Jesus IS God, big G God, He has always been God, and
always will be God. His purpose was to create, to give us hope, to save and to provide a way for
us to be in a personal relationship with our heavenly father.
SECOND POINT I will post or have already posted online – it looks something like this:
These are the seven miracles and seven I AM statements of Jesus in the book of John.
These are recorded to demonstrate that Jesus could not be “just a man” or a demi god or
a man possessed by demons.
Here they are:
- Turning water into wine in Cana (2:1-11)
- Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (4:46-54)
- Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-18)
- Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6:5-14)
- Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21)
- Healing a blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7)
- Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (11:1-45)
Also known as THE SIGN
THE SIGN
T – turning water into wine
H – healing the nobleman’s son
E – elevating the lame man
S – supper for 5000
I – interim on the sea [walking on water]
G – giving sight to the blind
N – notification of Lazarus to “come forth”
Each miracle made a connection to the old testament and with each miracle….
The magnitude of his power was multiplied…
Today, his first miracle would be on CNN and chalked up as a Penn and Teller parlor trick.
Second miracle could be explained away by a staged event.
Third… we can’t pull that one off today…
Fourth, using E=MC2 to explain how he multiplied seven fish and seven loaves to feed 15,000+
people matter, would require the entire energy of the sun in its life span of 9 billion years,
multiplied 17 times over. Yes, that much.
You get the idea… by the time he raises a man who had been dead for 4 days… no one and
nothing could deny his deity at that point. And the religious leaders plotted to kill him because
of it.
Now we know Jesus was not small g God, but BIG G GOD.
The next two weeks at Bible Study, we are going to look at the seven I AM statements of
Christ, here is a sneak peek!
“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51) As bread sustains physical life, so Christ offers
and sustains spiritual life.
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) To a world lost in darkness, Christ offers Himself as
a guide.
“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7,9) Jesus protects His followers as shepherds protect
their flocks from predators.
“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Death is not the final word for those in Christ.
“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11, 14) Jesus is committed to caring and watching over
those who are His.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus is the source of all truth and knowledge
about God.
“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5) By attached ourselves to Christ, we enable His life to flow
in and through us. Then we cannot help but bear fruit that will honor the Father.
But how was he human?
Let’s very quickly look at human side of Jesus… his emotions.
All of these verses will be placed online, or are online already.
Anxiety/Troubled (John 11:33; 12:27)
Anger/Boiling Passion (John 2:17, 11:33, 38)
Sadness/Tearful (John 11:35, 43)
Pain/Weary (John 4:6)
Faith John (15:12)
Love
Jesus felt genuine love for people like: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (John 11:5), his disciples
as he washed their feet (John 13:1). He also felt friendship love (John 11:3; 20:2)
Joy/rejoicing (John 11:15), glad (John 15:11; 17:13)
Peace Jesus felt peace from heaven’s world and shared this with his disciples before he died
(John 14:27)
But…but… how can he be God and have all of these feelings… knowing what he knows…
There is one thing about Jesus I learned while in seminary, and not because of a book I read, but
because of an author I was researching. His name was Soren Kierkegaard. He wrote something
that changed the Christian world. He called it Kenotic Christology. So to make your head
explode, that’s “Soren Kierkegaard’s Kenotic Christology.”
It’s all based off of this verse: Phil 2:5-11
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
I will save you 800 pages of reading and summarize as it as this: “kenosis is the ‘self-emptying’
of Jesus’ own will and becoming entirely receptive to God’s divine will.”
Meaning, even though he was God, he still followed the will of God the Father. Because of this,
Jesus was able to live his life, like one of us… he had no personal agenda, he had no ulterior
motives. He came to live with us, be with us, be as one of us, work with us, serve us, to laugh
with us, to cry with us, to be angry, to be hurt. And when it came time to do his fathers will, he
did it.
This is it, my simple, humble closing….
Jesus is a beautiful example of how we are to live our lives. If you look back at the 7 miracles,
you will see a trend.
He sees a situation that needs help. He offers help. He waits for people to do their part, and then
he performs a miracle because they demonstrated faith. And IF THEY ALLOW HIM, the
miracle is performed and it is life changing.
If we have an obedient heart, Jesus will perform his miracles, they may not be what we want,
they may not be what we expect, but they will change your life forever if you allow them to.
Second final closing…
I could regale you with stories of miracles that Jesus performed in my life, but those are my
miracles, that I asked for, and that he offered help, I did my part, and I allowed him the
opportunity to perform the miracle, and how it’s changed my life. If you’ve ever met my son…
he is a walking talking, living breathing miracle.
But this is not my story, this is yours. And this is His.
This week, I want you to look back on your life, and I want you to see the miracles that Jesus
has performed. If you don’t believe there has ever been one… think about this – you are here,
right now, with us, at GDoW… that is a miracle.
This week, I want to hear from you, text, call, email, post it on words of encouragement, share
your miracles with us. And know that they came not from a small g god, not from a man, but
from Jesus, who was fully man and fully God.
Broken and Beautiful 