Books

Bible Basics

By Bill Dillon

The Amazing Jesus

Introduction

By any reckoning, Jesus was amazing. Born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, and slain just outside the city of Jerusalem, Jesus never left the country then called Palestine. He wrote no books, commanded no armies and won no elections. Yet His words and actions have fascinated great minds, inspired great deeds and aroused great hopes ever since. He is truly the amazing Jesus.

Good morning to all listening. It is great to have you tuned in today to the “Words of Life” gospel broadcast on the Lord’s Day. This program is brought to you by the Mountain Home Church of Christ meeting at College and North Streets. On behalf of all the congregation at College and North, I invite you to visit with us in our worship services today at 9:30 and 10:20 AM and 6:00 PM. Each Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM.

Come with:

A Bible in your hand

A friend by your side

A smile on your face

A song in your heart.

“The Amazing Jesus”

Many men and movements have claimed Him as their hero and inspiration. Peering down the well of history, they have seen their own reflection. Revolutionaries have seen in Jesus a fellow freedom fighter. Hippies have seen a fellow drop-out from society. There are many different ways of seeing Jesus. How do you see Him? More importantly, how is He pictured in the Bible?

The story of Jesus is told in the four biographical books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In their accounts of the Lord’s life, they leave out some of the things we would really like to know, such as a description of the Lord’s personal appearance; how tall he was, the color of his eyes, etc.

Nevertheless, the gospel writers provide dozens of episodes showing us how Jesus treated people, how he coped with popularity, handled critics, answered questions and taught disciples.

On one occasion, Jesus asked His apostles for feedback from the public regarding His identity. They told Him that the people were undecided. Everyone agreed that Jesus was a man of God. Some thought He was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Some even thought he was John the Baptizer returned from the dead. But when Jesus pressed the apostles for their personal reply (“who do ye say that I am?”), Simon Peter had no hesitation in answering, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16-18). The Bible shows us Jesus as He really was — not as we would have Him to be.

People do indeed look at Jesus in different ways. For example, the atheist says there is no God to father the Lord Jesus Christ. The modernist looks at Jesus as a good man, a great teacher, perhaps the greatest man who ever lived, but not divine, not the only begotten Son of God. The agnostic looks at Jesus and sees nothing, being unable to see the forest because of the trees of his own doubts. Of course, these views are similar to a degree; they seek to achieve the same purpose; namely, opposition to Christ and His cause.

Then there is Jesus as He is pictured in the Bible. This is the proper way, the only way, to see Him.

All in all, the historical impact of Jesus has been astonishing. He spent only three years in the public eye. Three years in a fairly remote corner of the Roman Empire. He died at thirty-three, about half the age of Karl Marx or Chairman Mao; to say nothing of Confucius, Buddha and Mohammed. Yet His life has changed the history of the world — for the better.

It was not until Jesus was about thirty that He began His public ministry, about three years preaching, teaching and training His disciples.

Jesus not only taught supreme and lofty lessons of truth and right. He practiced what he preached. He did not merely talk about the love and power of the Kingdom of God, He showed it. He lived it.

The Bible Picture

How does the Bible picture Jesus?

1. The Bible first pictures Him as a man who went about doing good (Acts 10:38). He performed miracles. The purpose of these wonders was not merely to benefit humanity, but more than that to demonstrate His deity (John 20:30,31).

There is no doubt Jesus performed miracles of healing. Even His enemies did not doubt it. In fact, it is impossible to “modernize” the story of Jesus by keeping His teachings and throwing away His miracles. The two go together so closely that you cannot have one without the other.

Jesus healed all kinds of illnesses. The blind were given sight, the deaf were made to hear, the paralyzed were given strength to walk. Even lepers were cured. On three occasions Jesus even raised the dead to life again. He accomplished cures without elaborate ritual or mumbo-jumbo. Jesus never intended to be sensational; just compare that to the alleged miracle workers shown on television today.

2. The Bible pictures Jesus as a preacher. The first time Jesus preached, He was nearly killed. In Luke 4, He was speaking in His hometown synagogue, to the people He had known since boyhood. Luke says He read a passage from the prophecy of Isaiah.

“The spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

This was a direct reference to Isaiah 61:1,2.

He then rolled up the scroll and gave it back, and sat down. His next words must have fallen like a bombshell. He said: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). In other words, He was claiming that right then and right there God was doing all those miraculous things through Him.

Within minutes, the congregation hauled Him from the synagogue and dragged Him to the edge of a cliff, fully intending to kill Him. But the Lord’s hour had not yet come. By His great power, He simply passed through the crowd and went His way.

The whole episode was typical of the kind of preaching He would do and the kind of division He would cause. He was that kind of preacher.

3. The Bible picture of Jesus is that He was divine. The people who heard Jesus were openly astonished at the authority by which He spoke. His lessons were peppered with “ye have heard that it hath been said, . . . but I say unto you!!” He was willing to put His words right up against the time-honored traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees.

Gradually, it became unmistakably clear, to friend and foe alike, that Jesus of Nazareth was claiming God’s authority to a very special degree.

He spoke of Himself in such a way to claim deity itself: John 6:35:

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 8:12: “I am the light of the world.” Most emphatically of all in John 8:58: “Before Abraham was, I am.”

A claim to be eternal! The people were so provoked, they immediately took up stones to kill Him on the spot. Again, however, the Lord went His way.

Jesus claimed the power and authority of God in other ways. He said He could forgive sins.

To the disciples, He said quite simply: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus was not merely godly — He was God!!

The life of our Savior was matchless in all of its aspects. No man was ever born as was He. No man has ever lived as did He. No man has ever died as He died. No man has ever conquered the grave as did He. His message was matchless, both in its content and in the manner of its delivery.

During the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Jesus taught in the temple. The people were divided concerning Him, some saying that He was a good man, others charging that He was a deceiver. Others could not understand why He was not arrested by the authorities. They claimed to be seeking Him, and yet, He appeared in the most public places, and none dared to arrest Him. The Chief Priests and Pharisees inquired of the officers: “Why have ye not brought Him?” The officers answered: “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:45,46).

These words ring through the ages as a profound truth. The statement of these ancient officers is as true today as it was then. With all our modern wisdom, with the highly developed speech of our age; it still remains true, that never man spake like Jesus did.

In what ways were the words of Jesus different from the words of any others? He spake with authority. When He had finished His wonderful sermon on the Mountain, it is said that “the people were astonished at His doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28,29). The word “authority” carries the idea of ultimate power or control. In the absence of authority, there is chaos. There can be no government without authority being vested in someone. The game of life must be played according to rules, and there can be no rules without rule-making authority being vested somewhere. The full authority of God is vested in Christ. Although God had, in ages past, spoken through Moses and the prophets, on the Mount of Transfiguration He caused Moses and Elias to fade from the scene, and from the throne on high announced: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, Hear ye Him” (Matthew 17:5). After His resurrection, Jesus declared “all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). His is the ultimate authority. With all the authority of heaven and of earth in His possession, there can be no extra or additional authority to originate from human sources. Any authority exercised by man or set of men on earth can be no more than a delegated authority, an authority delegated by Him who has all authority.

There are those who try to find authority for their faith and conduct in the writings of heathen philosophers; in the voice of poets, ancient and modern; in the sayings of men of genius; in the political and religious councils of men. But from none of these sources has there ever come a word of authority that could command the hearts of men, and that could of its own weight and power show itself to be the authority of heaven.

Religiously, there is grave danger of the acceptance of any authority, other than that of Christ. The confused condition of our religious world today is largely due to a failure to recognize the authority of Christ as Supreme. When we get to the point of no longer justifying our religious beliefs on the basis of tradition, personal whim, and the teachings of men and cultic leaders, when we get to the point of allowing our lives to be governed by the will of Him who has all authority, then there will be the unity of all believers Jesus prayed for.

We should all bow at the feet of Him who “spake as never man spake” and regard His word as final in all the avenues of life.

The Bible picture of Jesus is of a preacher who was really in touch. No man ever spoke with such knowledge of life as did Jesus. No man ever maintained such calmness and evenness of disposition in the face of life’s crises. For a philosophy of life (and no man can live sanely without some sort of philosophy) we need not go further than the words of Him who spake as never man spake. The principles of life announced by the Christ (though at such variance with the philosophies by which most men live) have never been equaled for practical value. For instance, consider the desire to be great. Men have sought greatness through many avenues. To attest their greatness, some have erected gigantic monuments. But the hand of time has effaced these structures and erased from them all evidences of the greatness of their builders. Some, to evidence their greatness, have amassed great fortunes, only to have their greatness vanish in the rust and tarnish of their gold. While many have strived for greatness, only a few have attained it. These are they who have lived by the principle announced by Jesus: “Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant” (Mark 10:44), and have realized that “everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

Jesus, the divine preacher, spoke with boldness. When a high priest pretended to be seeking a knowledge of His message, Jesus declared:

“I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why asketh thou me? Ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: Behold, they know what I said” (John 18:20,21).

There was no hypocrisy back of His message. There was no catering to “the powers that be”. The Pharisees were the socially elite and politically powerful people of His day. The Publicans were the most despised and rejected people of the time. Still, Jesus did not hesitate to compare the two to the benefit of the despised publicans (Luke 18:10-14).

In spite of the boldness of the speech of Jesus, His words also had a love for all humanity. As He spake to the multitude, we are told that “they all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22)

The gentleness and tenderness and graciousness of the words of Christ are seen in His dealings with little children. Hear His gentle tones, as He says:

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

Hear His precious invitation to all the sin-laden sons of men in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am the meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The messages of the Lord Jesus Christ were perfectly balanced messages. His words could burn like fire, but they could also be as soothing as the whisper of a mother’s love.

Conclusion

Here are some of the beautiful Bible pictures of the amazing Jesus Christ:

1. He was one who went about doing good.

2. He was a preacher.

3. He was the divine Son of God.

We ask again, “How do you see Jesus?” See Him for what He is — the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the One who said in Mark 16:16:

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

The question is not only “How do you see Him?” but “When are you going to obey Him?”

Thanks for being with us today.