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Chapter
2 – Jesus Restores
No one singular person has made as
great an impact in the world as Jesus of Nazareth. So who was this man who
changed the world? What did he say that was so influential? What did he do that
caused the world of his day and shortly after his death to be turned upside
down? There are thousands of books on this subject and so we are not going to
spend a tremendous amount of time in this short course discussing the reason
for Christianity. But we are going to address three questions in order to
attempt to understand what it means to be a Christian. The first is the most
important question in regard to our individual spiritual walk and that is the
question, “Why did we need him?” The second area spends time understanding the
question, “What were the Hebrew people looking for?” Finally we will answer the
question, “What did we get and why?”
1. Why
did we need him?
The answer to this question is fairly
complicated and requires us to understand sin. When Adam and Eve were created
in the Garden of Eden, they were both protected and perfect. Humanity had been
created in the image of God and God said it was very good. Then sin entered
into the equation. Now when we speak of sin, we are always talking about
“original sin” or “disobedience to God.” We often make our lists of sins and
their consequences but almost always we are referring to the symptoms of sin,
not sin itself. Sin is simply our disobedient nature to the will of God. And
when we fully understand that we are on the road to being better children of
God. The foundational problem is this. We want to be in control of our lives
and we really don’t want God to tell us what to do. It has become our inherent
nature. John Wesley talks about the depraved nature of humanity. Paul refers to
it in Romans 3:23 when he says we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God. So in order to make that right, we humans can try to take the Ten
Commandments and live by them to the best of our abilities. But the truth is we
fail again and again. Following the questions at the end of the thic chapter are
some drawings that sum up our understanding of Sin. It is like a great divide
that no matter what we do or how hard we work at being good, we cannot ever
cross it. So to simply answer the question, we know that God loves us so much
that God is atoning for our sin. Now there are many different definitions of
atonement theory but the one that the author subscribes to is closely related
to what is called the ransom theory. If we view the Old Testament scripture, we
will see that God demanded an offering and sacrifice to atone for unrighteous
behavior. And in Jesus (see Romans 3: 24-26), God atones through the offering
of Jesus as his rightful sacrifice for original sin. In other words, without
Jesus we would be sinful people without hope for redemption and forgiveness.
2. What
did the Hebrew people expect?
[Please
read, Genesis 49: 8-12; 2 Samuel 7: 12-17; Isaiah 11; Jeremiah 23: 5-7; Micah
5: 2-3; and Isaiah 9: 2-7]
This question is important because it
allows us to understand why the Hebrew people did not believe in Jesus and in
fact many still today do not believe him to be the Messiah. The Hebrew people were an oppressed enslaved
people to the Romans at the time of Jesus. Though they were given religious
freedom within the Roman structure even that was abused by the Sanhedrin, Sadducee’s
and Pharisee’s. From the very beginning a Messiah, one would be appointed by
God, ordained if you will to be the rightful ruler of Israel was the promise
that they expected. We know that Jesus fulfills that but not in the way the
Hebrew people expected it. So the people of the first century were certainly
looking for this ruler to come, reunite the old Israel
3.
What did we get and why?
With Jesus this part of the question
could take weeks, months or even years to define. I think it is important that
you read or have read all of the four Gospels in order to better discuss this
answer to this question. The truth is we got lots of things with Jesus.
Throughout his ministry we certainly have the best example of how to live as a
Christian totally submitting ourselves to the will of God. In his teachings we
have all that we need in order to understand fully how to develop, maintain and
build up relationships that lead to perfect discipleship. And in his death as
we addressed in the first of the three questions, we have the atonement we need
through his sacrifice in order to free ourselves of the taint of original sin.
But even much more than that! For in his resurrection we also have the promise
of eternal life.
So as Christians and United Methodists,
we believe in Jesus that:
·
Jesus
is God the Son
·
Jesus
is God in a particular person
·
Jesus
is the Christ (Messiah)
·
Jesus
is our example and teacher
·
Jesus
is our shepherd
Like
our definition of God, our definition of Jesus is more difficult when we attempt
to define Jesus in terms that fit our human understanding rather than a divine
understanding of Jesus. If we simply say, “Jesus restores” or “Jesus redeems”,
we sum up completely what Jesus did while he was here on earth. But more than
that, Jesus restores God’s order among humanity and sets eternity right. Jesus
restores us to our original purpose, to love God and one another. Jesus
restores us to our original righteousness through the cross. And Jesus restores
us to God for eternity through the resurrection.
Questions:
1. What does your understanding of Old
Testament Sacrifice and atonement say to you about Jesus death and
resurrection?
2. How does the Old Testament describe
the Messiah?
3. How do we describe Jesus from the
Gospel accounts of his life?
4. Did Jesus know himself to be God while
he walked the earth?
5. How might your answer skew your
understanding of his sacrifice at the cross?
Supplement to Chapter 2
The
very first question I was asked when I set foot at Asbury Theological Seminary
by Dr. Chuck Gutenson was this one, “Did Jesus know that he was God while he
walked the earth?” It is a great theological question that leads to lots of
discussion. I have listed pertinent chapter and verse in the Gospel of John so
that you might see all sides of this argument. The real underlying questions
have to deal with how we see Jesus, when he walked the earth and now. And what
his divinity means in relation to the sacrifice of his life for ours.
Subordinate
(I am not God)
3:16; 4:34;
5:19b-20a; 5:30; 5:36; 5:37; 6:28b-29; 6:38; 6:57; 7:16; 8:16; 12:44-45
Equal (I am
equal to God, but….)
5:21; 5:26;
6:39-40; 6:44; 6:54; 10:17; 10:30; 17:2
I AM (I and
God are one)
8;24; 8:28;
8:58; 13:19
Jesus
understood himself:
There
is no reference to what he understood about himself in his own words
Resurrection/
crucifixion overshadows everything else
His
teaching is consistent with Old Testament – different style – same words
Therefore:
Jesus
understood himself to be:
Human;
devout Jew; Pharisee – accepted a lifestyle of following God; Galilean holy
man; a prophet; a teacher; the son of man; Messiah; Suffering servant;
Son of God
Atonement Theories
Ransom –
crucifixion represents price paid to Satan to ransom people from
Satan
back to God. Clearly God cannot ransom God, can God?
Appeasement –
God must be appeased. King is everything and you must bring a
gift.
Christ’s death becomes the gift to God because God’s grace to us.
Must be a
blood price paid to seal a covenant. Can God be the blood price? Does it
cheapen the gift if Jesus knows he is God?
Moral
influence – Crucifixion is pain
inflicted on God through human sin
Pain
inflicted on human beings because of human sin
Crucifixion
shows lengths God will go through to bring us back into the fold.
Is
it possible for God to inflict pain on God? If Jesus knows that he is God, is
his pain then real? Or does the divinity take it away since God is not human.
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