Jeff Schreve - The Truth About Jesus of Nazareth
Hey, do you understand who Jesus is and what He came to do? Mark chapter 1, this passage, beginning in verse 21, sets off the Galilean ministry of Jesus. His headquarters was in Capernaum and it says, «They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach». That was kind of His custom when He’d go to a new place. «They were amazed,» it says, «at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes».
Verse 23, «Just then there was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, 'What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God! ' And Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him! '» He didn’t need for demons to be on his publicity team.
«'Be quiet, and come out of him! ' Throwing the man into convulsions, and the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves,» there was a buzz in the crowd, «saying, 'What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him. Immediately,» that’s one of Mark’s favorite words, «immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee». Hey, the demons who were in this man, because they were plural, «What do we have to do with You»?
The demons that were in that man, they know who Jesus was. They call Him Jesus of Nazareth, which was a designation they used for Jesus. It’s used 16 times in the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus the Nazarene. That’s connecting Him to a real place. Jesus didn’t fall out of the sky. Jesus was born of a virgin, miraculous conception, but He was born of a virgin and born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazareth, and they connected Him to Nazareth. «We know who You are, You’re the Holy One of God». So, four truths that I wanna share with you today concerning Jesus of Nazareth.
Now, these are basic truths, but they’re truths that are under fire today as we start to drift away from the truth and drift away from the way it used to be 30 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, what people believed concerning the Word of God and the Son of God. And so, some of these things you say, «Yeah. Well, everybody knows that,» but everybody doesn’t know this. And the reason it’s so important, they’re critical truths, why? Because eternity hangs in the balance. If you miss these truths, you’re going to miss heaven. And I don’t want anyone to miss heaven. Truth number one, Jesus is a real person. He’s a real person. He really did live in the first century. He was probably born… He wasn’t born in the year 1, but He was born before Herod died. Herod died in 4 BC, and so He was probably born in late 5 BC. He was a real person.
C. S. Lewis, he had an apologetic that he used with people and it all started with L. He said, «Now, Jesus is either one of three persons. He’s either a liar who said He was the Son of God and knew He wasn’t, He was just lying about it. Or number two, He was a lunatic who thought He was the Son of God and wasn’t. Or He was Lord, He was the Son of God». Liar, lunatic, or Lord. He said, «You can’t have it any other way. He can’t be a good moral teacher and claim to be the Son of God at the same time, because those things don’t wash».
Well, people have taken that (liar, lunatic, Lord) and they’ve had added another L to it and they say Jesus is a legend. He didn’t really exist. He’s like Bigfoot, you know, and not real. And He’s just a legend. Well, He’s a real person. He really lived. He was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth. He has a birthplace, He has a hometown, a growing-up town. Well, that’s a real place. And so, He’s really connected to history. And the Bible makes it clear that Jesus really did live. And you say, «Well, yeah, but what do you do with the person that doesn’t believe the Bible? You try and tell them from the Bible that Jesus really did live, they throw out the Bible».
Okay, well, let’s go outside of the Bible. Well, Jesus was attested by secular historians. They talk about Jesus and there are three who lived in the first century. There’s Josephus. Flavius Josephus, Jewish historian. He acknowledges Jesus in his writings, the «Antiquities of the Jews». He lived AD 37 to 100. And we have Tacitus, who is a Roman historian. He acknowledges Jesus. Well, he lived in the first century, 56 to 120 AD. And Pliny the Younger, he was a Roman historian, 62 to 111 AD. They all speak of Jesus. So, when you have the eight witnesses, who are included in the Bible, and then the other guys, ancient writers, that they say, «Yeah, He’s a real person,» obviously, Jesus existed.
So, we established He’s a real person. Secondly, Jesus is both God and man. Now, that is… you go from being a real person to, all of a sudden, you’re the only begotten Son of God. You’re God and man. That is a big claim. Jesus was one person with two natures. Now, the passage in Philippians 2 explains it this way, «Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ, Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,» a thing to be held on to, «but He emptied Himself,» He laid aside those things that were innately His, His privileges as God. He didn’t cease to be God, but He emptied Himself of those privileges of God, «Taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men».
Taking the form of a doulos, that’s the lowest slave, «And being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man». He’s a man and He’s God. What does the demon say about Jesus? «What business do we have to do with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? You’re a man. We know who You are: the Holy One of God. You’re a man, but You’re also God. You are both». And Jesus is the God Man. Jesus is the Creator, who took on human flesh. That’s who He is. When you read in Genesis chapter 1, «In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,» well, we naturally think of God the Father. But the Bible says in John chapter 1, a very similar sounding introduction to John’s Gospel, «In the beginning was the Word,» he says, «and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being». He’s Creator God. «And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth». It says in Colossians 2, verse 9, «For in Him,» in Jesus, «all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form». Jesus is the Creator, who became a man. Never anybody else like Him. You know, we talk about, well, like the Mormons. «Well, we can become a Son of God just like Jesus was the Son of God».
Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. There’s only one Jesus. We follow Him in being sons and daughters of God when we come to know Him by faith, but there’s one God and one mediator between God and men: the man Christ Jesus. He is God and He is man. He’s not two persons. He’s one person with two natures, the nature of God because He’s God, the nature of man because He is man. So, Jesus is a real person. He’s both God and man. Thirdly, He came to earth for a rescue mission. That was His purpose coming to earth: a rescue mission. «He came to seek and to save that which was lost».
It says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14, «Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same,» He became flesh and blood, «that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives». «The Son of Man appeared for this purpose,» 1 John 3:8, «that He might destroy the works of the devil». He came on a rescue mission. Now, when you follow some of the polls and some of the things that Pew Research or the Barna Research Group or Billy Graham's Group, the «Decision» magazine, they do these surveys to find out where people are, where Christians are, in their understanding of things.
Did you know that among those who claim to be born again Christians, less than 50% of these surveyed by «Decision» magazine believe that Jesus Christ was sinless? They say, «Well, you know, I mean, He’s a man. We believe He’s the Son of God. But was He sinless? No, no, probably not sinless, because there’s a lot of sin around, so I don’t think Jesus was sinless». Well, you don’t understand what the scripture says. You don’t understand why it was so important. He had to be born of a virgin wife so that He would not have a sin nature so that He could be sinless. He had to live a sinless, spotless life. That is required for Him to be our Passover Lamb, for Him to be our Savior.
1 Peter chapter 1, «Knowing that you are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ». Unblemished, spotless Lamb. You know, when they chose the Passover lamb, you couldn’t just get any, «Well, that lamb will do, he’s got three legs. Let’s get rid of him». You can’t choose that one. It’s gotta be a perfect lamb, an unblemished, spotless lamb. If the Lord Jesus had sin, He couldn’t be our Savior. So, He’s a sinless, spotless Savior.
It says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 22 that «He committed no sin, nor was there any deceit in His mouth». He never spoke a lie and He committed no sin, and He had to do that in order to be our sacrifice. So He had to live a sinless, spotless life and He had to die on the cross and rise from the dead. You know, when you think of Jesus, you think of miracles because Jesus healed the sick, He raised the dead, He calmed the storm, He cleansed the leper, He did all these things, He fed the multitudes, did all these miracles. But the miracles were all to point to who He was and what He came to do. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as ransom for many. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. And how is He going to do that?
Through the cross and the empty tomb. And He would tell His disciples, «Listen, it’s getting closer. The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of sinners and they’re going to brutalize Him, they’re going to nail Him to a tree and then He’s gonna rise three days later». They didn’t understand what that meant because to them, it’s like, «That can’t happen. You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God. That’s not what we’ve read in the Old Testament. That’s not what happens to the Messiah. The Messiah rules and reigns. He’s the son of David».
See, there are two comings in the Old Testament. There’s the First Coming of the suffering servant, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and then there’s the Second Coming when he rules and reigns, that’s what we’re waiting for. They missed His First Coming because they got it convoluted with His Second Coming. But in His First Coming, all the miracles were just to point that He was the Messiah. And then He came for the specific purpose of dying on the cross and rising again from the dead. In Luke chapter 24, the first day of the week, you know, He was crucified on Friday and then on Sunday morning they come to anoint the body. They can’t do anything on Saturday, their Sabbath, it started at 6 p.m. on Friday night, 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. to Saturday night and then, at night, you weren’t going to do anything.
So, they came early Sunday morning and they come to the tomb and the stone is rolled away and they look in, there’s no Jesus, and they see two men in dazzling apparel, they were angels, and they recognized them as being angelic beings. They bowed low, the women, and the angel said, «Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying,» now watch this, «the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again». That was a must. And Jesus said to the men on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other guy that’s unnamed, «O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and afterward to enter into His glory»?
It was necessary. He must do that. There is no salvation without His suffering. There is no salvation without His death and burial and resurrection. That’s the work. He came on a rescue mission. Now, I might have told you about my aunt. We were talking one day, she was married to my uncle, Uncle Harry, whom I love, and he was Jewish. And I remember asking her, I’ve just been a Christian for a short while, and she was Catholic and I said to her, I said, «Regina, what about Harry? I mean, this is a concern, great concern». And she said, «Well, Jeff, your Uncle Harry is a good man. I just think heaven is a place for all good people». I said, «Well, where in the world do you get that? You don’t get that from the Bible, you just get that from your own, you just made it up. You just want it to be that».
Truth is not what you think, it’s not what you feel, it’s not what you want it to be. It’s what God says. That’s truth, that’s reality, and you have to find it in the Word. Now, the demons that Jesus spoke to that day in Capernaum, «What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God»! «What business do we have with You? Are You gonna cast us into hell? Are You gonna destroy us in hell»? That demon, and the demons in general, they knew. They knew who He was, they knew what He came to do. The devil is not an atheist.
Do you believe James chapter 1? Do you believe God, James chapter 2, verse 19, «Do you believe in one God? Well, whoop-de-doo, demons also believe and tremble». I added the whoop-de-doo, it doesn’t really say that in the Greek. But the demons also believe and tremble. They know that Jesus is real. They know that He is God in the flesh. They know He died on the cross and rose again from the dead. They know it all here… They don’t know it here… It’s not real in their hearts. And so, the fourth truth, Jesus will save anyone who repents and believes. Just to know who He is, to know He’s real, to know He died on the cross and rose again from the dead, that is not enough. Then you have to do something with it. You have to respond to that news. There must be a response.
1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, «It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom,» Paul says, «I am foremost of all, I am chief». Now, how does a person get saved? First of all, so important, you must have an awareness of your desperate situation. You cannot get saved unless you have an awareness that you are in trouble. If you’re not in Christ, you are in trouble, in serious trouble. «Jesus, what do we have to do with You? Have You come to torment us before the time,» as it says in another passage when Jesus dealt with a demon-possessed person. «Have You come to destroy us»? They’re afraid of Jesus. There has to be a fear. You have to see yourself as you are, a sinner, before a Holy God that produces fear.
That’s why the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And without a fear of the Lord, you’re never gonna get saved because the fear of the Lord recognizes that God is God, «He is Holy God, and I am sinful man and I have no business before a Holy God». As Peter, in Luke chapter 5, when they had the miracle of the catch, «Throw out your nets in the deep water for a catch». And Peter said, «Lord, we’ve been fishing all night and caught nothing, but at Your word, at Your bidding, I’ll do it». And they threw out the nets and they caught so many fish that the boats began to sink and Peter was just amazed and he was arrested by the fact that he’s in the presence of Holy God and he says, «Depart from me, Lord, for I’m a sinful man».
There has to be that realization, that understanding, He is holy. «We know who You are, the Holy One of God». He is holy and I am sinful and I am in trouble and I’m in desperate need. Jesus said, «Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both the body and the soul in hell». That’s who you need to fear. You can’t just believe on Jesus without turning from sin. If you don’t repent, you will perish. You can’t trust Jesus while holding on to sin. He hates sin. He died on the cross for sin. God hates sin. So, you have to recognize, «I’m a sinner,» and you turn from sin and you turn to the Savior.
So, you have an awareness of your desperate situation. That’s why, parents with young children, you know, if they say they wanna pray to receive Christ, you don’t wanna pour cold water on that, but you wanna make sure they understand what it means to be a sinner. I became a Christian as a 17 year old high school senior and the reason I became a Christian and the way I became a Christian is God convicted my heart that I was a sinner and I was lost and if I died, I’d go to hell, and rightfully so. And it was that understanding that caused me to cry out, «Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me». Because He has grace that’s greater than all our sin. So, you have an awareness of your desperate situation and then you trust Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation. That’s the right response to Jesus: when you understand who He is.
Now, you don’t trust Jesus plus your good works. That’s where a lot of people get fouled up. They say, «Well, you know, I just think it’s a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of my effort». Well, if you think it’s a little bit of Jesus and a little bit of your works, then you’re 100% lost, has nothing to do with your works. It’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, «For by grace you’ve been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, lest any man should boast». Faith alone, in God’s grace alone, in Christ alone, that’s what saves. «For by grace you’ve been saved through faith».
It’s Jesus. Not Jesus plus, but Jesus only. And when we put our faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation, and we sing that song, «In my hands no price I bring, but simply to Your cross I cling». When we come that way, as we sang just a little bit ago. I plead the blood. That’s my only hope. This is all my hope and plea, nothing but the blood of Jesus. I’m not trusting in anything I’m doing. I’m trusting in Jesus and Jesus alone. John chapter 1. «He was in the world,» speaking of Jesus, «He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him,» recognized who He was, a real person, the God Man who died on the cross and rose again.
«As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who are born not of blood». That means it’s not through the bloodline, it’s not… just because Mom and Dad are Christians, just because Grandpa was a Christian, that doesn’t do anything for you. It’s not through generations. «Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh».
That means you can’t grit your teeth and say, «I’m gonna become a Christian. I’m just gonna do it. I’m just gonna do this thing». Can’t do it that way. «Nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man». That means that as much as I want you to become a Christian, I can’t become, I can’t will that for you. Sin is personal and so is salvation. You have to make that decision for yourself. «Who are born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God». You have to be born again, born from above. And when you receive Jesus, He changes your life.