February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
So the question today is "who is Jesus?" Who is Jesus; so many of us think that we have the
answer to that question. When I was a teenager, Jesus was a lot of different things to me. Jesus
was the one whose name I wore on my t-shirts, usually in catchy phrases. Jesus was the one who
died on the cross-- which I so stylishly wore around my neck, by the way, which always struck
me as kind of odd because the cross is meant to be a kind of thing of persecution and death and
it's like putting an electric chair around your neck. I don't know if you've ever thought of that
before, but that's kind of what putting a cross around your neck is. For others, I've heard that
Jesus is talked about as our friend, like our buddy, our pal. I saw a shirt that said "Jesus is my
home-boy" a few years back. That's one answer to the question "who is Jesus". Other people
have said that Jesus is Lord, that he is Savior, that he is Messiah, and for them that means
something very different then "Jesus is my home-boy". (The "Jesus is my home-boy" shirt was
also accompanied by the "Mary is my home-girl" shirt, which I always thought was really, really
fun; you could kind of mix and match, like-- I don't know, pick your favorite alter-ego. Jesus,
Mary, home-boy, home-girl, that's very interesting.) But through it all, there's a lot of question
about who is Jesus. I want you to know that everybody in here has a different answer to that
question. As I mentioned in the beginning of the service, if you haven't gotten a chance to do this
yet, then I encourage you, I want to hear what your perspective of, or your answer to question of
"who is Jesus". And so again, if you would during the course of my sermon, maybe something
will hit you and you'll be like "you know what? I have an answer to that question now". I invite
you to tweet at #capstoneserial, that's S-E-R-I-A-L okay. Who is Jesus? We're going to unpack
those at the end of the service. We also have cards over there by the cross if you want to write
down those things and submit them by the end of the service over by the hospitality table and
we'll take care of those.
But the real question remains "who is Jesus?" Who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to the world
around us? And the question intensifies especially after we see a video like we just saw (21
Martyrs), who is Jesus to these twenty-one people who gave their lives for this Jesus? That's a
pretty huge question. When you really get to thinking about it, Jesus is a little bit more than just
my "home-boy" if I'm going to die for him, right? Jesus is a little bit more than that. And so we
ask those questions and in the Bible we have four different, distinct accounts and perspectives of
who Jesus is. And in some ways they line up and in other ways they don't line up but they all
point to the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Now before we get into these four accounts, this is what
I want to ask you: How well do you remember the things that have happened in your life? Now
you might say that doesn't make sense, why are you transferring from "who is Jesus" to "How
well do I remember the things" of course I remember things. Do you remember the day that your
little brother or sister was born? Or parents do you remember the day that your child was born?
Do you remember coming home from the hospital? What car did you ride in? What was the color
of the car? What was the route that you took on the way back home? Do you remember whether
it was raining or whether it was sunny outside? Do you remember what it felt like as you walked
into your home with your baby brother or sister or with your child? Maybe it wasn't the birth of
something. Do you remember where you were, or what the whole scene was on the day you
graduated from high school? Do you remember who was at the graduation parties that you had?
Do you remember the cards that you received? Do you remember the card from your parents or
February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
from your grandparents? Do you remember what kind of food was served on that day? For me
when I think back to these sorts of things, I only remember little images. I don't remember the
whole story. I don't remember all of the details, but I remember the heart of it, and what mattered
most to me. Now let me ask you this question: Do you remember the day when you first became
a Christian, if you became a Christian? Do you remember the events that happened before that?
Do you remember all of the things leading up to that moment when you said your very first
prayer? I've told you the story of my very first prayer. I was fourteen years old, and I remember
in my mind standing in front of the church and I was baptized and I was confirmed on that day in
the United Methodist Church, and that was when I said to the church and to God that I believe,
that I didn't really understand it until I got home. And I remember that I was changing clothes for
lunch that my parents and family was throwing for me and I looked at the certificate-- because
you have to receive a certificate even in baptism and confirmation-- I looked at the certificate
that I received and I said my very first prayer, and it went something like this: God, I have no
idea what this means, but whatever it is I'm in.
I don't remember what I had for lunch after that. I don't remember what I told the people after
that. I imagine that I played video games that afternoon, because I was fourteen years old, but I
don't remember much beyond that moment. And I simply tell you that, because we all look at the
history of our lives through a very specific lens where we remember the things that meant the
most to us, and some of the other things that didn't mean as much to us, we tend to forget.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have very specific recollections as to what Jesus did, especially
in the last week of his life. And there's some things that they mentioned and there's some things
that Matthew would say this is really, really important and then there's things that Matthew
thinks are important that Luke doesn't even mention at all. And there are things that Mark says
that this is really important and Matthew and Luke both agree, but John has no consideration of it
in his account of Jesus' life. Instead, John has a number of stories about Jesus that says 'this is a
sign of who Jesus truly is and was' and Matthew, Mark, and Luke have no writing about it
whatsoever. And you have to wonder, reading through this, "if this was so important for John,
why wasn't it important for Matthew, Mark, and Luke?" You have to ask those questions and I
think that it goes back to some of the things we started out with: There are just some things that
are more important to individuals and groups of individuals that may not be as important to other
individuals or other groups of individuals. There are some things that matter to you that don't
matter to the person sitting next to you, and that's okay. And there are some things that matter to
them that don't necessarily matter as much to you. And so in by way of entering into this
conversation, we've at the very first part of this, at the very beginning, we have to acknowledge
that there is beauty in the differences. Thus far, we've read three passages from the gospels:
Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew tells us about the story about how Peter finally gets it for
once. To me, Peter usually doesn't get anything from Jesus. He's usually the one that's the last to
have the right answer, but here he's got the right answer. When Jesus says "who do people say
that I am" and the disciples say, "Oh some say Elijah, some say prophet" all this kind of stuff,
and then Jesus says "well who do you think that I am", and Peter steps up and Peter says this:
"You are the Christ, you are the son of God, you are the Messiah, you are the One". You are the
One. Mark tells a story of various healings, and how when somebody finally gets it. Do you
know what Jesus says to the person: Don't talk about it, let's keep this one secret. Meanwhile,
February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
Luke says that Jesus sits in a synagogue and reads the scripture from "Isaiah" about how the
blind see and the captives are released and all these things, and then Jesus says "all these things
are fulfilled today in your hearing".
I'd like to share with you this passage from the gospel of John, because this is how the gospel of
John begins. So in answering the question of "who is Jesus", this is how John begins his gospel.
He says, "In the beginning was the Word" the Greek word "logos" which is the greatest
understanding of the spiritual realities of the world in all existence. It's the greatest understanding
that you can have of God, that's what "logos" is, that's what "word" means. And so John says "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 And the
Word was with God in the beginning. 3 Everything came into being through the Word, and
without the Word nothing came into being. 4 What came into being was life, and that life was the
light for all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not extinguish the
light. 6 A man named John" not the same one who's writing this by the way "A man named John
was sent from God. 7 He came as a witness, to testify concerning the light, so that through him
one would believe in the light. 8 He himself wasn't the light, but his mission was to testify
concerning the light." And then John continues,"9 The true light, that shines on all people, was
coming into the world. 10 The light was in the world, and the light came into being through the
light, but the world did not recognize the light. 11 The light came to his own people, and his own
people didn't welcome him. 12 But those who did welcome him, those who believed in his
name, he authorized to become God's children, 13 born, not of blood nor of human desire or
passion, but these were born from God. 14 And the Word became flesh and made his home
among us, and we have seen his glory, glory like that of a Father's only Son, full of grace
and truth. 15 (John testified about him, and cried out, "This is the one of whom I said, 'He who
comes after me is greater than me, because he existed before me.'") 16 And from his fullness we
have all received, grace upon grace. 17 As the law was given through Moses; so grace and truth
came into being through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; God, the only Son at the
Father's side, has made God known."
Now that can be really confusing for people when you hear that. You think "okay God is this,
God is the light, God is the Word" there's a lot of imagery there that's very, very confusing, but at
the end of the day John is saying this is who Jesus is. Jesus is more than just a friend, though he
is a friend. Jesus is more than a healer, though he is a healer. Jesus is more than just the Messiah
or the Savior, though he is that. Jesus is the one who was with God in eternity before anything
was created. Jesus is God, is what John is said. In fact, it's so important that that's how he begins
it, and you've got to wonder if that's so important why didn't Matthew, Mark, and Luke start out
that way, right? Like why don't we just cut to the chase and say we've got the birth here and
we've got baptism over here, and then here's the time in the desert with Satan over here, but
where is the big billboard that says "this is who Jesus is"?
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, from their own experiences, are writing about who Jesus is. In
the final week in the life of Jesus, all four accounts have some sort of mentality of this is what
February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
happened. And we're going to explore this throughout the season of Lent, and really unpack each
one of these specific pieces as we try to figure out who is Jesus, and what really happened with
his death and resurrection and what does it mean for our lives. All the accounts agree that at
some point, either Sunday or Monday, Jesus rode in on a donkey, or colt, into Jerusalem on the
Sunday before he died. On Monday, Jesus went into the temple and he overturned tables and he
drove people out and he did all these things and infuriated a number of people, probably one of
the catalysts for his death. Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree on that, but John actually has Jesus
doing that much, much earlier in his ministry. On Tuesday it's presumed that Jesus spent a lot of
time teaching in the courts and in the synagogues, and on Wednesday there was a plot to betray
Jesus, formed by Judas and the chief priests. We'll get into that in just a couple of weeks. The
next day there was a supper. It was the last supper; it was the supper in which we remember the
first of every month when we take communion together. And then after that, Jesus and his
disciples left an upper room to go into a garden, that was fairly nearby, called Gethsemane where
Jesus and his disciples prayed. And some accounts said the disciples slept while Jesus prayed.
And it was there that Judas led the chief priests to arrest Jesus. From the arrest, Jesus was tried in
court and then he was beaten and then he was flogged and then he was sentenced to the cross. He
carried his cross, and one account said that someone had helped him carry his cross. And then
eventually he made his way up to the place where he would be crucified. At around the sixth
hour on that Friday, he died. And then it said that the whole land was covered in darkness. And
then all four accounts tell us that two days later, or rather the third day, the tomb in which Jesus
was laid was empty. These are the things that we're going to unpack throughout the season of
Lent, each one of these stories. And we're going to pull out all of the different things that are
said, and we're going to figure out what happened here.
But today I want us to focus on these four different accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And I want you to know that as just as unique as your perspective and your life is, that's how
unique these four perspectives are. Now I'm going to give you a very brief overview of what
each one of these says. You may have seen these four icons before. These are the icons for
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Matthew's symbol is the angel, Mark is the image of a lion, Luke is the ox, and then we've got
the eagle for John. Some of these, we kind of understand right off the bat. The angel, Matthew,
February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
the symbol there represents that Jesus came down from Heaven and that Jesus, according to
Matthew, is this Messiah. Matthew was writing to Jewish-Christians- basically Christians who
had just converted over from their lives and their traditions of Judaism, and so he's writing to
them and he's connecting Jesus to their former Jewish faith, because Judaism at that time was
attacking these Jewish-Christians. So they needed to be able to articulate their faith in ways that
the Jewish world could understand. Matthew and Matthew's church community-- isn't that cool,
Matthew and his church wrote a gospel; wouldn't that be neat? Like we'd never do that, but how
neat would it be if a church was tasked with the telling the story of Jesus?-- So Matthew is
writing this for the strengthening of his church. I want you to know this as well; Mark wrote his
gospel based on an eye-witness account, which was Peter. Now you might say, why didn't Mark
just write what he saw? Well, because Mark was Peter's interpreter, and Peter was one of the
twelve; Mark was not. And so Mark is writing down the words of Peter, as Peter is leading the
church and he writes down all these sayings and these things and about thirty or so years after the
death of Jesus, Mark produces this gospel. That's why, by the way, Mark's gospel was the first
gospel that was ever written. Mark's gospel is also the shortest gospel, and if you read it has such
urgency as you read the gospel of Mark; it says Jesus did this, and then immediately he went
over here and healed this person, and then immediately went over here, and all of "Mark" is
racing toward this moment of the cross. Where Mark reveals that Jesus-- the level of his
dedication and his devotion to his disciples and to all the disciples that would ever come, and
Mark is writing to the then-modern-day disciples about who Jesus is. Luke on the other hand, he
is writing based on a lot of different things. He is writing based on sources he's read, in fact that's
the way that he begins. He says "after taking up a careful study of everything that's been said
about Jesus, I've sat down to write an account so that you might be strengthened, and so that you
might know what happened, so that you might believe." These are the things that Luke says, and
Luke is commonly thought to be a doctor and it's commonly thought that he traveled with Paul
and Paul, as we know, planted churches among the non-religious. I love that, I love Paul's
ministry. That's kind of what we're doing here in GloryBound, we're trying to plant a church for
non-religious people and trying to reach people who have never had an encounter with Jesus
before, and that's what Luke does. That's why in the gospel of Luke you have what I call the
"gospel of the outsiders" or "the gospel of the outcasts", because Jesus is constantly going after
the outcast, the lost, those that are discriminated against, those that are persecuted, and Jesus
goes out to them. This is where we get the most intimate portraits of Jesus touching the
untouchable and saving the un-savable and forgiving the unforgivable. Luke, a gentile himself,
knows what it's like to be on the "outs" of the religious community. So Luke writes for people
like himself. Then you've got the gospel of John. John was the last gospel written, probably
around 90-is A.D. And the mentality here is that John is writing as one who is telling the story
beyond the stories that you've heard. John assumes that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are in your
library at this point and he says "not only that, but here's some other things that I saw with my
own eyes". The thing is, John was writing this at around 85, 90 A.D. and he was young when
Jesus lived and died. Remember how hard it is to remember some of those things? John is
specifically telling us the things that were of us utmost importance to him. And he says "these
February 22, 2015 (Sunday Morning)
Bible Text: John 1:18; 21:25 | Wade Langer
Series- Serial: The Death of Jesus
things are written so that you might be saved." In fact, this is how John closes his book. I
absolutely love this. He said, "25 Jesus did many other things as well. If all of them were
recorded, I imagine the world itself wouldn't have enough room for the scrolls that would be
written." At the end of chapter twenty, he says this: "31 But these things are written so that you
will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God's Son, and that believing, you will have life in his
name."
These are the reasons why John and Matthew and Mark and Luke wrote their story, but here's the
implication today: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not the only stories of Jesus out there.
You and I have stories of Jesus as well. I've told you a little bit of mine, though my question is
"who is Jesus-- to you?" And more than that, who is your story meant for? Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John wrote their story about Jesus for specific people, for specific purposes, and I
wonder what God will use your story to do. Who will God save through your story? Can we pray
together?
God we thank you for this morning and we thank you for this moment where we can think and
dream who you are and what you've done in our lives and what you want to do in our lives. God,
would you spur our imagination this morning to think about who it is, in our lives and in this
world, who needs to hear the story and the fire and the passion that you've placed in our hearts?
Who needs to hear this story? Give us opportunities this week to share Your story with others.
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.