24-0901p Transcript

Preacher: Jim Lokenbauer

(0:31) Well Good evening, everybody. Well, (0:34) this evening we’re going to conclude the study of Jesus, the Son of Man.

And Jesus (0:41) is the only one in the four Gospels who uses this name. It was used in the Old Testament, (0:49) but Jesus is the only one who used it. He uses it as a moniker of his own, and nobody else (0:59) uses that name in the Gospels, or calls him by that name.

So it (1:08) is a very unique name in Jesus' day. And when Jesus was in the marketplace towards the (1:19) end of his ministry, and the Greeks had come up to him and wanted to have conversation with him, (1:26) ask him questions, God gave his final public testimony about his son. And (1:37) God had given two previous testimonies.

At Jesus' baptism, God boomed from heaven, (1:45) this is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. And then on the mountain, (1:51) he said basically the same thing, except he added this caveat about Jesus, listen to him.

(2:01) So I believe he was trying to get their attention to say, Moses and Elijah, (2:07) don’t listen to them anymore. Listen to this guy, your Savior, Jesus. So (2:16) in John 12, 34, it’s recorded for us, where the crowd asks, we have heard from the law that the (2:27) Christ remains forever.

How can you say that the son of man must be lifted up? Who is the son of (2:36) man? So the Jewish people were confused, and the people at that time were in a hyper state (2:46) of alertness, keeping their eyes peeled for the Messiah. The whole countryside of Judea was buzzing (2:54) in anticipation as to what kind of great child John the Baptist would be when he was born, (3:02) if you remember the story in Luke 1, 66. It says the neighbors were all filled with awe, (3:10) and throughout the hill country of Judea, people were talking about these things.

Everyone who (3:16) heard this wondered about it, asking what then is this child going to be when the Lord’s hand (3:24) was with them? This is talking about John the Baptist. And so the whole countryside had said, (3:31) we’re buzzing, you know, with this special event of a child who was born to a woman beyond (3:40) the years of childbearing, and who had been previously barren. That doesn’t happen all the (3:47) time.

So the people, six months later, when Jesus was born, were once again buzzing with excitement (3:57) with the testimony of the shepherds, who witnessed the angelic announcement of the Christ (4:04) being born in Bethlehem, which they confirmed by going there and seeing the baby in the manger. (4:11) And then the commotion in the temple, when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus, (4:18) they were met by Simeon and Anna, and they both prophesied about them, about him. And you just (4:30) know that the priests and the Pharisees and Sadducees were all listening.

Nothing escaped (4:39) their attention, what went on in the temple. And so, you know, they took note, whoa, Savior born, (4:46) the consolation of Israel, whoa. Also the visitation of the magi from the east.

So they (4:54) came in by caravan. It was not just a sneak in, see Herod, and then take off to see the new child (5:04) king. A caravan coming from the east was grand.

These were the magi. You know, they were in the (5:13) king’s court in the east, perhaps Babylon, perhaps Persia, somewhere from the east. (5:20) And so it was a big deal.

They traveled with a big entourage, and they rode into Jerusalem and (5:30) had audience with King Herod, asking about the birth of the king of Israel, which frightened (5:39) Herod. He was jealous for his throne. So he feigned wanting to know where the child was born to, (5:51) and if you find him, let me know so I too can go see him.

And so the Lord showed the magi where (6:01) the child was. The star once again appeared right over where the manger was. So they found him, (6:08) and they left another way.

And of course, Herod committed, I guess you would call it infanticide (6:18) of an entire region, every male child under two. He was looking for the king of Israel (6:28) and slaughtered all those children. Years later, John started preaching repentance and forgiveness (6:34) of sins out in the wilderness to prepare the people for the coming of Christ.

And once again, (6:41) Judah and Jerusalem were buzzing with this wild prophet out in the desert who were baptizing (6:48) people. And in Luke 3.15, it says, the people were awaiting expectantly, and were all wondering (6:55) in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. So the Jews, they were very familiar (7:05) with the old law, and they knew some of the prophecies about the Messiah, but they failed (7:11) to connect some very important dots.

They should have remembered Daniel’s prediction concerning (7:18) the Messiah, and compared that with what Jesus said to them. In Daniel 7.13-14, Daniel records (7:29) from his prophecy, I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky, (7:36) one like the Son of Man. And he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before (7:44) him.

Dominion was given him in glory in the kingdom, and all the people, nations, and languages (7:51) should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away in his kingdom, (7:59) that which will not be destroyed. So the Jews were correct in that the Messiah would be given (8:06) a kingdom and that would have no end, and that’s referring to the Lord’s church that he established.

(8:14) But they forgot that the Messiah was alluded to by another name that Daniel revealed to us, (8:23) the Son of Man. So when Jesus was talking about the Son of Man in the marketplace, they were (8:32) confused. Who is this Son of Man? I thought the Messiah was going to be here forever.

So anyhow, (8:38) we saw early on in Jesus' ministry that he referred to himself as the Son of Man, (8:45) such as when he was gathering his disciples. When he met Nathanael, he revealed to him that he (8:53) was and is the latter described in Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. And in John 1.51, it’s recorded, (9:03) and he said to Nathanael, truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of (9:11) God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

So early on in Jesus' ministry, he was using that (9:21) term about himself. The Son of Man is our conduit to heaven, and Jesus is the mediator between God (9:30) and man. Recall some of the other names from our past lessons about the I Am study that we had.

(9:40) Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the door. And when he said in John 16, (9:49) he said, no one comes to the Father except through me.

He is the ladder to heaven for mankind. (9:59) And it seemed as Jesus was nearing the conclusion of his ministry, he used that (10:05) Son of Man reference more frequently about himself. In Matthew 12.40, it’s recorded for us, (10:14) for as Jonah was in the belly of the earth three days and three nights, or in the belly of the (10:22) whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So again, (10:29) there’s the Son of Man reference. The scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus to give them a sign. (10:37) And he said the only sign that he was going to give them was this mystery about Jonah (10:45) and himself being in the earth three days and three nights.

And of course, referring to (10:53) what happened immediately after his death on the cross. He used past events to describe (11:00) the Israel’s history to show what was going to happen to him in the near future. Of course, (11:07) the heart of the earth referred to Hades, where all the departed souls go, both the good and the (11:14) bad, go to Hades after they die.

They go there to await judgment. And those who believed and trusted (11:23) God go to Paradise, also known as Abraham’s bosom. And this is the peaceful side of Hades.

And then (11:32) there’s a chasm, a great divide between sides of Hades. And those who hated God, who didn’t (11:40) acknowledge him, rejected the gospel, they will immediately find themselves in flames (11:47) on the opposite side of Paradise and Hades. And a good study of Luke 16, the story of Lazarus and (11:56) the rich man, you will see for sure what happens to people when they die.

Christians are escorted (12:06) by angels to Paradise. Those who reject God, reject Christ, those who’ve lived an evil life, (12:17) immediately are in flames. In Matthew 16, 13, Jesus says, it says, (12:26) Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, (12:33) Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Jesus could have simply said, Who do people say that I (12:40) am? And his disciples would have understood who and what they meant, that he meant.

But he (12:47) deliberately added the Son of Man after already identifying himself by the pronoun I. And that (12:54) kind of seems redundant, but I believe it has a purpose. It was as if he was anticipating Peter’s (13:03) answer that he would give, which would really make Christ happy with his answer. So Peter understood (13:15) Christ’s human nature and his God nature.

And he said, you know, you are the Christ. (13:25) You are the Son of God. So Peter was on cloud nine at that point.

How quickly people can fall (13:36) after having a great moment. Jesus then revealed to them what would soon happen to him. (13:44) And that he would be turned over to Israel’s leaders.

He would be killed and then raised up (13:52) again in three days. And Peter, who is impetuous and impulsive, mixed with his failure to fully (14:02) understand Jesus' plan of salvation, compelled him to take Jesus aside and rebuke him (14:13) that that should never happen to him. So Jesus stuck a pin in his cloud nine and said to him, (14:21) get behind me, Satan.

You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on God’s (14:29) interests, but man’s. So Peter was thinking, as was most of his disciples were thinking, (14:36) that the Messiah was going to restore Israel’s glory, (14:41) restore their sovereignty by sending Rome back north. And he was very wrong.

(14:50) Jesus then said to his disciples that they must pick up their cross and follow him. He said, (14:57) what will a prophet if a man gains the whole world, but forfeits his own soul? (15:04) And then several verses later, he reveals what’s going to happen at the end of time. (15:11) Matthew 16, 27, Jesus said, for the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his (15:20) angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.

Matthew 24, 27 says, (15:28) for as the lightning flashes from the east and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming (15:36) of the son of man. So Matthew reveals to us that the son of man will have a second coming (15:46) in the glory of his father, that he’s going to bring the final judgment on the world. (15:52) So once again, we have Jesus using the statement, son of man, to show that even though he is God, (16:01) and the judgment is in his hands, that he’s still the son of man.

So why (16:07) did Jesus use this name, son of man, so much? You know, what’s the connection to this human side, (16:16) and why is it important for Jesus to give this constant reminder that he’s one of us? (16:24) So speaking of the son of man’s glory, and we have just mentioned briefly the transfiguration, (16:33) Jesus shows his glory, and we’re going to look at the transfiguration here, (16:41) for once again, he’ll use that term about himself. (16:46) So he takes Peter, James, and John up on top of the mountain, and in Matthew 17, 1 through 13, (16:54) it says, after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, his brethren, (17:01) led them up a high mountain, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone (17:08) like the sun, and his garments became white as light, and behold, there appeared to them (17:15) Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.

And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is well that we are here. (17:23) If you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. (17:31) He was still speaking when, lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud (17:37) said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.

Listen to him. When the disciples (17:45) heard this, they fell on their faces and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, (17:52) saying, Rise, have no fear.

And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (18:00) And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, (18:03) Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. (18:10) And the disciples asked him, Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? (18:17) Jesus replied, Elijah does come first, and he is to restore all things.

But I tell you that Elijah (18:24) has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. (18:31) So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he (18:39) was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

So Jesus was telling them the Son of Man (18:47) is going to face the same end, the end of his life. They didn’t question him on that. (18:55) They were just satisfied with knowing that we were talking about John the Baptist.

Jesus, (19:02) the Son of Man, revealed his true glory, the glory of the second person of the Godhead, (19:09) to his disciples. They saw Yahweh, God, in all his glory with their own eyes. (19:19) Now these three disciples' faith had been realized.

They no longer really had faith. (19:28) They saw God. They saw heaven right before them.

They saw Elijah and Moses. They weren’t dead. (19:41) It was very much like what Jesus said about Abraham, (19:44) that God isn’t the God of the dead but of the living.

But where were they? They were in heaven. (19:54) So to them, it’s all very real. Whether it sank in or not, we don’t know.

(20:02) But certainly their faith was strengthened, to say the least. Having revealed his deity to them, (20:09) he still used the phrase, Son of Man, when referring to himself. So understanding this (20:17) title must have been of the utmost importance to Christ.

So what does it mean? What did Jesus, (20:25) the Son of Man, want us to understand? Paul helps us out. In the Philippian letter, chapter 2, (20:34) verses 5 through 11, it says, (20:36) Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, (20:44) didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of (20:51) a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, (21:00) becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, even death on the cross.

Therefore God also (21:08) highly exalted him and gave to him the name which is above every name, that at that name of Jesus (21:16) every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth, (21:24) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (21:33) So the obvious point Paul makes here is that the reader is to be like Jesus Christ. We’re to empty (21:40) ourselves by humbling ourselves and having a servant’s attitude.

Wasn’t that the whole point (21:48) of Jesus donning the towel in the upper room and washing his disciples' feet? (21:55) The Son of Man was God. He had the form of God and the fullness of the Godhead in him, (22:03) as we’re told in the Colossian letter. But he took on the form of a man, (22:11) and as a man he didn’t even think it equal, you know, be as equal with God the Father, (22:20) though he had the fullness of the Godhead in him.

He was God’s Son. He was God, Emmanuel, (22:28) God with us. But he was also Jesus, the Son of Man.

So Jesus stuck to the plan that they made from (22:38) before the beginning of time. Jesus was born of a woman, grew up, experienced everything we have as (22:47) humans. He chose to be God’s servant by serving mankind, leaving them an example, leaving us an (22:55) example to follow, and revealing God’s true nature to his people.

It was necessary to experience (23:03) the human journey from birth to death. Jesus, the Son of Man, never sinned as a human. (23:14) This morning we went over a few of the different Hebrew words for man, and though Jesus was called (23:21) Emmanuel, and Adam, the Son of Man, meaning one of us, a regular guy, (23:30) he was certainly a giber.

He was an honorable, valiant, good man, which is (23:40) the least we could say about Jesus. He was perfect. He was sinless.

He can still be a gerber (23:50) and be a sinful man, but Jesus wasn’t. He was perfect. By having never sinned, he became (23:59) the perfect atoning sacrifice that can actually take sin away.

Jesus had to experience everything (24:09) we do. He faced all the common temptations in life, and the most difficult ones, especially (24:18) having faced Satan face-to-face. We’ve never had that happen.

(24:26) Jesus spent 40 days out in the desert, and some of that time was being tempted by Satan. (24:35) Jesus was at his weakest. During those 40 days, he fasted, so he was hungry.

(24:43) He was physically weak, but he was spiritually strong, and he was able to stand up to Satan (24:51) and gave us the perfect example how to deal with temptation. We use God’s word. (25:02) Every one of Satan’s challenges, he rebuked them with the word of God.

(25:08) Consider these words from the second and fourth chapters of the Hebrew letter (25:14) concerning Jesus, and this is what Paul quotes what John read for us this evening. (25:24) But one has said this somewhere, testifying, saying, What is man, that you think of him? (25:30) Or the son of man, that you care for him? Going on. You made him a little lower than angels.

You (25:37) crowned him with glory and honor. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. (25:45) Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God, (25:52) he should taste of death for everyone, became that perfect atoning sacrifice.

(26:01) For most certainly he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the offspring of Abraham. (26:08) That’s us. Therefore, he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, (26:15) that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, (26:23) to make atonement for the sins of the people.

For in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, (26:30) he is able to help those who are tempted. Therefore, since we have a great high priest (26:37) who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (26:45) For we do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, (26:51) but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin.

(26:59) Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy (27:06) and find grace to help us in the time of need. So Jesus, the man of sorrow, (27:13) suffered when he was tempted. He felt it.

It was at war with his flesh. And isn’t that what Paul (27:23) calls the battle within us, the spirit in us versus the flesh? Woe to me, who’s going to save (27:31) me from this body of sin? Praise be to God, for Jesus Christ delivers me from this body of sin. (27:41) I second that motion.

So having no sin, Jesus was righteous in the eyes of the law. He kept (27:51) the old law perfectly, the only one. Jesus proved that the law could be followed.

(28:02) This took away any excuse that mankind could come up with on judgment day of why they couldn’t (28:10) follow the law without sinning. It took away the argument, oh, you don’t know what it’s like (28:17) to live down here. You up there in heaven who is perfect, oh, yes, he does.

(28:26) He came and lived here among us. God had postponed sin’s penalty of death since the fall of Adam and (28:36) Eve in the garden. He instituted animal sacrifice then and there, postponing death or sin (28:47) until a more perfect sacrifice could be made.

Guess what? Jesus, the Son of Man, the Son of God, (28:58) was the Lamb of God, and he was offered on the cross for all mankind. He fulfilled (29:09) the penalty of death in our place. You atone for our sin.

If there’s any need that you have, (29:20) need any prayers, need help from the Savior, the church will be glad to pray for you. (29:27) And this is the invitation. So come as we stand and sing.