Which Jesus?

Tony Khalil

Midland SDA Church

November 14, 2015

I think I’ll start today by dating myself.  In August 1989 the English band Depeche Mode released the lead single from their seventh album.  The song became a big hit across the world, and was one of the bands most successful songs.  It rapidly made its way up the charts peaking at #13 in the UK and reaching #28 in the US.  The song’s title was “Personal Jesus”.  Perhaps you have heard it, if you are not either too young or too old.  I clearly remember hearing it, for it is not often that you hear the name of Jesus on the radio, unless of course you are privileged enough to live within the broadcast area of Strong Tower Radio.  Prior to its release in the UK, advertisements were placed in the personal columns of newspapers with the words "Your own personal Jesus" including a phone number to dial to hear the song.  But as you might expect, Depeche Mode was not singing about the same Jesus that we are here today to worship. 

The chorus was simple and catchy, one of those tunes that after hearing it a few times is tough to get out of your head.  Its lyrics were

Your own personal Jesus, Someone to hear your prayers, Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus, Someone to hear your prayers, Someone who's there

Now that, in and of itself, doesn’t sound that bad, we could be talking about the same Jesus.   Right?  We believe Jesus is there, he hears our prayers, and he cares.  Unfortunately as we move from chorus to verse it becomes obvious that our Jesus is not the object of affection here.

Feeling unknown, And you're all alone, Flesh and bone, By the telephone.

Lift up the receiver, I'll make you a believer
Take second best, Put me to the test, Things on your chest, You need to confess
I will deliver, You know I'm a forgiver.

In the verse we quickly discover the focus is on someone other than the Savior as we are encouraged to “Take second best”.  According to songwriter Martin Gore, the song was inspired by Priscilla Presley’s book Elvis and Me.  He says… 

“It's a song about being a Jesus for somebody else, someone to give you hope and care. It's about how Elvis Presley was her man and her mentor and how often that happens in love relationships; how everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?”

I’m not going to unpack this statement too much, there is not time enough, but the point is in the late 80’s and early 90’s Depeche Mode had the vast majority of thirteen to twenty somethings singing about a false Christ.   In reference to the end times we read this solemn warning in Mark 13: 21-23

At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²² For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

Jesus has given us this clear warning about false messiahs and false prophets.  And rightfully so we understand it to mean, that in the last days of earth’s history there will be actual people who will rise up claiming to be Christ or claiming to have a prophetic message from Him.  They will be so convincing that we need to be vigilant and heed this warning, and he has given us tests, in his word, by which we can identify such an imposter.  But is there another type of false Christ, perhaps a more subtle danger manifesting itself in the minds of those who claim to be Christians?  Can our inaccurate, self-manufactured ideas about who Jesus is, actually constitute a false Christ?

Now it is 2015.  Depeche Mode is no longer on the charts, and their hit single Personal Jesus probably only makes the playlist on the oldies stations.  Are we today, still being persuaded to take second best?  I believe that Christ and his gospel message is misrepresented each time man attempts to make Jesus into who he want him to be.  In Genesis 1: 26 & 27 we read… 

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all^[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Modern man has mixed this up, backward.  Instead of God making man is His image, we presume to make God in our image and according to our likeness.  You see, we want a god who fits our world view, one who believes the way that we do.  When we should be examining our beliefs to see if they are in harmony with the light of His truth, we find it much more palatable to reshape Jesus to fit what is comfortable for us.  Perhaps a prosperity gospel is much more alluring than one that requires sacrifice, and so it is preached.  Or maybe we feel drawn to a lifestyle that contradicts scripture causing us to feel a little uncomfortable with the real Jesus, so we make a few tweaks, molding Him into a better fit for us.  It might be we find His law too burdensome, so we simply redefine grace to make His law invalid and erase God’s character from our new formed Jesus.  And we are pretty satisfied with the new personal Jesus we have created, because he is just like us, and he will evolve with our changing views.  So we worship him without realizing it is ourselves whom we worship.

We are not the first generation with this problem.  Unfortunately it’s been a pattern with humanity for a long time.  Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 32: 1-5

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

² And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

⁵ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Did you catch that?  At the end of verse 4 they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”   Somehow I missed this for years.  I just thought they had lived in Egypt for so long that they had grown accustom to worshipping the gods of the Egyptians and so they had created an idol of one of the gods that they remembered from their days in Egypt.   Although I’m sure there was Egyptian influence at play here, they had created an idol to represent God and somehow thought they were worshiping Him while in reality they were not.  It must have been that they were not entirely comfortable with an invisible god, hidden in a cloud or pillar of fire, so they figured they would make God into something that they could relate to better, something that fit their lifestyle, something in their own image.  By doing so, they were in fact not worshiping God at all.  The results of this plan were devastating with three thousand men being killed that very day.  Do you think it could be important that we know and have a correct understand who our savior is?  I do too.

Who is Jesus?  We are all very capable of giving a rote academic answer to this question.  Something like, He is the second person of the God-head, who was made flesh, came into our world as an infant,  lived a perfect life, was crucified, taking the punishment that we deserve as our substitute that we might have right to the reward of his perfect life.  That is all correct and I’m not going to discount that definition of Jesus, for if it were not true we would be without hope.  But doesn’t the question of who Jesus is also have another answer, one that speaks to his personality and character?  It’s like the difference between knowing who someone is and really knowing someone.  You see, I can tell you about my friend Jim by saying he is about 6 feet tall, has brown hair, is of average build, works as an engineer, and has a wife and two kids but no pets.  Or I can say, Jim is the type of person that when you talk to him, you can tell he is really listening and is very interested in what you have to say.  He is always putting the feelings of others before his own, and I don’t think I know anyone that is as kindhearted as he is.  The first answer is certainly accurate but the second shows I have spent time with him, understand him, and appreciate who he really is.  I would like to spend the remainder of our time here talking about who Jesus really is and what makes Him tick.

I am going to read a medley of scriptures concerning Jesus that I hope will demonstrate the first quality of his character that we are going to look at. 

Mark 10:21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack…

John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

John 13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Scripture after scripture we read about Jesus’ love toward people.  Mark 10 expresses Jesus’ thoughts toward the rich young ruler.  This was not one within his inner circle, or someone that he spent a great deal of time with, perhaps this is the only one-on-one conversation that Jesus had had with him, yet it says He loved him.  And of course we read of others.  He loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  He loved Lazarus enough to weep at his death even though, minutes later, He would raise him to life again.  He loved His disciples, those he had chosen to spend time with and mentor, and no less does He love us, that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. 

Our next up close and personal look at Jesus comes from the following collection of texts. 

Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Matthew 15:32  Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

Mark 1:41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

Luke 7:13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Of course, the word that forms the theme of all of these verses is compassion, but in each example compassion is merely the beginning.  It is through the emotion of compassion that Jesus, time and time again, takes action.  All his miracles are performed with a spirit of compassion.  His compassion is the motivation that leads to His healings.  His compassion is why he feeds the five thousand, and it is out of compassion for a mourning widow that He resurrects her son.  I like the definition of compassion that I found at dictionary.com 

a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

To me this definition sounds like it’s talking about Jesus.  Every miracle He performed was done because his heart broke when he saw the suffering of those he came to save.  Even his first miracle at the wedding of Cana was a compassionate response to the idea that a family might suffer embarrassment if the guests were to discover that they ran out of wine.  And each action he took out of this sympathy was over the top.  You see, it would have been compassionate for Jesus to give a blind man a bit of money, but he chose rather to give him sight.  It would have been compassionate to mourn with the widow over the death of her son, but instead he chose to raise him from the dead.  I believe it was the depth of His compassion that generated such radical responses. 

The third observation of who the real Jesus is, runs somewhat counter to our culture.  It is the demonstration of obedience in His life.  Here are some scriptures that illustrate that.      

Matthew 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

John 5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

You see our savior is not only loving and compassionate but He is also obedient.  He makes it clear that the words he speaks and the actions he takes are not His own, whatever He does, the Father has willed it to be done.  Even when He was in the garden sweating drops of blood in anguish as He considered the climax of His mission, by the obedience that was part of His character, He uttered the words, “not as I will but as you will.” 

When we witness that kind of obedience from the one who created us, it is illogical to believe the lie that obedience to the word of God is not important.  Jesus not only lived a life of obedience to His father, but he encourages us to do the same when He says in Matthew 12:50

For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

You know the neat thing about looking at who Jesus is, is that it gives us a vision of who he wants us to be.  As Christians, Jesus is the model that we seek to emulate, so the more we study His life and the more we learn about His character, the clearer we see what He would have us to be like.  And we begin to ask ourselves questions like “Do I love people?” not just my family but other people, those that have not given me any reason to love them.  How do we measure up in this area?  Do we even try to love others?  It’s not something that comes natural, at least not for me.  Sometimes people can be hard to love, but that didn’t ever seem to stop Jesus.  Why then do we give up so easily? 

What about compassion?  We’ll that one is a bit easier, when we see someone suffering it is more natural to feel compassion toward them.  At least it is easier than trying to love an unlovable person.  But let’s not forget the last part of the definition of compassion. 

a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

Just when I thought I had that one down, I forgot the action part, the hard part, the part that requires me to get involved.  We don’t all like to be involved, do we?  Being involved takes time, it takes energy, it takes effort, and resources.  Sometimes it can be messy and inconvenient, and we don’t know how long it could take.  It is much easier to feel sympathy without taking action isn’t it.  But in the end, it leaves you feeling bad.  You can’t get the situation out of your head, or you think it doesn’t seem fair that one should have to suffer like that, and if you’re not careful, it may even leave you questioning God and his justice. 

The interesting thing I have found is this.  When you complete the entire process of compassion by acting and doing something for the one who is suffering, as Jesus did, instead of being left with a sick or sad feeling about it, you feel the true joy that comes from being of service to a brother or sister in need.  Instead of questioning God’s justice you are able to praise him for the opportunity to be used by him to relieve the suffering of one of His children.  The blessing of completing the entire compassion process is experienced by both the recipient and the benefactor.  And an interesting side effect of following through with compassion is that it actually makes you more compassionate.  The experience that we have in helping someone in need, strengthens the desire within us to repeat the process the next time.

Out of all three of these characteristics of Jesus, the one that we have a tendency to want to modify the most, is that of obedience.   Let’s face it, this is where we start to melt down our gold and form it into a calf.  This is the one we try so hard to reshape into something more agreeable to us.  We are independent thinkers, not sheep!  Obedience by definition makes us dependent on who it is that we are obedient to, in this case God the Father.  Maybe obedience wouldn’t be so bad if He was telling us to do something we want to do anyway.  And that is just how we get started down the road of Making God in our image.  We read a verse that doesn’t set well with us, so instead of submitting to God’s authority and allowing Him to mold us, we massage the verse a bit by coming up with interpretations that make the clear word of God a bit murky, but it fits with what we want to do, which, after all, is what we were going for.  Amazing how that works.

When we go down this road of explaining away God’s will and replacing it with something more palatable, we are in effect setting up a false system of beliefs, bowing down to an idol of our creation and worshiping a false Christ. 

A sermon without a call is of no profit.  You can relax.  I’m not going to ask anyone to come forward.  That is not the kind of call I am talking about.  What I mean is an opportunity for you to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in your heart as you have listened to my words today.  My challenge for us today is that we reject the false Christ’s of our own making.  There is only one Christ worth serving and he loves you.  He feels such compassion toward you that He took radical, over the top action to alleviate your suffering and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

Friends, don’t be fooled by the golden calves of our day. 

Never accept second best.