Exposition (II)
On one occasion Christ asked his critics, 'Which of you convicts me of sin?' (John 8:46). No one could answer. Pilate said, after careful examination, 'I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him' (Luke 23: 14). Let us then ask Christ himself. He indeed would be guilty of sublime arrogance had anyone been able to show that his claims were false, but no one could. 'I always do what is pleasing to Him' (John 8:29). He was continually telling others to repent, yet he never repented himself. He was always accusing the Pharisees of hearts that were dirty and full of sin, and yet Christ himself had a conscience unclouded by the memory of any sin.
We may not face such a situation at the moment. Nevertheless, an active, committed Christian, unashamed of Christ, speaking to others about Him, is today very much out on a limb. As one young writer has expressed it: "today it is apparently no longer respectable, or even acceptable, actually to be a Christian. This is especially so among people of my own age and type.
Humanism is the thing. Roman Catholics are just all right because one is generally born a Catholic and so cannot do anything about it. Mormons are okay too, not to be, but for sociological study purposes. The Eastern religions (paganism) are very trendy. But as for God-fearing, Bible-reading, Christ-imitating Christianity- it's plain old-fashioned. You're a freak, if you believe it in these days.
That's a widespread viewpoint. Today, people are very interested to hear about the Christian faith, but very unwilling to commit themselves personally. Why? Because today, it's not easy to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
You are a marked man or woman. It costs something. That's why Philip's question is so relevant. 'Show us the Father and we shall be satisfied. We want to be sure and Christ replied, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father'. That's a wonderful statement! At last we can know something about God, because here is a man who is God! Perhaps the most important of all his direct claims comes in John 8, where Jesus is in controversy with the Jews. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad, said Jesus. 'You are not yet fifty years old', they protested, and have you seen Abraham? Christ replied, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am', and immediately the Jews took up stones to stone him to death. That 'I AM' was God's own name, revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:13-15) yet Jesus calmly took this divine title for himself.
Nothing could have been clearer. In the words of late William Temple: 'it is now recognised that the one Christ for whose existence there is any evidence at all is a miraculous figure making stupendous (extraordinary) claims.' And yet some say that he was no more than a good religious teacher.
*DIRECT CLAIMS 2: HIS CHARACTER:* His claims were supported at every point by his character. As Tennyson said, 'His character was more wonderful than the greatest miracle.' We could spend a long time looking at his poise, his majesty, his love, his humility, his thoughtfulness, his devotion. Wherever he went he attended to the lonely, the sick, the social outcasts, and all in need.
No one can fail to admire the beauty of his character, but there is one feature that makes him unique, and that is his sinlessness. This is so remarkable that we should ask a number of witnesses for their evidence. Let's ask his close friends. They were with him constantly for nearly three years, and saw him tired and besieged by the crowds to the point of distraction. Yet Peter said that he was without blemish or spot; he committed no sin; no guilt was found on his lips (1Peter 1:19, 2:22). John said, 'if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves... but of Jesus, he said, 'In him, there is no sin' (1John 1:8; 2:25). This is the testimony of two of his closest friends and such close friends usually know the truth about us! Let's ask his enemies. Of course, some of them engaged in a good deal of political mud-slinging. Some called him a Sabbath-breaker, a wine-bibber, a subversive element, the friend of those whom the society had rejected. Yet what happened when they were called upon seriously to examine his character? On one occasion Christ asked his critics, Which of you convicts me of sin? (John 8:46).
No one could answer. Pilate said, after careful examination, 'I didn't find this man guilty of any of your charges against him' (Luke 23:14). Let's then ask Christ himself. He, indeed, would be guilty of sublime arrogance had anyone been able to show that his claims were false, but no one could. 'I always do what is pleasing to him' (John 8:29). He was continually telling others to repent, yet he never repented himself. He was always accusing the Pharisees of hearts that were dirty and full of sin, and yet Christ himself had 'a conscience unclouded by the memory of any sin'. Think how quickly these fantastic claims would have been challenged if they had not been genuine. This at once puts him in a class utterly distinct, not only from sinners, but also from saints. It's the universal experience of all godly men that the nearer they come to God, the more aware they are of sin. It should be fairly obvious by now that this is the one way in which we cannot describe Jesus Christ. No one in the Gospels ever thought that he was just a man or a marvellous teacher, because this was an impossible conclusion.
To be accurate, there was one person who tried to say this- the rich young ruler. 'Good Teacher,' he said, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' And at once Christ came back at him: 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone' (Mark 10: 17-18). In other words, good teacher' is an impossible description. He was saying: 'Either I am just a teacher, and in that case, I am not good in God's eyes; I am a sinner like everyone else. Or, I am good, because I am God.' Therefore Christ was either very much more than a 'good teacher' or very much less. He can't be damned with faint praise! He can be called evil, deluded, devil-possessed, a madman, a blasphemer. In all and all, He's God. Know this I AM was before Abraham and anyone.
Thanks for reading.
*All pictures are from unsplash*
