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Focusing On Jesus - Lesson 4
by Jon Quinn
[Bible Text - Revised Standard Version]
About 2,000 years ago God's Son became flesh. He was the first-born child of a poor family and lived only about 33 years in our world. Yet no other has had the impact He has had upon our world! As bad as things sometimes get, things would be far worse if not for Jesus!
In Matthew a conversation between Jesus and His apostles is recorded, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?"
And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:13-16)
What is YOUR opinion of Jesus? Why does His name invoke such love in some while exciting such hatred in others? The fact is this: Jesus was much more than a simple Galilean carpenter.
THE PROMISED ONE
The prophets had foretold of a Messiah. He would undertake the most important rescue mission of all: to rescue all of mankind from the penalty of sin. There were over 300 prophecies made about Him hundreds of years before His birth. All of these prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Not a single one failed.
It was prophecied that He would enter our world by a miraculous birth, having no human father. This event would take place in a small village called Bethlehem.
(Isaiah 7:14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanu-el.
(Micah 5:2) But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
(Matthew 1:22-25) All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanu-el" (which means, God with us).
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife,
25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
(Matthew 2:1 - 6) Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,
2 "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
6 'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'"
He would be a descendant of Jesse,
the father of David. There is much prophecied about His ministry, but perhaps it is all best
summed up by the prophet Isaiah.
(Isaiah 11: 1 - 5) There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.
This Mighty King and Humble Servant
would be slain for the people. Even as He suffered they would mock Him as they cast lots for His
clothing, not knowing that it was for them He was giving His life!
(Psalms 22:11-18) Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
16 Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet--
17 I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots.
(Isaiah 53:1-8) Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
(John 19:23-24) When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom;
24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfil the scripture, "They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots."
But death would not be the end. He would prosper and receive glory and power. He would live again!
(Psalms 16:8-11) I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure.
10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit.
11 Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
(Isaiah 53:10-12) Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand;
11 he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Luke 24:4-8) While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel;
5 and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises. There simply is no provision for redemption apart from God's Anointed One.
JESUS' CLAIMS
Jesus never intended for you to think of Him simply as a great philosopher. He made claims concerning Himself that leave us with only two options: either He was an insane liar or He is who He claimed to be. We believe that His claims are true.
Jesus claimed to have existed before His conception and birth. He claimed to be eternal and to be equal with God.
(John 5: 15 - 18) The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
16 And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working still, and I am working."
18 This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
(John 8: 57 - 59) The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"
58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
59 So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
(John 10:30-33) "I and the Father are one."
31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?"
33 The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God."
(John 17:5) Now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
He taught that He was the only way to God as the light of the world and that He had the power to forgive sins.
(John 8:12) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
(John 14:6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me."
(Luke 5:24) "But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--he said to the man who was paralyzed--"I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home."
He claimed to have been given all authority by God and that one day He would judge every person who had ever lived. He said that even the angels were subject to Him.
(Matthew 25:34) Then the King will say to those at his right hand, "Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
(Matthew 25:41) Then he will say to those at his left hand, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
(Matthew 25:46) And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
(Matthew 26:53-54) "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"
(Matthew 28:18-20) And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
He referred to Himself as the Resurrection and the Life. His proof would be that He would rise from His own tomb on the third day.
(John 11:25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."
(Mark 9:31) For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise."
Obviously we are not talking about someone who was simply a good human being and nothing more. The only choices are to either dismiss Jesus as a deceiver or to accept Him as God's Son. He left us no middle ground between the two.
JESUS' MISSION
Jesus came to fulfill God's plan to redeem humanity. He knew exactly what would happen and how He would be slain. In this we see the supreme example of love.
(2 Corinthians 8:9) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
(Philippians 2:5-9) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
Jesus said that He came down out of heaven to do His Father's will. Jesus was faithful in this, even when God's will meant yielding His own.
(John 6:38) For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
(Matthew 26:39) And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He knew our need and came to bring us hope.
(Luke 19:10) For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.
The Lord was born into our world to be a King, though He makes it quite clear that His kingdom is not physical, but spiritual.
(John 18:33-37) Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
34 Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?"
35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?"
36 Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world."
37 Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice."
The Son of God came to die for the world. As He approached the time of His crucifixion He would not avoid it because it was for this very purpose that He had come into the world.
(John 12:27-28) "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."rom heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."
DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION
The central fact of the gospel is that Jesus died for our
sins, was buried, and on the third day following his death, rose up from the dead.
(1 Corinthians 15: 1 - 4) NOW I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand,
2 by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
Since this is such a crucial point
in our study, perhaps it would be best to just open your Bible and read thoughtfully the
following passages:
DEATH OF JESUS (MARK 15:22-39)
HIS BURIAL (MARK 15:46,47)
RESURRECTION! (MARK 16:1-8)
God has said that our sins demand death. He is absolutely holy and righteous and He cannot merely ignore our sins by pretending that they never happened. But He could substitute His own willing, righteous Son to pay our debt with His own death. Now that this has been accomplished, each one of us has a decision to make: either accept this great gift of God and the responsibilities and rewards which
accompany it, or reject it and face eternal death ourselves which is what we deserved to begin with.
(Romans 3: 26) It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
LORD AND SAVIOR!
Jesus is presented to us as both Lord and Savior. There is no indication in the Bible that He will be a person's savior who has not accepted His lordship
over his or her life. This means that we must obey Jesus as Lord as we trust Him to save. Jesus Himself has gone on record on this very point. Accepting Jesus' lordship means that we must obey Him.
(Luke 6:46) "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?"
(John 12:26) If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.
(John 14:15) If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
(John 14:21) He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
Accepting Jesus as savior means we have HOPE in Him.
(Matthew 1:21) she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
(Philippians 3:20-21) But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.
CONCLUSION
Jesus saves those who obey Him.
(Hebrews 5: 8, 9) Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;
9 and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Jesus is the hope of the world. He is much more than a simple Galilean carpenter/preacher and none of us are ready to leave this world until we have accepted that fact and acted upon it.
LESSON #5 is entitled "GOD'S JUDGEMENT". We will examine the differences between temporal, material things and eternal, spiritual things. We will see why it is such a mistake to ignore our spiritual needs. Then, we will look at the judgment that is to come upon all humanity.
QUESTIONS FOR LESSON FOUR
(Click on the Bible Verses and they will open up for you to read!)
FORM TITLE
1. THE PROMISED ONE
A. How many prophecies were made about the Messiah? (Approximately)
40
300
27
1200
How many of these prophecies did Jesus fulfill?
B. Below you will read two prophecies about Jesus. Choose from the dropdown list how it was fulfilled. Psalm 41: 9. "Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me."
Psalm 69: 21. "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
C. What enabled the prophets to foretell events with 100% accuracy?
(See II PETER 1: 20, 21)
They were psychic.
They were moved by the Holy Spirit.
They were very wise.
2. JESUS' CLAIMS
A. Did Jesus say He was the way to God or that there were other ways as well?
(See JOHN 14:6)
He is the only way.
There are many ways to God.
B. What does Jesus' resurrection declare about Jesus?
(See ROMANS 1: 4)
He is a great teacher.
He is the new Elijah.
He is the Son of God.
5. LORD AND SAVIOUR!
A. Fill in the blanks: HEBREWS 5:9
"And being made , he became the source of eternal
to all who
him."
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