How Do We Know It Was Jesus?
John 1:9-18, John 12:36-41, Luke 24:13-48
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Jan. 6, 2010
Old Testament Encounters with Christ
*Over the next few weeks we are going to look at some of the Old Testament appearances of Christ. One preacher I looked at had a series on Christ in the Old Testament. It was 80 sermons long! Now we won’t come anywhere near that. But it shows you that there is a lot about Christ in the Old Testament.
*We are going to focus on the appearances of Christ in the Old Testament, those times when God appeared to man. But how do we know it was the pre-incarnate Christ who appeared as God in the Old Testament? How do we know it was Jesus? We know because of the evidence we find in the New Testament.
1. And as we examine the evidence tonight, we will see that our Heavenly Father is excluded from appearing in the Old Testament.
*Many people assume that any time God appeared in the Old Testament, it was an appearance of God the Father. But God’s Word teaches us that this is not true. God’s Word clearly states that in Old Testament times no one had ever seen the Father. In John 1:9, the Apostle tells us that Jesus is the true Light of the world. Vs. 10 tells us that Jesus is the Creator of the world. Vs. 12 shows that Jesus gives believers the right to become children of God. Vs. 17 tells us that grace and truth can only come through Jesus. Then in vs. 18, John said something that many people miss: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
*In other words: “No one has seen GOD THE FATHER at any time.” So, whenever the Old Testament talks about someone seeing God, they are meeting with the pre-incarnate Christ. Walking and talking with Adam & Eve in the garden in the cool of the day, it was Jesus! Eating with Abraham, it was Jesus! Wrestling with Jacob, it was Jesus!
*Jesus affirmed this truth in John 6:44-47, where He said:
44. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
45. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
46. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
47. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
*Jesus said: “No one has seen God the Father at any time.” Prior to the cross, this was certainly true, and this truth magnifies our need for Christ. Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except thru Me.” (John 14:6)
*Everybody needs Jesus! Everybody needs to be saved! And the Bible tells us that God is not willing for anyone to perish. That’s why Jesus was willing to die on the cross for our sins. Every sinner needs the Savior!
*Evangelist Eddie Martin tells of preaching at a crusade in Bluefield, West Virginia. One night a well-dressed woman came forward at the invitation for salvation. Eddie later reported, “I took her hand and prepared to give her a prayer to repeat after me. The prayer I usually give is, ‘Dear Lord, I know that I am a no-good sinner. I know I can’t save myself. I do need forgiveness for my awful sins. I can’t do without you, Jesus. Please forgive me for my many sins.’”
*Eddie said, “I took this woman’s hand and began to give her the prayer to repeat after me: ‘Dear Lord, I know I’m a no-good sinner . . . ’ She never said a word. I looked at her and said, ‘Don’t you want to be saved?’ She said, ‘Yes, I do want to be saved, but I’m not a sinner.’”
*Eddie told her: “Then you can’t be saved, Jesus only died for sinners.”
-But, she replied, “I’m a good sinner.”
*“A good sinner! -- Lady, there are no good sinners. -- You will have to take your seat. God can’t save you until you become conscious that you are a no-good sinner and need His forgiveness.”
-“But, you don’t understand. I’m really not a bad sinner.”
*“I told her to go back and sit down. She held on to my hand with a vise-like grip.
-Finally she looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Oh, please forgive me. I know I am a no-good hell-deserving sinner. I am a proud, no-good sinner. I do need Christ to forgive me of my sins.” Eddie replied, “Wonderful! Now, lady, you are ready to do business with God.” (1)
*That lady needed Jesus! -- even if she didn’t want to admit it. Everybody needs Jesus. And this truth is magnified when we see God in the Old Testament, because every time we see God in the Old Testament, it’s Jesus.
*The New Testament teaches us that our Heavenly Father is excluded from appearing in the Old Testament.
2. But the New Testament also gives us an example of the Son of God appearing in the Old Testament.
*This example comes to us in John 12:36-41. These verses refer to Christ in two different places in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, and each of these Scriptures reveals a central truth about our Lord.
*First we see evidence of the Lord’s sacrificial death. It was less than a week before the cross when Jesus said:
36. “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.”
37. But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,
38. that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?''
*This is a direct quote from Isaiah 53, where we find one of the clearest prophecies of Jesus being the Suffering Messiah who was to die for our sins. Listen to these few verses from Isaiah 53:
1. Who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
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; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by 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.
*We see evidence of the Lord’s sacrificial death, but John goes on in vs. 39-41:
39. Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40. "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, lest they should turn, so that I should heal them.''
41. These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
*These verses refer back to Isaiah 6, when the prophet saw the Lord high and lifted up. And Isaiah said:
8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'' Then I said, "Here am I! Send me.''
9. And He said, "Go, and tell this people: `Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
10. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.''
*We need to see the Lord high and lifted up like Isaiah did! And John 12 proves to us that Jesus Christ is the Jehovah God we see in the Old Testament. Who did Isaiah see and hear? It was certainly Jesus! John 12:41 is certainly talking about Jesus when it says, “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.”
*If you are ever trying to persuade a Jehovah’s Witness that Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, always remember this verse: John 12:41.
*Who did the prophet see high and lifted up in Isaiah 6? It was Jesus, the pre-incarnate Christ! Jesus is not just the Lamb of God. -- He is Lord of all! The New Testament gives us this good example of God the Son appearing in the Old Testament.
3. But in the New Testament the Lord also gives us an explanation of His presence in the Old Testament.
*After Jesus rose again, He was very careful to explain His presence in the Old Testament. And as the Lord does this, we can see three great reasons why we should look at Christ in the Old Testament.
*One of the best places to see the Lord’s explanation is in Luke 24. Vs. 13 is the beginning of one of our favorite Easter stories. Two most discouraged disciples were on the road to Emmaus. And unknown to them, the Risen Savior started walking with them.
*In vs. 17, Jesus asked a surprising question, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?''
18. Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?''
19. And He said to them, "What things?'' And they said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20. and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
21. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. . .
1-They said, “We were hoping.” And this is the first reason we are going to look at Christ in the Old Testament: We need our hope renewed.
*Mark Schaeufele explained: “Try to imagine that you are one of these two disciples. You have left everything you knew to follow Jesus. You truly believed in your heart that Jesus was the one. He was going to change everything. He was going to bring freedom. Most importantly, he was going to bring salvation.
*But Jesus, your master, was tried, humiliated, beaten and horribly crucified. -- The one you had trusted in was gone. Their hope that Jesus was the promised Messiah had been devastated, dashed against the rocks of death. (2)
*These two disciples needed their hope renewed. How did Jesus do that? Look at vs. 25-27:
25. Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26. "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?''
27. And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
*Jesus explained. He unfolded the meaning of Old Testament Scriptures about Himself. There are hundreds of Old Testament Scriptures Jesus could have shared with them along that 7-mile walk. He was using God’s Word to fan the flames of their hope, and He wants to do the same thing for us! We are going to look at Christ in the Old Testament, because we need our hope renewed.
2-And because we need burning hearts.
*After Jesus revealed Himself to these two disciples and miraculously disappeared, look what happened in vs. 32 & 33:
32. They said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?''
33. So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
*“Didn’t our hearts burn while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Yes! Their hearts were on fire so much that they just had to get back to Jerusalem to share the good news! We need the same kind of burning in our hearts!
*Dr. George Morris is a seminary professor and an expert on evangelism. He has dedicated his life to spreading the message of Jesus around the world. George grew up in a poor Appalachian family. His grandfather was an atheist, and no one in his family showed any interest in spiritual things.
*But when George turned 17, his dad became friends with a local Methodist pastor. At a revival one night, George got the shock of his life when his dad kneeled and gave his life to Jesus. But what happened next really shook George up. His dad got up from and headed straight for George. Dad’s words burned their way into George’s heart. He said, “Son, I know this is embarrassing to you, but I want you to hear me out and trust me if you can. I have found something here this evening that I have been searching for, for 56 years. And I would rather die than see you make the mistake I have made.” (3)
*Seventeen-year-old George Morris prayed to receive Jesus that very evening. And his life was changed forever. Only God knows how many more souls have been saved because that daddy’s heart was on fire! We need the same kind of burning in our hearts! We are going to look at Christ in the Old Testament, because we need our hearts burning.
3-And because we need more understanding about Jesus.
*After those two disciples joined the others in Jerusalem, the Lord appeared again. Jesus encouraged them. Jesus ate with them. Then in vs. 44&45, He began to teach them:
44. Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.'' 45. And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
*Jesus opened the disciples’ understanding. And He wants to open our understanding too! That word “open” has a great word picture. It was sometimes used for a mother’s first born child. And God wants to give us a new birth of understanding. We can get it by looking at Christ in the Old Testament.
*Next week, Lord willing, we will start in the Garden of Eden, looking for our hope to be renewed, looking for our hearts to be burning for Jesus, and looking for more understanding about our wonderful Lord.
1. SermonCentral sermon “Hope In A World of Despair” by Steve Shepherd - Psalm 46:1 (More details found in “How to Be Right with God” by Ray Pritchard - Luke 18:9-14 - Sept. 2, 1999 - Calvary Memorial Church - Oak Park, Illinois)
2. SermonCentral sermon “A Walk to Remember” by Mark Schaeufele - Luke 24:13-35
3. George E. Morris, The Mystery and Meaning of Christian Conversion (Port Orford, OR: World Methodist Evangelism Publishing, 2004), pp. 15-17. (Found in ChristianGlobe.com sermon “God's Witness Security Program” by King Duncan - Luke 24:36-49 - 2005)
