The Greatest Gift

“The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.” (Ruby Dee)

Our Savior is not always the ultimate Answer Man. He is many times the Great Questioner. In the Gospels, Jesus asked three hundred and seven questions total. One hundred eighty-three questions were asked by a variety of people.

Jesus chose to answer only three of those inquiries. Asking questions was an important component of His ministry. Jesus’ questions provided ways to help the listener better understand an important spiritual point that needed to be made by Him. [i]

In Matthew 16:13 (NRSVCE), Jesus asks His disciples a life-affirming question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” This question is answered in the three hundred and fifty-three Old Testament Messianic prophecies that are satisfied in Jesus Christ. [ii]

1.     We can know Jesus is God’s Son by His speech.

·       “The people looked at each other, amazed, because this strange teacher acted as One authorized by God, and what He taught affected them in ways their own scribes’ teachings could not.”  Mark 1:22 (VOICE)

·       “Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand.” (S. D. Gordon)

2.    We can know Jesus is God’s Son by His actions.

 

·       What should you call One who is unique, sanctified by and sent from the Father into the world? I have said, “I am God’s Son.” How can you call that blasphemy? By all means, do not believe in Me, if I am not doing the things of the Father. But examine My actions, and you will see that My work is the work of the Father. Regardless of whether you believe in Me; believe the miracles. Then you will know that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father. John 10:36-38 (VOICE)

·       “I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ to me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment.” (Mother Teresa) 

3.   We can know Jesus is God’s Son by His character.

·       “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, [and has] experienced it all (all but the sin).” Hebrews 4:15 (MSG)

 

·       “People talk about imitating Christ, and imitate Him in the little trifling formal things, such as washing the feet, saying His prayer, and so on; but if anyone attempts the real imitation of Him, there are no bounds to the outcry with which the presumption of that person is condemned.” (Florence Nightingale)

4.   We can know Jesus is God’s Son by His resurrection.

·       “And if Christ has not been raised from death, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins.”  1 Corinthians 15:17 (ERV)

 

·       “The tomb of Christ is famous because of what it does not contain.” (Sam Morris)

“Outside of the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no hope in this world. That cross and resurrection [are] at the core of the Gospel [It] is the only hope for humanity. Wherever you go, ask God for wisdom on how to get that Gospel in, even in the toughest situations of life.” [iii](Ravi Zacharias)

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[i] Adapted from Jesus Is the Question: The 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered by Martin B. Copenhaver

 

[ii] For a full list of the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus, please see go to http://www.accordingtothescriptures.org/prophecy/353prophecies.html.  The probability that one person could have fulfilled even eight of these prophecies would be only 1 in 10¹⁷. That’s 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.

 

[iii] Inspired by the sermon Questions Jesus Asked: Who Do People Say that I Am? (installment one) Sunday, March 5, 2017 Pastor Dave Jansen CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH