Character of Christ Class

Class 1 – The Character of Jesus

  1. Growing into the Character of Christ
  2. What is Character?
  3. The Confusion of John The Baptist
  4. What We Will Study This Term
  5. Be Ye Imitators of Christ

First of all, let me acknowledge that the material we’ll be studying is primarily based on my personal studies. I worked with Dr. Wayne Detzler to compile it and put it in book form which we took to a Literary Agent who queried Christian Publishers but no takers. This class is part of reworking this material and soliciting feedback.

  1. Growing into the Character of Christ
    • Pastor Dan’s sermon of January 5 “2020Vision” he challenged the church to be intentional for 2020 about growing in the Likeness and the Character of Christ.
      1. Dan referencedCol 3:12-17 – put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing, forgiving, loving, peace of God, word of Christ dwell in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing, singing with grace
      2. Romans 8:29 – “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined (determined beforehand) to be conformed (become the same form) to the image of His Son”
  • We desire to be a good imitation. We’ll never be THE Savior-THE Son of God
    1. What does that mean – to be a good imitation of Jesus?
  1. What is Character? – Dokime (dok-ee-may)
    • Have you ever been disappointed by someone you thought you knew but at some point, behaved in an unexpected way?
  • Definition of Character – The aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing – moral or ethical quality.
    • A Character in a book or play – representing a personality type, especially by emphasizing distinctive traits, as language, mannerisms, physical makeup, etc.
  • I write works of fiction. When I create a character, I provide some physical and personality descriptions. The key to creating compelling fiction is based on the mantra of “Show don’t tell”. You know the character from how they act/react to action of story
  • That is true of people. Character is not self-declared but proven.
    • Paul of Timothy in Phil 2:22 says, “But you know his proven “character” Dokime– proved, trial, approved, tried character, a specimen of tried worth
  • Scripture never addresses Jesus’ “character” but a critical aspect of who Jesus was is found in Phil 2:7-8Paul says Jesus emptied himself of his godliness, took the formof a bondservant, came in the likeness of men and was found inappearanceas a man,”
  • We will take a closer look at these 3 Greek nouns describing Christ as a man later.
  1. The Confusion of John the Baptist
  • To me, the story of John the Baptist in the Gospel is fascinating. Highlights confusion about Jesus’ identity and character
  • Who was John to Jesus?They were cousins. Visits in Jerusalem during Passover.
  • John would eventually come to the understanding of his purpose – to announce the coming of the Messiah. Cousin Elizabeth and Zacharias
  • When John’s cousin Jesus finally arrived in the desert, would John immediately declare him the Messiah and baptize him? Knowing the Messiah would be his cousin, Jesus?
  • Was John just out in the desert preparing a following while waiting for Jesus to show up? Why did John repeat twice in John 1:31 and 33 that he did not knowJesus?
  • How did John not know that his own cousin was the Messiah?
  • John’s parents passed away when he was young (orphaned) and was likely adopted by a group like the Essenes who were religious zealots dwelling in the desert, separated from society.
    • Luke 1:80 says, “So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” as a boy, unusual spiritual zeal.
  • But, wouldn’t John remember the story of him leaping in his mother’s womb when greeting Mary, pregnant with Jesu? Many people were aware of the story (Luke 1:57, 65-66). hard to believe that, being related, the two didn’t have some contact over the years.
  • Whether John and Jesus had any relationship growing up or not, it is clear that John admits he did not really “know” Jesus. The Greek word for, “know” is eido. It is translated more often as “see.” John declares in John 1 that even if he had a relationship with Jesus he did not “see” him as the Messiah. Why?
  • Because Jesus was just too human—too normal. In Mark 6 Jesus returned to his friends and family and could do no miracles because their lack of faith. Phil 2:5-7 says, Jesus emptied himself of his godliness and took form/likeness/appearance of a simple man.
  • Jesus spoke in a similar way about John the B in Matthew 17:12: “But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did notknow(see or understand) him.”
  • Did John suffer from the common misconception about the Messiah – a prince or king
    • He was a common man, who was doing and saying uncommon things.
  • It was only when the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus as the Messiah to John that he was able to recognize Jesus as “The One.”
    • John 1:33-34 says, “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
  • I imagine Jesus shows up, just as John’s spirit jumped in his mother’s womb some thirty years earlier, John’s own spirit jumped.
  • John immediately bore witness to him: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). He baptizes Jesus, and the audible voice of God declares, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). What more would John need? I’ve done my job! I will now declare Jesus as THE Christ!

Did I get this wrong?

  • Yet, after John was arrested, he sends a doubt-filled message to Jesus asking, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).
  • He was wondering, This is my entire mission in life. Did I get this wrong? I’m not sure.
  • But, why? Why was John so unsure? What makes us unsure?
  • Was it that Jesus was behaving in ways that were unexpected to John? Not only was Jesus seemingly just a common man, but Scripture indicates that John was likely offended by Jesus’s behavior.
    • Luke 7:33-34 says, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”
  • If John believed what people were saying and also believed that the way to spiritual purity was as John practiced—to retreat from society, to fast, and avoid wine—Jesus’s was the opposite – staying visible and active and performing miracles of every kind
  • Jesus came as the humble servant and not as the conquering king. Did John still want the Savior to be that powerful figure he and the nation of Israel had always hoped for?
  • John’s disciples inquired of Jesus, “Are you the one?” Jesus responded in Matthew 11:4-6, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
    • The Greek word for offended is skandalizo, which means to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority.
  • John wondered about Jesus’s behavior. Should we hold Jesus to a certain standard as we would (or should) a pastor or a policeman or a public official?
  • Jesus, himself, declared in Matthew 7:16, “You will knowthemby their fruits.” If that is the case, then we should be able to measure the character of Christ against Scripture.
    • Galatians 5:22-23:“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
  • What would you say if you saw someone who claimed to be holy but had a reputation as a gluttonous wino, hanging out with others who cheat the poor and who revel in their sinful behavior? Is this person worthy of being followed and imitated?
  • I’d likely wonder, Who is this Guy? What a phony!
  1. What We Will Study This Term
  • John Ortberg’s book, Who Is This Man?expands upon James Francis’sOne Solitary Lifehighlighting how Jesus’s life has so powerfully impacted our world.
  • Many in Jesus’s day asked the question, “Who is this?” because of the power of Jesus’s words and his many miracles or because he was so radically different.
  • Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid staring across the western landscape at the posse relentlessly chasing them asking, “Who are those guys?” I look across the Gospel landscape and sometimes ask, “Who is this guy?”
  • Jesus sometimes acts nothing like what I expect of a gracious Savior – a man exhibiting strange behavior and saying difficult things. Behavior and words not very Christ-like.

·     Jim Daley, as President of Focus on the Family, writes in his book Refocus, “As Christians, we’re irritated when we see other Christians behaving badly.”

·     But, what about when Jesus seems to behave badly? In numerous episodes in the gospels, Jesus seems to act rudely and even unkindly. I ask myself, Who is this guy?

Study Episodes

  1. Is Jesus really a name-caller?Throughout the gospels, Jesus is treated poorly by the Pharisees. He strikes back with a vengeance, yelling at them, embarrassing them, and calling them “fools”. Whatever happened 70X7 and turning the other cheek?
  2. Or is Jesus really short-tempered and prejudiced?In the Matthew 15:21-28, we find a desperate Canaanite woman chasing after Jesus begging him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. He denies her saying that he only came for the House of Israel and not to her—a filthy dog. Wow! I mean, really? What a raca!
  3. Or is Jesus really an impatient man?In Mathew, Jesus is hungry and goes up to a fig tree hoping to satisfy his hunger with figs. No figs. He becomes angry & curses the tree. Wow! How about a little patience and restraint, Jesus?
    1. Philosopher Bertrand Russell uses this as evidence Jesus was really a bad person
  4. Or is Jesus really prone to losing his temper?All four gospels depict Jesus entering the Temple and going crazy, tearing it up, screaming, abusing property, and whipping them. Okay, where is that kind, gentle Jesus exercising self-control?
  5. Or is Jesus really an impertinent child and family antagonist?
    1. In Luke, Jesus as a boy visits Jerusalem. He wanders off from his parents and hides in the Temple. When they return to find him, they are understandably upset. Jesus does not apologize or show any concern.
    2. In John’s Gospel, at the wedding in Cana, Mary asks Jesus to help with the shortage of wine. Jesus curtly refuses and disrespectfully calls her “woman” who has no business telling him what to do.
    3. On a number of occasions Jesus says derogatory things about his family. Jesus, whatever happened to the fifth commandment to honor thy mother and father? Where is Jesus’s respect for all God’s people?

How do you treat these episodes?

  • I think most Christians accept these episodes as having a ‘Kingdom Purpose’ but gloss over the behavior just thinking He’s Jesus Son of God can do what He wants. Since when is it Godly to accept the principle that ‘the Ends Justify the Means?’
  • In this study, we will not gloss over the strange episodes and behaviors depicting Jesus in an uncomfortable way. We will dig deeper to answer questions about character. Is he always the loving, kind, and gentle Savior, or does he at times act impertinent, bigoted, maniacal, vindictive, or impatient and petulant?
  • Do we dare hold Jesus accountable to his own teachings and to the many other teachings of the New Testament? These are the same moral teachings or supposed “characteristics of Christ” his followers are held to.
  • Are we afraid to look more closely at these strange scriptures to possibly discover that the Jesus I have understood him to be is not all who I thought he was and is? Where is our confidence in the pure goodness of Jesus?
  • Dallas Willard, consistently urged his readers to study the life of Christ for the benefit of knowing who Christ was when He walked the earth and for knowing all He can be in Christian lives today.
  • Some of these seemingly bad behaviors, taken at face value, are used by Christians to justify their own bad actions. Didn’t Jesus behave that way! Or did he?
  • Willard writes, “Followers of Jesus are required to pursue truth wherever it leads them.”
  • John Ortberg asserts, “For it is impossible to trust Jesus if way down deep inside, you don’t think he was right. Sometimes believers are afraid that pursuing truth wherever it leads might make us uncomfortable.” And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
  • If you have to choose between Jesus or Truth, what do you choose?
  • Ortberg answers, “choose truth. But according to Jesus, if you search for truth, you will find him. There is no other way to trust Jesus than to think and question and wrestle and struggle until you come to see that he really is true.” (Eph5 Good, Right, True)
  • We cannot fully enjoy any relationship without fearlessly entering in at a deeper level with confidence that the truth we uncover will not diminish but enrich our relationship

We as Christ-Followers are called to be Imitators (Mimetes) of Christ.

  1. 1 Peter 2:21 – For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
  2. Philippians 2:8 – Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
  3. 1 John 2:6 – walk in the same manner as He walked.
  4. Colossians 3:13 – just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
  5. 1 Cor 4:16 – Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 11:1 – Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

We are to be Imitators. The question is, Who, What or Which Jesus are we imitating?

 How does it make you feel when I question Jesus’ Character?

Next Class: Come On, Jesus, Practice What You Preach!

For this week: Pick an episode from above. Read it at face value & jot down your thoughts.

NOTES PAGE

Class 1 – The Character of Jesus

  1. Growing into the Character of Christ
  1. What is Character?
  1. The Confusion of John The Baptist
  1. What We Will Study This Term
  1. Be Ye Imitators of Christ.

We are to be Imitators. The question is, Who, What or Which Jesus are we imitating?

Next Class: Come On, Jesus, Practice What You Preach!

For this week: Pick an episode from below. Read it at face value & jot down your thoughts

  1. Matthew 15:21-28 – Jesus treatment of a Canaanite woman
  2. Matthew 23:1-15 – Jesus rips into the Pharisees
  3. John 2:13-16 – Jesus Cleanses the Temple
  4. Mark 11:12-21 – Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
  5. Luke 2:41-52 – Young Jesus disrespects to His parents
  • Detailed notes can be found Realm or at my Blog:tuckedin-lampsburning.com
  • Reference Material:

Dallas Willard, Putting on the Character of Christ

Mark Straus, Jesus Behaving badly

John Ortberg, Who Is This Man?

Class 2 – The Character of Jesus – DRAFT

  1. Who is this Guy?
  2. Come On, Jesus, Practice What You Preach!
  3. Old Vs New Covenant Standard for Righteousness
  4. Good, Right and True
  5. Is this always what we see in the behavior of Jesus?
    1. What’s Raca?
  6. We Explore Jesus’ Character to Know Him More.
  1. Who Is This Guy?
  • 1890s outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid along with the Wild Bunch Gang repeatedly robbed the same trains of Owner E. H. Harriman
  • Finally, he had enough. He sent a highly-trained posse out after them.
  • Butch and Sundance were used to easily outwitting any posse with clever tricks and diversions. But this posse was different—they kept coming. They were relentless not falling for their tricks, tracking through rivers, over rocks and even by torch light.
  • In the film, Butch and Sundance periodically stopped to see if they’d lost them only to find that the posse was still hot on their trail. Butch declares, “I couldn’t do that, could you do that? How can they do that? Who are those guys?” The 2 repeat “Who are those guys?”
  • Why?This posse was something very different from what they’d experienced.
  • I feel the same way about some scriptures throughout the Bible. I’ll read a text and some at face value makes no sense to me. I move on to scriptures consistent with my image
  • Actually, Not the first time I questioned who this person Jesus really is. Back in 1979 I was invited to a Christian concert. An invitation was given to “receive”. Who is this guy Jesus?
  • I grew up going to Catholic so I certainly knew of Jesus
  • Many know of Jesus. Some believe him to be God. Others believe him to be simply a good teacher, while many aren’t sure what to think.
  • But what is my image of Jesus? Who is this person who is supposed to be in an actual relationship with his followers, and as Jesus promised, would reside within each of them?
  • The image I and many of his followers have always maintained is the loving, kind, gentle, meek, tender healer and restorer of the soul.
  • To the community of Christians, he is Lord, Redeemer, Friend, Son of God, Son of Man, the Alpha, the Omega, Prince of Peace, the King, the Name above all names—THE Christ
  • But wait; does he occasionally show his humanity and expose himself as prejudiced, mean, vindictive, out of control, impatient, impertinent, or antagonistic?
  • On occasion, it seems so. Much like Butch and Sundance I ask, “Who is this guy Jesus?”

Why Ask the Question?

  • There are three reasons to ask the question, “Who is this guy?” about someone:
  1. Something obviously unique and special about a person, we want know more, or
  2. A person promotes themselves as special. “Who do they think they are?”, or
  3. A person is acting in a strange way that we don’t recognize as normal behavior.
  • In the gospels 2 dozen scriptures which some form of this question is raised.
  • Matthew 21:10: All the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
  • Mark 4:41: And they said to one another, “Who can this be?”
  • Luke 5:21: The Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this?
  • John 12:34: The people answered…, “Who is this Son of Man?”
  • Dramatic exchange in Matthew 16. “He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They respond with, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, Jeremiah or a prophet. Jesus probes further, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ”
    • Anyone ever ask you a question and in the question, they give the answer?
      • How can you lift an elephant with one hand? A. Not a problem, since elephants don’t have hands.
      • There are three apples on a table and you take away two. How many apples do you have now? A. Two
    • What does ‘Son of Man’ mean? – very common reference to himself as a human being but also referencing Old Testament prophesy as the Messiah. (Daniel 7:13-14)
  • Who consistently got Jesus’ identity right? Philip Yancey’s The Jesus I Never Knew– demons never failed to recognize him as ‘holy one of God’. Humans confused
  • So, what was all the confusion about? Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” seems pretty clear.
  • But even to this day some don’t believe that Jesus ever confirmed himself as Messiah.
  • Jesus skill used language providing both confirmation to believers and doubt to detractors.
  • Still, when I read certain scripture I sometimes ask, “Who is this guy, Jesus?”
  1. Did Jesus always Practice What He Preached?
  • Jesus declared in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
  • What things in this world do you hate? – I hate The Double Standard.
  • The double standard is defined by Merriam-Webster as a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another. universally frowned upon, we see it applied across society.
  • Those who excel in business, sports, or academics seem to get away with things that the rest of us can’t. People in government & religion often benefit from a different set of rules.
  • One of the things that attracts people to Christianity is the premise that we, as human beings, are all in the same boat. God does not favor anyone based on racial, ethnic, religious, or any socioeconomic differences (He does have an affinity for the poor).
  • Jesus speaks out against this behavior by the religious leaders in Mat 23:3-7: “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”
  • I particularly don’t like it when I find myself keeping to the rules and look around to see others flaunting their rebellion.
  • So, what do Christians do when Jesus himself does not seem to be behaving consistently with the moral standards taught in the New Testament?
  • As a Christian, one is encouraged, beseeched, and instructed to live up to a higher moral standard that takes them beyond keeping the letter of the Old Testament commandments and laws to allowing God to develop a certain character in the Christian. Our motivation is to become more like the one who authored our salvation—to put on the character of Christ.
  • So, what are the major New Testament moral teachings that Christians are taught to live up to? Without republishing the entire New Testament, I’ll list some of the major instructions I have gleaned, in addition to the Colossians 3 teaching identified above.
  • How do some of Jesus’ words and behavior fit with the New Testament teachings on how Christians should behave?
  • Colossians 3:12-13 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another
  • Matthew 7:12 (NIV) (The Golden Rule) do unto others what . . .
  • Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
  • Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
  • 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – The love chapter. Love is patient . . .
  • Matthew 5:3-12 (The Beatitudes) Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, merciful, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness’ sake, . . .
  • Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
  • Galatians 5:22-23 But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
  • Ephesians 5:9 – (for the fruit of the Spirit isin all goodness, righteousness, and truth)
  • So, do we always find Jesus acting righteously loving in his behavior?
  1. Old Vs New Covenant Standard for Righteousness
  • The Old Covenant standard for righteousness was found in the Mosaic Law—the Ten Commandments and all the rules built around the Commandments.
  • The New Covenant standard is of the heart and is found primarily in Galatians 5:22-23 – for if your heart expresses the Fruit of the Spirit there, is no need for the Law.
  • But let’s consider Jesus’ treatment toward the Pharisees. On many occasions throughout the gospels, Jesus attacked the Pharisees—sometimes provoked, sometimes not. He challenged their spirituality, ethics and called them names.
  • Now, we know many Pharisees in Jesus’s day were corrupt, harboring evil intentions and laying heavy burdens on the people. Many of us would agree they deserved to be called out and exposed for their treachery. We cheer – Go Jesus!
  • But what about Jesus’s behavior in response to the Pharisees? That troubled me.
  • Where is, overcoming evil with good, being a peacemaker, being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness?
  • Jesus does not seem to be always be living up to His own standards of the Fruit of the Spirit. Do we see love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control in his speech and behavior toward the Pharisees?
  • Reading through the episodes where He interacts with the Pharisees, it is hard to see Jesus demonstrating the full Fruit of the Spirit.
  • Is it a case of the “Ends Justifies the Means”?Is that a Christian concept?
    • Paul says in 1 Cor 9:22-23 – I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
    • For what purpose? – I do all this for the sake of the gospel
  1. Good, Right and True
  • Fruit of the Spirit is also mentioned in Ephesians 5:8-10: “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the Fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”
  • It appears that all of the Fruit of the Spirit rests on these three things: GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and TRUTH. the foundation of God’s unchanging character.
  • But how do these three prime Characteristics work together?

Example

  • My family had just gone to my eldest son’s college graduation. We had not made plans for lunch afterward, and many area restaurants were booked, so we ended up at a Chili’s restaurant. After we finished our entrées, we all agreed that we would share one of their infamous lava cakes for dessert. Chili’s offers a chocolate or vanilla lava cake. We took a vote and all agreed on ordering the vanilla and gave our order to the waitress.
  • Minutes later the waitress returned with the lava cake, put it down and distributed the spoons. We looked at each other a bit stunned until I spoke up and announced, “I’m sorry, Miss, but this is chocolate and we ordered the vanilla.” She immediately recognized her error and replied, “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll be right back with the vanilla cake.” She left and came back in five minutes. I can only imagine what she thought by the look on her face when she returned to see only a few crumbs of the chocolate lava cake left on the plate and all of us still licking the chocolate smeared on our lips.
  • The TRUTH was that the chocolate lava cake was GOOD but it wasn’t RIGHT.
  • Whatever God does meets all three standards—it is all perfectly GOOD, it is all perfectly RIGHT, and all perfectly TRUE. God is interested in the MEANS as much as the ENDS
  • With regards to the Character of Jesus – Pastor Rick Warren in his Daily Hope Seriesabout developing the character of Christ says, “The Fruit of the Spirit is a perfect picture of Christ. He embodied all nine qualities. If you’re going to develop Christ-like character, you, too, must have these qualities in your life.”
  1. Is this always what we see in the behavior of Jesus?
  • As an example, let’s look at Mathew 5:22 we read Jesus’ red letter words, “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”
  • Jesus describes the escalating level of danger or penalty one risks when engaging in mean-spirited and hard-hearted behavior.
    1. Being angry at someone for no good reason: “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” If you are provoked to anger (orgizo)for no cause (simply because of jealousy or mean-spiritedness) you can be taken to theKrisis,which is the local courts or judges in several cities of Palestine, to be judged.
    2. Slandering someone’s mental capacity: “And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council.” an offense that could be taken up at the highest court, the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem because it is challenging one’s mental competency
      • Racais a term of reproach used among the Jews in the time of Christ, defined as a senseless, empty-headed man. It often goes untranslated, but some of the major English Bible translations give the following definitions:
        • “Whoever insults his brother”—Revised Standard and other Bibles
        • “You idiot!”—The Common English Bible
        • “You empty-headed idiot!”—Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
        • “You good-for-nothing!”—New American Standard Bible
        • “You stupid fool!”—Lexham English Bible
        • “You have no brains.”—New Life Version Bible
        • “Loser” or “Fool” or “Scum”—The Voice Bible
        • “You Empty Fellow”—Young’s Literal Translation Bible
      • I have my own personal translation for this Aramaic expression—JERK.
      • A JERK is a contemptibly obnoxious person with its root in the idea of a person who is jerking someone around.
      • Not necessarily a “bad” person but acting badly—selfish, inconsiderate, disrespectful, mean or even just silly—I think, What a Jerk!
      • While I often direct this expression toward others, I am often the recipient.
      • Even with some Biblical Character’s behavior I’ve thought, “What a Jerk!”
    3. Jesus concludes this saying, “But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” So, if you cry out, “You fool!” (Greek Moros where we get Moron). Saying the person is not just foolish but impious and even godless. To call someone Moros was to declare a person as hopeless – considered as worthless as the rotting corpses deserving to be thrown into the fires of Gehenna.
  • Yet, Jesus himself called the Pharisees fools/moros on several occasions. Mat 23:17 & Luke 11:40. Is this a double standard? How does Jesu get away with that?
  • What standards are we to hold Jesus to?
  • These are real questions I and others have had as I’ve read through the Gospels. I know that for many Christians, challenging Jesus’ righteousness can offend our sensibilities of who we know to be our Savior.
  1. We Explore Jesus’ Character to Know Him More.
  • I love the verse from the song “To Know You” by Casting Crowns that says “To know Jesus is to want to know Him more.” Sometimes taking an honest, critical look at those we love allows us to know and love them more.
  • The Amplified Bible, Classic Edition translates the first part of Philippians 3:10 as – [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly],
  • Based upon the teachings of the New Testament, is there any accommodation for bigotry, impatience, petulance, wild violence, vindictiveness, impertinence, or chauvinism? Yet, these are some of the behaviors Jesus seems to exhibit on occasion in the gospels.
  • A major message of the Good News is that God forgives and extends his grace to those who follow Christ. People don’t have to be perfect. We can fail, admit our failure, ask forgiveness, and move on in God’s love. Is that what we see in The Son of Man, Jesus?
  • For me to know Jesus, and to know all He can be in my life I have to know how he operated in this world on Earth. Man? God? Both? What is your conviction?
  • If Jesus was fully God do we see a double-standard then what can we do but say, “Hey, he’s God. He can do whatever he wants to!” But if he were God who came down to live as man on earth, then is there an accommodation for him occasionally failing?
  • Or, is it possible that even as a man he lived a perfect life, an example of what God intended for us? Jesus was perfect – 1 peter 2:22 (quoting Isiah) – who committed no sin, nor was any deceit(Dolos) found in his mouth; 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 1 john 3:5
  • Next class we will focus on what I’ve discovered the Bible says about this critical question.

Class 3 – The Character of Jesus – DRAFT

Reiterate Purpose of This Class

  1. Who do you think Jesus was as He walked the earth?
    1. God
    2. A Man, but having access to His Godly power
    3. Fully Man – empowered by the HS & guided by the Father
    4. Haven’t really considered it
  2. Why is this Important?
  3. Undercover Boss
  4. My Studied Proof of Jesus walking fully as a Man
    1. Jesus “Emptied” Himself
    2. The testimony of other biblical figures
    3. Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit.
    4. Jesus was tempted
    5. Jesus not all-knowing
    6. Jesus needed to pray
    7. What about Jesus’ miracles?
      • Even Greater things
    8. Disciples Continued to do Miracles
    9. Jesus had his own Will
  • Jesus Walked by Faith
  • Jesus Returned to be with the Father
  1. Why this is Important to me.

 

  • Let me reiterate the purpose of this study –
  1. To take a look at what Scripture identifies as the Character of Christ, and
  2. To look at some challenging Gospel episodes to test Jesus’ Character so that we may “know” or be certain of the character we are to follow.
    • 2 Peter 3:18 -But grow in the grace and knowledgeof our Lord and Savior Jesus
  • Who do you think Jesus was as He walked the earth?
  • My personal studied opinion is: Jesus, even as the eternal Son of God, while he walked this earth from birth, right up until when he breathed his last breath on the cross, chose to live his life fully as a man!
  • People get upset that this suggests Jesus was just a good man like all are sons of God.
  • Even as a man, Jesus never stopped being an equal member of our Triune God

Undercover Boss

  • Undercover Boss.The high-level executive, often the CEO, decides to hide his identity by putting on a disguise and taking on the appearance of a low-level employee. Why?
    • to experience what goes on at the very foundational level of his organization and
    • to understand the challenges his employee’s face, to make his company better.
    • Yet, even though he puts his power & privilege aside, he is still the CEO.
  • A similar example might be Mark Twain’s classic,The Prince and the Pauper.
    • The prince finds a commoner who was his double.
    • He decides that he wants to see what life is like outside the palace
    • he switches clothes and leaves all his princely privilege and power behind.
    • Yet, by lineage and blood he is still the prince and is restored to his rightful place
  • Like Undercover Boss and the Prince and the Pauper, even though Jesus put on the disguise of a servant and emptied himself of his Godly power and privilege, he still continued to be the Son of God! Below is my rationale for this opinion:
  • Christ in Heaven, from the beginning was God, equally God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Son of God came down to earth and humbled himself to be fully man. He died, was raised from the dead, and ascended back to Heaven to be fully God.
  1. As briefly as I can I will give you the scripture proofs for my opinion
  2. Jesus Emptied Himself – to be foundin the form, likeness, appearanceas a man
  • Philippians 2:5-8tells me that Jesus was the Son of God who came down and emptied himselfof his godliness to become fully man and faithfully carried out the mission
  • Paul writes “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, . . .”
  • No reputation– or “nothing” is kenoo. It means “emptied” or “to make empty”
  • Philippians 2:7-8continues, “taking the formof a bondservant, and coming in the likenessof men. And being found in appearanceas a man, He humbled Himself.
  • What would it take for God to be humbled —to lose your reputation as God with all the vast power and omnipotence over all things—to become just a man.
  • Here Paul references 3 nouns referring to Jesus on earth – taking the formof a bondservant, coming in the likenessof men, found in appearanceas a man.
    1. Form – Morphe– the form by which a person strikes the vision. external appearance.
    2. Likeness – Homoioma– that which has been made after the likeness of something.
    3. Appearance – Schema– Fashion. The habitus, as comprising everything in a person which strikes the senses, figure, bearing, discourse, actions, manner of life
    4. Found – to find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience. Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, Lost Son. Seek-find
  1. Form – Likeness – Appearance– It is describing a process of clarification/verification People saw the form of a human, as they looked closer it was the image of a common man, who was then was scrutinized and determined to live a life in every way as a man.
  2. In other words, men and women searched Jesus out for every aspect of who he was but could only see him as a common man. Cousin John, Jesus’s siblings
  3. The testimony of other biblical figures:
  • John the Baptist says in John 1:30-31, “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
  • Romans 5:17-19, Paul says, even so through one Man’s righteous act theand by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
  • Ephesians 4:13 says, “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man
  • 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
  • Peter certainly confessed Jesus as the Son of God but also declares Jesus a man in Acts 2:22-24: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God
  • John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh –sarx meaning the body of a man. Jesus, Son of God, became a man.
  • The prophet, Isaiah,is quoted in Matthew 12:15-18: “He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘Behold! My Servant (child)whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him.’”
  1. Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit.
  • Why would Jesus, if he were God, need to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
  • Luke 4:1, we read, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
  • It is God the Father who gives the Holy Spirit to humans who ask Him. Jesus, the Son of God, chose to empty himself of his Godly power and in order to be empowered, he required to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
  1. Jesus was tempted, while God cannot be tempted.
  • The Bible clearly states that God cannot be tempted by evil. James 1:13-14says, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil”.
  • Yet in Matthew 4:1 says, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil” and Hebrews 2:18 tells us, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Finally, Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all pointstemptedaswe are.”
  • Tempted – Peirazo, to try or test one’s faith, virtue, character by enticement to sin.
  1. At times, Jesus does not appear to be “all-knowing.”
  • God is certainly omnipotent so there is nothing that can confuse or surprise God. So why is it that Jesus seemed surprised and disappointed at times?
  • Mark 7:14-18 says – Jesus seems surprised with the disciples, “You really don’t understand this?” For those who believe that Jesus was fully God when he walked the earth, why is he confused or surprised that his disciples did not understand?
  • In Matthew 8:8-10, Jesus marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!’”
  • In Mark 6, Jesus marveled because of their unbelief.
  • Marveled – Thaumazo: to wonder, to be surprised and astonished.
  • In Luke 8:45 Jesus asks, “Who touched Me?” after a woman with a flow of blood for twelve years touched his garment and was healed. Why would He ask that question if He was all knowing? Vs 46 – But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived (Ginosko) power(Dunamis) going out from.”
  • Could Jesus have been mistaken about something? At the wedding of Cana Mary tries to solicit Jesus to perform a miracle. Jesus declares, “My hour has not yet come.” But then he complies, indicating that his hour had come.
  • Also, at times, Jesus seemed disappointed with his disciples. In Matthew 17:14-17 the disciples fail to heal an epileptic and he seems surprised and disappointed.
  • The definition of “disappointed” is being sad or displeased because someone or something has failed to fulfill one’s hopes or expectations.
  • We find that Jesus, on occasion, asks factual questions. Why would an all-knowing Jesus need to ask these questions?
    • Mark 9:21: Jesus asks the father of a son suffering from seizures, “How long has this been happening to him?”
    • Matthew 15:34: Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
    • Mark 8:19: “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”
    • Mark 8:20: “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.”
  • Was Jesus ever found to be wrong about something? I would argue that at the wedding of Cana, Jesus was proved to be wrong. Mary tries to solicit Jesus to perform a miracle. Jesus declares, “My hour has not yet come.” But then he complies.
  • Finally, Dr. Mark Strauss in his book, Jesus Behaving Badly,concedes, “During his early life Jesus did not know everything.” This is evidenced in Mark 13:32: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
    • However, Once Christ is risen back to his rightful place of glory with the Father, Peter testifies in John 21:17, “Lord, You know all things;”
  • Jesus, the Son of God is omniscient, but Jesus choosing to live as a man emptied himself of those attributes.
  1. Jesus needed to pray?

·     If Jesus was operating on the earth as God then why did he pray to the Father? Why did he ask for things from the Father, things for himself, for the disciples, for all believers? As God, Jesus is able to make those things just happen, right?

o  Matthew 26:52-53 says, “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?’”

7. Don’t Jesus’s miracles prove that he was exercising his God attributes?

·     Jesus performed about 35 miracles recorded in the gospels but John 21 says Jesus performed so many that if recorded would fill volumes more than to fill the earth.

·     Yet, on most occasions, Jesus doesn’t take credit but gives the credit to the Father. In fact, Jesus admits in John 5:30, thatthe Son can do nothing of Himself

  • There are occasions where Jesus does not give the Father credit for the miraculous work Jesus had performed. But, in Acts 2:22, we read the words of Peter, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him.”
  1. The disciples continued to do the miracles Jesus did.
  • In the book of Acts, Jesus’s original disciples carried out miraculous works. We also see non-original disciples (Paul and Stephen) who carried out even greater things.
  • If Jesus did the miracles as God then it would seem that men or disciples would not have been able to continue doing them. Jesus, himself, taught that all the power was from God the Father and that men could and would do even greater things.
  • We see these works or things continue in Acts 5:12,16: “And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people . . . sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”
  • Hebrews 2:4 speaking of those who followed Jesus: “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”
  • We read an amazing statement in John 14:12: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
  • A very common interpretation is that He is saying that as the Body of Christ, theywill one day do even greater thing. Leading others to salvation
  • Personally, I believe Jesus is answering the disciple, Phillip, with “the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
    • Kakeinos,– “and he, he also.” Singular, not plural.
  • This raises issue that we might be saying that a Christ-follower could be greaterthan Jesus himself. Christ followers are not greater than Jesus. (Graham preaching to 100k)
    • Greater – Meizonmeaninglarger, elder, stronger, more. Challenging the church and even his individual disciples to do things even beyond what He had done.
  • When writing to the Ephesian church, Paul (doing a greater thing?) seemed to want to encourage them to be at least as perfect or great as Jesus in Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
  • This interpretation of John 14:12 can be a scary proposition for many Christians for what it implies as to the potential power we may have in Christ that’s unrealized.
  • I have also done a study of the 35+ documented miracles of Jesus. With every miracle of Jesus, some other person/human in the Bible performed a miracle of equal or even greater proportion. (Jesus turned water-wine vs Moses turned the Red Sea to blood)
  • James 5:17 – Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly for the rain to stop and then after 3.5 yrs. he prayed and it rained.

 

  1. Jesus, Son of God, chose to walk the earth as a man with his own will.
  • Believing in something you don’t fully understand requires faith. Exercising your faith in God usually requires choosing God’s willover your own will.
  • The Bible shows evidence that Jesus had his own will or desires separate from God the Father’s will. However, Jesus consistently chose the Father’s will over his own to the point he could declare in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.”
    • In Mat 26 Jesus concludes, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
    • John 5:30, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
    • John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
  1. Jesus, Son of God chose as a man, to walk by faith.
  • Nowhere in any major translation of the Bible could I find a specific reference to the faith of Jesus. However, I believe there is evidence that Jesus had his own will,separate from God’s will that required Jesus to walk by faith just as we must walk by faith.
    • There are several scriptures that refer to God and Jesus being faithful. Faithful, in the Greek pistos, means trusty, reliable.
  • Hebrews 3:1-2 says, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.” Hebrews 11:1
  • What I propose is likely controversial in evangelical circles. In 2002, Richard B. Hays authored a book as part of the Biblical Resource Series entitled The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1–4:11. He argues that the passages in Galatians 2:16 and Romans 3:21-22 should be translated into English not as “faith in Jesus Christ” but as “faith of Jesus Christ”
  • Fits with my conviction that Jesus was a man who walked by faith.
    • Galatians 2:16 (niv), “A person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in/of Jesus Christ”
  • Some Christians are concerned that this may destroy our protestant doctrine of “justification by faith only,” but to me it does not, because there are still a myriad of passages in which Paul talks about our union with Christ, using the phrase “in Christ”
  • Romans 3:26 says, “. . . the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
  • Hebrews 11:6 – “Without Faith it is impossible to please God.”
  • Salvation based upon faith in Jesus including his faith walk to completion of God’s plan
  1. Jesus Returned to His position within the Godhead
  • Jesusprays in John 17:4-5, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work, which You have given Me to do.And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
  • In John 13:3, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God.”
  • Henry Gariepy said it well in his 100 Portraits of Christ, “Christ is called ‘the Man’ in Scripture to emphasize the fact of His humanity. He who was divine, became human. He who was God, became man. He who was infinite, became finite. He who was Spirit, became flesh. He who was with all the attributes of divinity, took upon Himself the limitations of our humanity. The incarnation, God becoming man, is in the words of C.S. Lewis ‘the grand miracle.’
  • “In our veneration of Christ, let us not lose sight that he was a Man, human as we are. Let us not wrap him in the mist of the years or veil him in the mysticism of our creeds. For Christ was a man. And what a man!”

* * *

Why is Jesus’s completion of his mission on earth as a man important?

  1. Condemned by one man’s sin, the gift of grace comes by one man’s sacrifice. Rom 5
  2. It highlights the loving humility of God our creator.
  3. It provides for man a perfect but realistic example to follow
  4. It eliminates the question of where do we draw the line as imitators. 1 Cor 11:1
  5. Like Jesus, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Phil 4:13
  6. This is an issue that is not just about doing signs and wonders and miracles but about living the life of Christ. Power to overcoming issues in our lives.
  7. We have access to the same power. Mat 10/Luke 9:1/Acts 1:8/1 Cor 5–power/authority
  8. 1 John 4:2 – “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (Sarx) is from God,”

 

  • My conclusion is that Jesus, fully the Son of God, chose to walk fully as a man while on this earth.
  • However, I do recognize Jesus’s great advantage: he was not born into sin and stayed perfectly pure, without sin and therefore had no obstacles in his relationship and communication with God. He was a perfectly clean vessel to display the Father’s power.
  1. His dedication to the will of his Father was also complete and pure.
  2. While Jesus was sinless, we are sinners. But, we still have God’s Spirit to guide, direct, and empower us to do what Jesus did and to, collectively as his body and possibly even as individuals, do as Jesus declared, even greater things!
  3. My faith, belief, and trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ does not waver based upon whether I know the true mix of God and man that Jesus was when he walked the earth.
  4. Psalm 22:3 – KJB – But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Class 5 – The Character of Jesus – DRAFT

Did Jesus occasionally resort to derogatory name calling?

  1. A Fictional Sunday Morning Story
  2. Matthew 23:1-36 – Jesus teaches the crowd and warns the Pharisees
  3. Luke 11:37-54– Jesus is duped into a Pharisees/Lawyers Interrogation
  4. What are the indications of HOW Jesus spoke?
  5. Did Jesus get Angry?
  6. Sticks and Stones
  7. What about the name calling by Jesus? Top 5
    1. Fools
    2. Blind leaders of the blind
    3. Sons of Hell
    4. Snakes
    5. Hypocrites
  8. Jesus’ use of word imagery

 “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”—Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:22

A Fictional Sunday Morning Story

  • Sunday morning and I’m at church. The service is filled with spirited worship and the pastor brings a stirring and passionate message.
  • At the conclusion, I’m standing near my respected pastor as he greets members
  • Suddenly, a strange man steps up, points a boney finger in the pastor’s face & screams,
  • “You dirty, low-down, poisonous snake! What a hypocrite! You preach like you’re whiter than the driven snow, but you’re a dirty and evil adulterer on the inside!”
  • The pastor’s jaw drops and his eyes bulge. Others step back from the threatening power
  • The man plunges on. “You are a dead man condemned to hell! How dare you, being evil, act like you can speak of good things? You’re no more than a blind fool guiding other fools right off a cliff to their destruction!”
  • The man’s face is crimson, his voice loud, raspy, and booming.
  • My heart is pounding in my chest. He points his finger at me and swings it to others
  • “You are blind fools who listen to these sweet but venomous words. They sound life-giving but they are messages filled with persecution, condemnation, and murder.” He barks at everyone, “And you ARE ALL twice as much of a son of hell as your pastor!”
  • The man then storms out, leaving me holding my breath, stunned and shaking. I look at the pastor and his face is beet red, sweat streaming from his brow, washing his face.
  • I look out the church windows to see the man still animated, yelling in the parking lot
  • I ask, “Who is that guy?” and exhale, shaking my head & conclude, “What a Raca!”
  • So, I ask, What do you think of this zealot?
  • All of the words used were the same words Jesus used to attack the Pharisees.
  • Some others who preach or teach on Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees describe it as skewering, ripping into, lambasting, tearing into

*********

  • An aspect of Jesus’ character that I love is his capacity to breathe life into the people he spoke with. Even with those who he provided physical healing for, there was often even more powerful words providing for deeper spiritual and emotional healing.
  • His speech was a demonstration of God’s Spirit and of power, displaying God’s loving goodness and righteousness and truth.
  • That is why I had to take a closer look at the Gospel episodes where Jesus interacts with the Pharisees that seem to show another side of how Jesus spoke.
  • The gospels mention twenty + occasions when the Pharisees conspired against and treated Jesus poorly. In response, Jesus strikes back with a strong language. Justified?
  • An example of righteously defending yourself? Exposing falsehoods, bigotry, injustice?
  • Now, we’ll focus on significant occasions where we find Jesus ripping the Pharisees:
  1. In Matthew 23, Jesus addresses the crowd in Jerusalem
  2. In Luke 11, Jesus is invited by a Pharisee to supper

Matthew 23:1-36

  • Jesus initially spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe,do . . .’”
  • Jesus is instructing the people to obey the Pharisees regarding the law. They’re pleased.
  • But, Jesus continues, “but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.”He then began to list all their terrible behaviors.
  • It looks to me that Jesus is using them as an example that “whosoever” does this kind of behavior is behaving badly. corrupt spiritual practices using Pharisees as an example
  • This was not news to the people. They knew of the abuses of their religious leaders. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist exposed the Jewish religious leaders in the same way.
  • Then, Jesus repeats almost exactly what he had just spoken now directed to the Pharisees. Greek word, humin,meaning “you,”
  • “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers . . . you make [converts] twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.Woe to you, blind guides” (verses 14-15)
  • So, on this occasion, Jesus is doing 2 things – he is teaching the people and warning the Pharisees. Is there any malice in what he is saying? Let’s look at the next episode

Luke 11:37-54 –

  • Jesus was approached by a ‘certain’ Pharisee—(possibly Nicodemus or Simon). This Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So, Jesus took him up on the offer
  • When Jesus arrives, he finds a room full of Pharisees and lawyers! Oh boy, what fun!
  • Impression I get is that Jesus continued to converse directly with the one Pharisee
  • Soon, he is goaded into repeating the “Woe to you” list to the Pharisees.
  • They become incensed and it says, “One of the lawyers answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also’” (verse 45).
  • Greek for reproach is hubrizo,where we get our word hubris – to behave insolently, to act or treat others shamefully, to injure others by speaking evil of them.
  • The lawyer is making it clear that at this lunch, Jesus was hurting everyone’s feelings!
  • From last week: Mat 15 His disciples say, that the Pharisees were offendedby his words
  • The Greek for offended is skandalizo,where we get our word scandal. It means to cause one displeasure, annoyance, and embarrassment. It indicates that your words have caused someone to be tripped up, or in today’s vernacular it “pushed their buttons.”
  • Now Jesus has been accused on two occasions of saying words that embarrass, shame, and hurt others. That does not seem very nice or Christ-like.
  • The Fruit of the Spirit rests upon the foundation of three things: goodness, righteousness, and truth. On these two occasions, Jesus is highlighting things that are good and right and true by contrasting it with things practiced by the Pharisees that are bad, wrong, and false.
  • I firmly believe that in God’s sight, howwe do things is as important as what we do.

What are the indications of HOW Jesus spoke?

  • There is no indication in the descriptive language that Jesus was demeaning.
  • For instance, In Luke 11:39,
    • Greek how Jesus spoke was epo, indicating that Jesus was saying or speaking.
      • In your Bible translation, there is punctuation but that is added not inspired.
    • A lawyer responds using the word lego, which may indicate a stronger language, in verse 45, ‘Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.’
    • When Jesus responded back, it simply uses the word epoagain
    • Then the description of Jesus’s language, just as the lawyer’s language, switched to legoas he began instructing the Pharisees and lawyers
    • But while Jesus was instructing, what are they doing? The language shows a marked difference. the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examineHim about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Himin something He might say, that they might accuse Him.”
  • The Greek for “to assail Him vehemently” likely very animated and yelling
  • Nowhere do we ever see this kind of descriptive language for how Jesus spoke.
  • What about how Jesus spoke? I find 3 categories of language Jesus used:
  1. Descriptive language, i.e. “Whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones”
  2. Plainly speaking, i.e. “They say, and do not do—they bind heavy burdens”
  3. Name Calling, i.e. “Fools”; “Blind leaders of the blind”; “Sons of hell” etc.
  • For the first two categories above, if what was being spoken holds to the foundation of the Fruit of the Spirit, then what Jesus said represents what is good and right and true. Then we ask, how is he saying it?Anger and intended as insults to exact revenge?
  • Earlier, I touched on a few words in the Greek used to describe howJesus spoke. I have a list off 16 Greek words most often used to describe how people spoke in the gospels.
    1. Epo:Say—to speak, say, bid
    2. Lego: I Tell You—to say, to speak
    3. Apanggello: Declare—to bring tidings
    4. Keleuo: Command—to command, to order, direct
    5. Diastellomai: Charge—admonish
    6. Boao: Cry Out—to raise a cry of joy or pain
    7. Keleuma: Order—an order, command, or a stimulating cry
    8. Erizo: Quarrel—to wrangle, engage in strife
    9. Kraugazo: Cry out—to cry out, to shout
  • Anakrazo: Raise a cry—from the depth of the throat, with an element of fear
  • Krazo: Cry aloud—to cry out aloud, speak with a loud voice
  • Enecho: Assail—to be held, entangled, to be engaged, quarrel
  • Deinos: Vehemently—terribly, grievously, vehemently
  • Prosphoneo: Called out—to call to, to address by calling out, to summon
  • Epiphoneo: Shouted—to call out to
  • Stenazo: a sigh—to groan (with grief, grudge)
  • The words used to describe Jesus’s language indicates that Jesus said, spoke,taught, declared, warned, told, called, exhorted,advised, directed, commanded, and occasionally spoke using a loud voice.
  • It was recorded that Jesus did not ever (but once) do any of the following: shout,yell, curse, swear,scream, quarrel, or assail vehemently.
    1. Only once did Jesus shout or cry out—boaomeaning to raise a cry of joy or pain. This was recorded in Mark 15:34 when Jesus cried out in agony from the cross.
    2. Jesus raised his voice (krazo) on several occasions while teaching the multitude in order to be heard by the people. Also, when he “yielded up the ghost” at his death.
    3. Jesus is never described as shouting (keleuma) an order, command, or cry, but he will- 1 Thes 4:16: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout
  • We find that the Gospel description of how Jesus spoke is consistent with the prophecy in Isaiah 42:1-4 that Jesus quoted in Matthew 12:18-19: “He will not quarrel (erizo) nor cry out (kraugazo), nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.”
  • In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus was never described as having quarreled (erizo) or to have angrily cried out (kraugazo) or trying to stir uprising in the streets
  • Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” It goes on – “He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”
  • Prophetic word indicates Jesus never spoke just to defend himself, never acted or spoke with intention to be harsh or violent, nor did he ever say anything to deceive anyone.

Did Jesus get Angry?

  • In and of itself we know that anger is not wrong or a sin. “Be ye angry and sin not” (Ephesians 4:26 kjv).
  • Anger is an important part of our emotional makeup. A time and place for anger.
  • How many time was Jesus described as being angry? Only 1 time found in Mark 3:5
  • Mark 3:1-5: “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward.’ Then He said to them, ‘Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”
  • The Pharisees looked to trap Jesus to accuse him of sinning but Jesus turn the tables on the Pharisees – yes, it is lawful to do good, even on the Sabbath!
  • Of all the harsh words to destroy Jesus by the Pharisees, it’s when they refused to speak
  • The account says that Jesus was angry and grieved. painful disappointment by Jesus
  • The Greek word for grieved is sullupeo, meaning to affect with grief together.
  • I love this episode: 1. Identifies Jesus in his humanity as experiencing anger. 2. It only describes him this one time as being angry. 3. I love the example he set of what to do.
  • He didn’t try to defend himself or fight back but did the right thing, God’s healing.

Jesus Loved Life

  • Hymn, “Morning by morning new mercies I see.” This is how Jesus lived out his life on earth even in the midst of the great pain and suffering of mankind. Jesus didn’t walk this earth depressed, sullen and angry. He walked the earth filled with and bearing the fruit of God’s Spirit.
  • Jesus experienced all the emotions we experience. I am convinced that Jesus was able to take any emotion and turn it back to exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Even at the most difficult times, we have access to the same Holy Spirit. Our challenge is to do things as Jesus did them, which is often contrary to how the world does things and often contrary to how we feel like behaving. The way the world responds doesn’t work. Jesus came to show us a better way.
  • Paul described this in Philippians 4 – I know how to be abased, to abound, to be full and to be hungry, to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
  • Okay, it’s about how he spoke. But what about all the name-calling?
  • James 3:5-6 – See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

Sticks and Stones

  • The Christian Recorder, March 1862, first published the “old adage”: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me.
  • It has proven a quaint and possibly effective saying to deflect intended pain
  • The fact of the matter is that it, can be hurtful to the point of being devastating.
  • words can often hurt more deeply and for much longer than a physical wound.
  • Jesus, Matthew 15 identified how our mouth reflects the evil of our heart. In, Jesus says, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
    • Greek for mouth is stoma. also means “the edge of the sword.” It is considered a derivative of the word tomoterosmeaning “sharper” Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword”
  • Our mouths can be like the edge of a sharp sword, cutting and inflicting pain.

So, what about the name calling by Jesus?

  • As I read through the accounts of Jesus’s exchanges with the Pharisees, most of the language that may be considered offensive is actually descriptive of the Pharisees’ spiritual state. But, what about the name calling Jesus does? Seems excessive
  • Do we have license to angrily throw ugly names at those who have been mean to us?
  • Others refer to “irreverently skewering the celebrity pastors of his day.” Is that okay?
  • Here are the top five irreverent slurs Jesus makes against the Pharisees:

1.Fools

  • Jesus teaches in Matthew 23:17 that anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fires of hell.But Jesus repeatedly declared to the Pharisees, “You blind fools!” (Matthew 23:17 niv), Jesus was dealing with the condition of the heart.
  • Example: Jesus declared in Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged,” he was not trying to take the use of the word “judge” out of our vocabulary,
  • Jesus’s declaration of the danger of condemning another person as a “godless idiot” does not take the word fool or foolish out of an appropriate use in our language.
  • In Matthew 7:26 Jesus teaches, “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (niv).
  • Jesus is not condemning those who practice this behavior but declaring it for what it is. We all know when we, or others have done something foolish.
  • Jesus is simply telling the Pharisees that they are foolishly heading in a direction that will lead them and others to destruction.

2. Blind Leaders of the Blind

  • In Matthew 15:14, Jesus teaches, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
  • To call someone who can see with their eyes, blind, could be taken as offensive
  • By Jewish tradition someone living with an infirmity such as blindness was assumed to have had some sin in their life. They were somewhat spiritual outcasts.
  • What was Jesus saying “Let them alone.” Imagine Jesus dismissively waving his hand and telling his disciples, “They’re losers. Don’t bother with them.”
  • However, the Greek word for this phrase is aphiemito, which is very often translated as “forgive” or to send someone away because you have forgiven their debt.
    • Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
  • Jesus calls the Pharisees blind men on a number of occasions. Is it intended to be mean spirited and hurtful?
    • Imagine: In your home drinking a cup of coffee while peacefully looking out the window at your garden. You love your garden. Suddenly, a man comes into your yard and starts stumbling through your garden, crushing the delicate plantings and decimating all your work. You explode in anger and run out to throw the man off your property. But, when you approach the man you discover that he is blind. He is lost and struggling to find his way. Your outrage and anger dissipates and compassion takes over.
  • Why would we consider that Jesus would be acting in any other way? When Jesus confronts the Pharisees with truth, they are simply too blind to see the truth. Even as they rant and rave at Jesus, he is instructing his disciples to forgive them.
  • In Matthew 15:14 Jesus is also elaborating on the heightened risk the Pharisees are taking because their inability to see their own danger also leading others to destruction.
  1. Sons of hell:
  • Jesus (Son of Man, Son of God) declares in Matthew 23:15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
  • Wow!Calling someone a Son of hell? And followers twice as much?
  • So, how are the Pharisees sons of hell? They were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men.
  • The Greek for Jesus’s phrase “son of hell” in Matthew 23:15 is huios geenes. Jesus is talking about Gehenna, the valley of rotting animal corpses and child sacrifice outside of Jerusalem. A place of filthy corruption.
  • The bitter existence of those who have made themselves the gatekeepers of heaven. We become sons of hell when we devote our lives to locking people out of heaven. The Pharisees believed that they held the keys to who was granted into heaven and who was condemned to hell.
  • What the Pharisees provided was the stark contrast between Christ’s witness of God’s true love and their counter witness.
  • Sons of hell are those wholock others out of heaven.
  • But, why are the converts “twice as much a son of hell” as the Pharisees?
  • Here, Jesus seems to go beyond calling out the Pharisees for their real sinister intentions but seems to attack their followers who have somehow been duped into being twice as bad as the Pharisees. What was Jesus saying?
    • At that time, when the Pharisees heard of a Gentile who was of wealth and some power to convert to Judaism, they would travel great distances to bring that person’s family into the fold. Not out of concern for bringing them into a right relation with God but to continue to grow their own power.
  • Jesus was not saying that the followers of the Pharisees are twice as bad but that this is a further condemnation of the Pharisees. These poor converts were dead in their sin without faith in the one true God, therefore they were living as sons of hell. Then, they were given the hope of entering into the family of the living God to be made Sons of God. However, they soon would find themselves lost again to the burden of the law and the horrible legalism imposed upon them by the Pharisees and now a second time made sons of hell.
  • How horrible it would be to be physically, emotionally, or spiritually trapped in some way. Then when you thought you had been rescued, you discover that your rescuer has trapped you under even worse circumstances. Taliban/ISIS fighters who will likely be more brutal than your previous captors. You are twice a captor of sons of hell.

4. Snakes—brood of vipers

  • In old western movies, there was nothing more derogatory than to spit on the ground and growl, “You’re a no good, low down, dirty snake!” The snake conjures up the worst of negative images.
  • Is this what Jesus was doing and saying? “No good, low down, dirty snakes?”
  • But as we have seen before, Jesus’s use of certain language is not about retaliation
  • Jesus doesn’t just use snake; he calls them a brood of vipers.
  • We use this term for a group of bad and nefarious people.
  • What would the first century Jews have heard with a “brood of vipers”?
    • Hidden in a safe, innocent, setting is something that is prepared to strike out when you least expect it. This was exactly what Jewish leaders had done to the prophets and what they were planning to do to Jesus. In Luke 11, they were trying to lureJesus in and trap him with his own words -like a brood of vipers who lie in wait amongst sticks and branches waiting to pounce on their victim. Paul in Acts 28:3 – “But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.”
  • Luke 11:53-54 says, “The scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.” Brood of Vipers

5. Hypocrites

  • Our modern ideas of hypocrisy come directly from Jesus’s critique of religious leaders.
  • Hypocrites hupokriteswere actors on a stage. The reference became that of people who assume a pose or play a role. Did not have the sting that it has today.
  • One of the great theaters in Jesus’s day was located in the town of Sepphoris, only a few miles away from Nazareth. Likely Jesus was familiar with stage and hypokritai.
  • Though Christians are so often accused of hypocrisy, it was Jesus who first critiqued religious hypocrisy. He used the term for role-playing. The Pharisees were just playing roles and reciting lines that did not reflect their real beliefs—the inner person vs the outer behavior. The condition of the heart is the primary focus of Jesus’s teaching.
  • People who’re sincere in their convictions but fail aren’t hypocrites, they’re human.
  • Hypocrites are those who don’t really believe in what they profess to be.
  • Jesus addressed much of his teaching about the true nature of goodness to the Pharisees. We think of ourselves as superior to these hypocrites, but in reality, they were the most admired spiritual leaders of their day.
  • The core of hypocrisy is deception, mean-spirited and selfish, although sometimes unconscious, deception. Sometimes even we believe in the masks we wear.
  • John Ortberg Who Is This Man?“It is ironic to me that perhaps no religion has produced more hypocrites than Christianity. It is also painful to me—there is so much hypocrisy in me. It is both convicting and comforting that no one has ever diagnosed and denounced hypocrisy with more power—no one has ever even offered the hypocrite more hope—than Christ himself.

Jesus’s use of word imagery

  • In today’s world, there is so much imagery that fills our lives that mere “word images” may not be as relevant. “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
  • We are very visual creatures.
  • Word imagery back then was even more powerful.
  • Is it surprising that so much of what was captured of what Jesus said was in parables, stories, and word images? This is what stuck in the listener’s mind.
  • Pastor makes the case that no sermon should be longer than 13 min – Sermon on Mount.
  • But, should we really believe all that was captured and documented of Jesus’s sermon?
  • Up on that mount I imagine that Jesus interacted with the crowd and the myriad of issues Jesus taught on were relative to things people in the crowd were dealing with and had questions about.
  • Jesus’s teaching was powerful, What was captured were the stories, parables, and powerful word images that were seared into the listener’s mind.

* * *

  • So, was Jesus occasionally a vindictive name-caller? No, Jesus was the Son of Man that cared enoughto love those who hated him, who would not shy away from speaking in ways that were full of God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth.
  • Jesus spoke in ways that confronted the Pharisees and attempted to turn them from their evil ways. He spoke using powerful imagery so those listening could readily understand, be challenged, and not easily forget.
  • Why did Jesus choose to use such words as fools, blind leaders of the blind, sons of hell, brood of vipers, and hypocrites?
  • The word imagery was so powerful that it would shake the listener, stick in their minds and hearts, and affect change for the good of those he was addressing.
  • There is no need to impose some anger or malice onto Jesus’s words to the Pharisees.
  • We do because our instinct in the natural man is to strike back at those who hurt us. But based on Jesus’s own teachings, why would we expect him to act anything like what we are naturally inclined to do?
  • Jesus was saying exactly the right things. Though they are hard words, they are words intended to provide relevant imagery that would righteously shake the Pharisees from their self-righteousness to God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth—ultimately, for God’s glory, for their own good, and for the good of those they influenced.
  • Just watched a You-tube video of a street evangelist. He provided an excellent example of speaking God’s truth, dealing with hard things but reflecting the full Fruit of The Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Cliffe Knechtle