Says Who? Says Jesus, the Son of God!

4th Sunday after Epiphany, 1/28/24 Mark 1:21-28 Says Who? Says Jesus, the Son of God! I. His authority is in his divine words. II. His authority is in his divine actions. I realize that about half of you aren’t able to connect with what I’m about to say, but please bear with me for a minute. I think I can count on one hand the number of experts in my life for the first 20 years or more of it. There was a medical expert. His name was Dr. Darrell Angus. As far as I know he brought me into this world. He was my pediatrician. He was also my surgeon, stitching me up at least 3 times before I was 12 years old. He was my primary care physician, prescribing penicillin on what seemed to be an annual basis. He also was my parents’ doctor, and, for a while, my grandmother’s geriatric doctor. So, when Dr. Angus shared his medical advice with us, it was as good as gold. He was one of the experts in my life. As a family, we also had an expert auto mechanic. He was the guy. He fixed or replaced everything on our family vehicle from worn out wiper blades to a slipping transmission. If we had auto trouble, we called him. He was another one of the experts in my life. And our family, like the others in our neighborhood, had a “guy” whom we would call if my father couldn’t make the home repair himself. Plumbing, electrical, furnace—no matter. Same guy. He was an expert. In school, if I wanted to learn about some specific topic, there was a set of encyclopedias on a shelf in the back of the classroom. It didn’t matter that this set was published seven years earlier and was obsolete on countless subjects the moment it was printed. If the encyclopedia stated it, it was as good as gold. One of the experts in my life. How different things are today! Some for the better and some for the worse. For the better, because we now have the latest and most accurate knowledge available to us at the click of a computer key. The amount of information available to us is incredible if not overwhelming. But it’s also for the worse, because the information we’re receiving is often at odds. One source says one thing, and another source says something different. And it makes us spend a lot of time and effort trying to know which information is reliable. That’s difficult enough when you’re trying to get the best information on something such as a health issue in your life. But imagine how exasperating that would be if you came to worship this morning and faced the same difficulty. Opposing spiritual viewpoints from experts and you don’t know what to believe or think. That’s the situation facing the Jewish people of Jesus’ days on earth as they attended synagogue for worship each Saturday. I imagine they walked home after worship, pondering what “expert” opinions they had heard, not liking them, and stubbornly stating, “Says who?” But not on this day. They listened to Jesus speak to them, and as they did, they were struck with his authority. He was a bona fide expert. So, on this day, as they walked home and pondered what they had heard, if they asked themselves, “Says who?” The answer was, “Jesus, the Son of God.” And that’s our answer to the same question this morning. In a world of conflicting information from self-proclaimed experts, pay attention to this information. This is the word of Jesus, and he has divine authority. I. I saw it the other day. It was a warning being aired on television about the “information” I would likely be receiving between now and this November. Just because I might think I’m seeing a national expert telling me something doesn’t mean anything. That’s because, through the use of artificial intelligence, it’s possible to make any human being look like they’re telling you anything, when they really aren’t. The Jews of Jesus’ days on earth obviously had never even thought about artificial intelligence. They were spared from any concerns about it. But they faced all sorts of “fake” spiritual messages from Jewish authorities. In those days, anyone who was a rabbi or a scribe—that is, someone who copied what the Hebrew scriptures stated and their interpretations of it—was considered to be an expert. But they were prone to sharing their “expert opinions” on insignificant details of Jewish life. For instance, they argued about how many steps you could walk on the Sabbath day without violating it. Or, every Jewish person knew that the Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and all work must cease at sundown, but when does the sun actually go down? How dark does it have to get before I need to close my business and put an end to making money that day? So, the Jewish people walked away from worship at their synagogues too often wondering what to believe, think, and do. The best they could do was to select one particular Jewish spiritual “expert” and try to find some direction for their daily lives. Pitiful, isn’t it? But on this day as recorded in Mark 1 along comes Jesus. He was invited to speak and immediately the people noticed something different. And you and I aren’t surprised. Of course they did! This wasn’t just some Jewish expert speaking to them. This was none other than the eternal Son of God, whether they realized that truth or not. He was different! Here was an expert! And they heard the Son of God speaking the very words of God. I wonder how much that truth impresses you. Think about it. Instead of hearing human opinions about the word of God, they heard the very word of God. And that word had saving power, just as it does today. It impacted their hearts and lives. Here was an expert with authority! And I can’t help but imagine that having spoken God’s word to them, he helped them apply it to themselves. In other words, he spoke clear, convicting law, and clear, healing gospel. We know from other verses of the Bible that Jesus’ daily message was to repent and believe the good news. That’s nothing other than proclaiming law and gospel. Calling people to repent of their sins and believing that they are forgiven through the work of their Savior. That’s the only message that saves sinners. That’s authority! Says who? Says Jesus the Son of God. His authority is in his divine words. II. Read through the gospels and notice how often Jesus speaks with authority to someone and then he does something which proves his authority. That’s what happened here in the synagogue of Capernaum. Listen to it once again, “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!’ ‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.’” In the world of sports, every winning streak eventually ends with a loss. But in the world of salvation history, Jesus is still on a winning streak. He defeated Satan every time he faced him, and he always will. At the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus went into the desert and was tempted by Satan forty straight days. We know what the final three temptations on the fortieth day were. And he crushed Satan every time. Here in Mark 1, he meets one of Satan’s demons head on. And it happened right there in the synagogue. It seems like an unlikely spiritual battlefield for a demon—a place where the word of God was being read and shared. And notice the unlikely battle posture of the demon. He marches into battle with Jesus, recognizing exactly who he is (the Son of God), what Jesus’ work is, and what the ultimate outcome of his battle with Jesus will be—the eternal destruction of Satan’s kingdom. Imagine going into a battle knowing you can’t win it! But that’s what happens when Satan is confronted with authority of Jesus. And with six words in English, the battle is over and Jesus is the victor—another win under our Savior’s belt. “Be quiet! Come out of him!” The demon did his best to resist the authority of Jesus but quickly realized he was no match for the Son of God. And that’s exactly the Savior the entire world of sinners needs—one who wins the victory over Satan. One who wins for us every time because we so often lose. One with authority, even over Satan. Be quiet! Come out of him!” Says who? Says Jesus, the Son of God. His authority is in his divine actions. We are God’s people by faith in Jesus. And, as such, we’re thrilled with the authority of Jesus. Here’s what Jesus says. This is what we believe. Of course we’ll listen to what he says. Until it doesn’t align with what we’re thinking and feeling at the moment. I know that Jesus forbids me from judging the thoughts and attitudes of others, but that’s what I want to do. I know Jesus requires me to be patient and kind towards my neighbor, but my neighbor is on my last nerve and I’m going to let him have it. I know I pray in the Lord’s Prayer for Jesus to forgive my trespasses as I forgive others, but I won’t forgive that person, at least not right now. Says who? Says Jesus. But that’s not what I want to admit right now. That’s when I need to hear this from Jesus, “My word cuts deeply. It even exposes the sins in your heart and mind. So, don’t go thinking that outward goodness is all I require. Instead, admit the sins of your heart. Confess them.” And when we take those words of Jesus to heart, then he shares these words with us, “Though your sins are as red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool (Is. 1:18). Forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Washed clean and made pure, day after day. And now we don’t face his judgment, but his blessing—eternal life with him. His saving power and authority live in us by faith in him. And now he tells us to go and share that saving power and authority with others. Says who? Says Jesus, your Savior and your Lord. Amen.

How Can You See the Glory of Jesus Today?

Last Sunday after Epiphany, The Transfiguration of Our Lord, 2/4/24 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 How Can You See the Glory of Jesus Today? I. Not on your own II. Only through the gospel What’s your definition of “glory”? I Googled it and found this: “A high renown or honor won by notable achievements. A magnificence or great beauty.” That’s somewhat helpful, but still slightly nebulous. What I mean is that it’s rather subjective. For instance, if you’re an avid fan of pro wrestling, you might see glory where some of us—maybe most of us—don’t and can’t. Likewise, our definitions of musical, dramatical, academic, and athletic glory might all differ, and perhaps widely. So, what does glory look like? Perhaps you have rarely, if ever, pondered that question and the answer doesn’t really matter to you. But you’re here in worship today celebrating the Transfiguration of our Lord, one of the most, if not THE most glorious event in the life of Jesus here on earth. And, if you ponder that event, it makes you wonder just what that glory involved. We have some descriptions of it in the accounts of Jesus’ Transfiguration. We just heard and read Mark’s. But it still leaves us wondering just what that glory was. What did seeing the glory of the Son of God look like? And, if you were Peter, James, or John—the three disciples who witnessed it—imagine what it was like to come down from that mountain and not being able to share what you had seen until after Jesus had risen from the dead. Recall that there was some serious disciple-rivalry going on that reared its ugly head at the most unfortunate times. Imagine how difficult it was for these three men, when confronted with the one-upmanship of another disciple, not to shout back, “O yeah? Well, I was on the Mount of Transfiguration, and I saw Jesus in all his glory as the Son of God.” My point is this: seeing Jesus in all his glory was a real feather in the caps of these three disciples. If you had been one of the other nine disciples, wouldn’t you have wanted to see it for yourself? Of course you would! And we still do today. As modern followers of Jesus, which of us wouldn’t want a Mount of Transfiguration experience like this one? We all would and more times than just once in our lives. In fact, when we need it most, when we’re not so sure about how Jesus feels about us, we’d love the chance to see his glory. But how? How can you see the glory of Jesus today? The easy answer is, “You can’t until you get to heaven.” But the Apostle Paul would argue with that answer. And he does so here in these words of our text from 2 Corinthians 4. Did you catch what his answer was? Maybe not. So, let’s ask our question again, “How can you see the glory of Jesus today?” May the Holy Spirit lead us to see the glorious answer through his word this morning. I. If there are two children in the room and one tells the other, “I have something special, but you can’t see it” what’s likely to happen? The other child isn’t going to rest until he or she gets to see what the other child is hiding. It will nearly drive them nuts, and that’s exactly what the other child wants—just to aggravate the other, to have the upper hand in what might be a very small matter. While the Bible states clearly that no one can see God and live because he is holy and we are sinful, we want the experience of seeing his glory. We want to see the representation of his goodness, love, mercy, grace, omnipotence, the fact that he is above all things, that evil cannot touch him. Who wouldn’t want to see that glory? But listen to what Paul tells us, “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It doesn’t sound as if Paul is referring to us—the people worshipping here this morning or listening to this sermon virtually. He refers to the god of this age blinding the minds of unbelievers. The god of this age is none other than Satan. And we know that he has blinded the minds of unbelievers. We’re sad about that, but we get it. Non-Christians can’t see that glory on their own and no one can. But that’s not what our world thinks. The people of this world have convinced themselves that they don’t need to see the glory of Jesus. They have their own visions of glory. They see glory in what they can become and be by themselves. They probably wouldn’t say it this way, but they make themselves into their own god. Their god is what they want him to be and who they think he is. They reserve for themselves the right to determine what spiritual truth is, if there is any such thing. Or, they gouge out their spiritual eyes completely and claim that god doesn’t exist. In such people, the god of this age has succeeded in reaching his goal of inflicting spiritual blindness. They cannot see “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” How pitiful! How damning! But again, thanks be to God! That’s not who we are! So, what does this mean for us? Is the Lord speaking to any of us in these words of Paul? It might not seem like it, until you take to heart this shocking truth about yourself—you came into this world as a sinner, steeped in the darkness of unbelief. You couldn’t see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. And no one can reverse that spiritual blindness on their own. And perhaps even worse, once you have seen that glory, is there a chance that unbelief could once again set in and make us spiritually blind again? It certainly could! I’m sure you know of cases where it has. And it fills you with concern and grief. II. So, back again to our initial question. How can you see the glory of Jesus today? How can you make sure you see it every day of your life here on earth until you see it fully in the presence of God in heaven? First, admit and be daily aware that you didn’t see the glory of Jesus on your own. You did nothing to see it. You can’t see it on your own. The glory of Jesus is not something you deserve to see. It’s not your right as a human being. It doesn’t happen when you rest on your own spiritual laurels. That’s a delusion of the worst kind. Your spiritual laurels don’t exist! They have nothing to do with seeing the glory of Jesus. In fact, they keep you from seeing it. Instead, as you know, seeing the glory of Jesus depends solely on the gospel. The gospel of Jesus is the solution to being blind to the glory of Jesus. That gospel is none other than the historical fact that the Son of God came to this earth in human flesh and blood to be your Savior from sin. To be that Savior, he had to live a holy life under God’s law for you as your Substitute. And he completed that work of being your Savior when he offered himself as the sacrifice for your sins on Calvary’s cross. The Holy Spirit uses that good news about Jesus as your Savior to bring you to faith in Jesus and reveal his glory to you. He is the one who called you to faith in Jesus. You didn’t decide to work faith in your own heart. You can’t! That’s something only the Holy Spirit can do. It’s a miracle every time he does it. And with that faith in Jesus, he enlightens you. He leads you to see who Jesus is and all the blessings Jesus won for you. He convinces you that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and not just some earthly prophet. He leads you to see that Jesus’ death on the cross won for you three great blessings—the blessings you need more than anything else: forgiveness for all your sins, a new life as a child of God, and eternal life in heaven. Amazing! That’s the glory of the Son of God! That’s seeing the glory of Jesus. Paul says it like this, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Notice that Paul did not state that God will make his light shine in our hearts; he stated God made his light shine in our hearts. Past tense. It’s already happened. It happened when the Holy Spirit used the gospel of Jesus to bring you to faith in Jesus. Each day of your Christian life you see the glory that Jesus reveals to you—he is your own Savior from sin. There is no greater vision than that! And that’s enough for now. That’s plenty as we sit comfortably here in worship. We’re good with the glory of Jesus we’re seeing. But is that always enough for you? Have you ever been plagued by doubt regarding your relationship with Jesus? Have you ever wished he would miraculously give you some sign from heaven, telling you what you think you need to know? Have you ever resorted to thinking that if only Jesus would appear in his glory once in a while now, more people—such as the people you’re praying for—would take him and his word seriously? Have you ever thought that more people might consider become Christian if it was a little more glorious being one? In other words, you’d be willing to climb a mountain to see the glory of Jesus and to lead others in doing the same, wouldn’t you? So would I! But we don’t need to. Instead, his glory is so easily and readily available to view. It’s right here in his word which declares who Jesus is and what he did to be your Savior. It’s in your baptism, where he made you his own dear child and put his name on you to claim you. It’s in the Lord’s Supper where Jesus gives you his very body and blood with the bread and the wine as a seal and assurance of your forgiveness and eternal life with him in heaven. Is there anything more glorious than that? Not now. Not here on earth. But fuller glory awaits you in heaven. And that’s what your all-glorious Savior has in store for you. See the glory of Jesus now and look forward to beholding it forever! Amen.