Go ahead and turn in your bible to I Timothy 3. We won’t linger long this morning. I wouldn’t call this a sermon. A sermonette rather. Yet I still intend to challenge you today. To get your wheels turning. By the end of this little sermonette, I want you to know the real Jesus. The one we’ve read about, sung about, prayed to, and worshipped this morning. It is so very important that you know the real Jesus.

There are two major holidays that we could call, with very few caveats, Christian holidays. They are Christmas and Easter. And contrary to what your school teachers may have told you – the Roman Catholic Church did not replace pagan holidays that occurred during these times with Christian holidays. This point isn’t really the focus of my little Easter Sermonette, so I don’t want to dive too deeply. Perhaps if you want to discuss it further this Wednesday at bible study we can, but the overwhelming evidence suggests that the early church knew the day when Jesus was conceived, born, and died. Thus, their selection of both Christmas and Easter were not arbitrary or a papering over of pagan holidays- but actually down to the day celebrations.

In our church we virtually ignore every other holiday. Why? Because when we are here on a Sunday, we are stepping into the shadow of the Kingdom that is coming. For a brief few hours, we get to experience what the New Kingdom will be like… at least in a shadowy, incomplete, and imperfect way. I can confidently say that we will not celebrate Memorial Day, Independence Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day or any other holiday of this sort in that New Kingdom. And while I am not as confident to say that we will definitely celebrate Christmas and Easter, I can say for certain that we will celebrate the meaning of these holidays in the New Kingdom. That is why every Sunday we celebrate Christmas and Easter – because every Sunday is a celebration of God the Triune, the gospel, and the hope of the New Kingdom.

At Christmas time, we focus primarily on the humanity of Christ. This makes sense, since he was incarnated and born on this date. He took on a human nature. He became all God and All man. Why did Jesus have to become a man? Well because the only way for Him to become a true representative for us – as Adam was for us – was to become a human Himself. A good deal of the early church councils and creeds were aimed at protecting the true gospel against heresies that threatened the teaching of Christ being truly human.

But at Easter, we focus on the deity of Christ. That Christ took on a human nature without sacrificing any of His Divine Nature. Unlike some interpretations of Philippians 2, Christ did not empty Himself of His Divinity so that He could make room for His humanity. Instead, He emptied Himself of His reputation. He humbled Himself by adding human nature to His divine. Subtraction by humble addition.

But, why do you suppose that God’s Messiah, His Savior of His people, would need to be truly God? Could God not find any human being able to save His people? Was there no human capable of being a second representative? I think the Old Testament alone proves that conclusively. The only being faithful to God in the Old Testament… was God. Do you think that mankind got better after the Israelites were subjugated to various other super powers? If the most pious people of their day were the Pharisees, and Jesus said that their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, what hope did humans have for another representative?

Not only that, but then you get into Paul’s letters and realize that to be a descendant of Adam means you are inherently unable to represent humanity, since he was your representative, and thus you are guilty along with him. But even if you were to somehow not be a descendant of Adam – you could never represent God’s people. Why? Our sin. Our sin can only be borne by us. A human, even if he were somehow not in Adam’s line, could at best bear the wrath of God against one other human. He would expire and be eternally destroyed long before any other human being would be atoned for. A perfect human who never sinned could conceivably atone for 1 other person’s sin. Trading their place with one other. But God desired to save all His people. Jesus said that as many as the Father had given Him, He would save. He would not lose any. Paul said that just as all were dead in Adam, many would live in Christ.

This is why our Catechism question #23 says that our Redeemer must be truly God because in His divine nature His obedience to the law and suffering for His people’s sin would be perfect and effective for them. That He would be able to endure the full righteous anger of God against sin – and overcome death. In order for God’s people to truly have their sin paid for and to be rescued from the doom that awaited them for their sin, they had to have their new representative conquer sin and death for them so it wouldn’t all end at their death. And they would need their new representative’s righteousness to be accepted by God. No mere human… even if they had never sinned… could do that. Whoever God’s Messiah was… He had to be God Himself.

But how do we know that Jesus is God? Paul says in I Timothy 3

16 And we all agree,[a] our religion contains amazing revelation:[b]

He[c] was revealed in the flesh,

vindicated by the Spirit,[d]

seen by angels,

proclaimed among Gentiles,

believed on in the world,

taken up in glory.

The word vindicated here; is the word we use for “righteous.” That Jesus was proven to be righteous by the Spirit. He was proven to not be a liar or a blasphemer… but to be telling the truth. How? By the resurrection.

What exactly did Jesus claim of Himself that he needed to be vindicated for?

- IN ADDITION to what He said about His own resurrection

- That He fulfills the law (Matthew 5:17-20)

- That He is the Son of God (John 10:36)

- The He and the Father are One (John 10:30)

- That He always did what was pleasing to God (John 8:29)

- That He is the Great I AM (John 8:58)

If Jesus can predict His own resurrection – then we immediately gain confidence to believe everything else He claimed He was.

And Jesus, unequivocally did NOT claim to be a mere –prophet, good man, seer, defender of the oppressed, soldier for equality, voice for the weak, or an example to follow –

No one has any problem believing in these kinds of Jesuses.

First of all, it is historically and archeologically irresponsible to not believe that a human being lived during the first century named Jesus. He was from Nazareth. He was born in Bethlehem. He lived much of his adult life in Galilee. He was baptized by John the Baptist and crucified by the Roman government. To deny this is to ignore or disagree with several trustworthy historical accounts of the time.

Second, no one has any issue with Jesus being a prophet. Even the greatest prophet. Pagans, atheists, Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, and your neighbor down the street – they all believe he was a great prophet and a good man. Oh they are fine with him being a religious and pious person for sure. What a shining example to follow.

Third, no one has any problem believing Jesus was a defender of the oppressed, a solider for equality, and a voice for the weak. In fact, Jesus has become the mascot of various causes from abortion, to trans rights, to the LGBTQ+ agenda, to illegal immigration, to racism and partiality, and various other seemingly counter biblical causes. Why is Jesus their mascot? Because, according to their understanding of the Jesus of the bible, Jesus fought for equality. He loved all equally. He only spoke harshly to those who held strict religious beliefs. He worked to free people from the bigotry against various groups of people exercising their right to love whoever they wanted. Jesus healed women with issues of blood which is basically helping her with an operation which is be used to abort a baby today. See! Jesus is for our cause. He gets us. He wants us to be happy!

My friends… no one has any problem believing all of this about Jesus. Until when? Until He claims to be God. That is something that they cannot abide. As long as Christ is a mere human… a good human… a loving human… no one has any problem. But Jesus did not claim to be a mere human.

He claimed to be God. He assigned to Himself all the qualities, characteristics, attributes, and responsibilities of God the Father. He said – I and the Father are one.

Furthermore, to the chagrin of those who use him as a mascot for their ungodly lifestyles – He claims to have exclusive authority to sort and separate His sheep and the goats. The sheep He will guide into everlasting life and the goats to everlasting death. That sounds fairly judgy doesn’t it? He doesn’t seem to be accepting of all people does He? In fact…

In the gospels alone, we find examples of Jesus calling out sin – and not just the sin of the religious elite. He called out the sin of harlots, tax collectors, pagans, thieves, murderers, fishermen, zealots, and even greedy poor people. He told people to pay their taxes. He told people to stop worrying and fretting over what they would eat or what they would wear. He told people to love their enemies and pray for those who oppress them – not fight against them or do anything they could to break free. He claimed to be the Lord that people in the last day would come to seeking heaven and He would be the one to decide where they went. And He even reveals the standard by which He will judge. Did He know them? Not did they know Him… but did HE know THEM. But that isn’t the only standard. Did they keep His law? This seems like two things but they are actually one. Only those whom He knows keep His law. Those who do not keep His law, are those He does not know.

Jesus as God, the second person of the Godhead, the Lord of all, the Righteous Judge, the Holy One of God, the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days – This Jesus is a Jesus that no one wants. Why?

Because if He is God… then all must bow the knee and confess that He is God.

But secular humanists, pagans, and atheists are not the only people who do not want to think of Jesus as God.

Liberal Christians squirm under this, claiming that Christ’ deity was only a later addition and that the early church did not believe it in actuality. But Ignatius, Polycarp, and Aristides all confess it to be true and they all wrote before AD 125. The latest of which is less than 35 years after the death of John the last remaining apostle.

But in many ways liberal Christians are the black sheep… the fringe of Christendom- a group that many Christians consider to be at best woefully deceived but in all likelihood – not believers at all. But even in OUR circles. Even in Conservative Baptist Evangelical Churches… some do not want Jesus to be God!

They are fine with Jesus being their Savior. They are fine that Jesus had to be God in order to rescue them…but they have absolutely no desire for Jesus to be their Lord. But my friends – Easter… The Resurrection proves that He is both. Only God Himself could claim what Jesus claimed. And what did Jesus say? If you want to be my disciple, you must forsake all your earthly goods and follow me. You don’t get to be saved by Christ if you are not also committed to living for Christ and Christ alone. There is no such Jesus who is Savior only. And you don’t get to have Jesus in two stages. He is either Savior and Lord or He is neither your Lord nor your Savior. Why? Because He is Lord of all no matter what you believe. No matter what you think. No matter what you pray or do. He is Lord of all things. A position given to Him by God the Father. And all men will bow and confess that Christ is Lord.

This is why the gospel invitation to accept Christ as Lord or invite Him into your heart is hopelessly flawed. Because He already is Lord and He needs no invitation to come into your heart. In fact, He is the one who puts repentance and faith into the hearts of His people. He is the one who puts His Spirit into the hearts of His people. The world didn’t invite Him to come as a baby. The world didn’t ask for Him to be raised from the dead. And the world isn’t wanting Him to come again. And yet all of those will be.

Jesus’ resurrection is a rebuke to every fake version of Jesus. Every deficient form of Him is put to rest by the fact that He endured the cross, died, was buried, descended into hell, and rose the third day. With his death, burial, descent, and resurrection He declared victory over the sin, death, Satan, and has effectively established His New Kingdom. To the extent that upon His ascension he sat down at the right hand of God. And He will only rise from that throne when it is time for Him to consummate His Kingdom.

So my friends – if your image of Jesus is something deficient – let this Easter be the one that you reject that idol that you have made. Do not worship the facsimile. Worship the real Jesus. Have true faith in the real Jesus.

That true faith is described quite well in the Athanasian Creed, written around AD 400. I’ll only include a portion of it this morning – but here is what you must confess and believe if you are sure to have true faith from God.

“Now this is the true faith:

That we believe and confess

that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,

is both God and human, equally.

He is God from the essence of the Father,

begotten before time;

and he is human from the essence of his mother,

born in time;

completely God, completely human,

with a rational soul and human flesh;

equal to the Father as regards divinity,

less than the Father as regards humanity.

Although he is God and human,

yet Christ is not two, but one.

He is one, however,

not by his divinity being turned into flesh,

but by God's taking humanity to himself.

He is one,

certainly not by the blending of his essence,

but by the unity of his person.

For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,

so too the one Christ is both God and human.

He suffered for our salvation;

he descended to hell;

he arose from the dead;

he ascended to heaven;

he is seated at the Father's right hand;

from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

At his coming all people will arise bodily

and give an accounting of their own deeds.

Those who have done good will enter eternal life,

and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:

one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.”

So, my question to you today is… do you have the right Jesus?