Now we worship you Jesus, God, and we marvel together with human beings across centuries and continents. We just marvel at this unusual man. We love this unusual man.

Read More

A lot of you know the CNN talk show host Larry King who has interviewed maybe more people than anyone in history.

Larry King once said his favorite question is, “Will you marry me?” …because he’s been married eight times.

He said if he could interview just one person in history that one person would be Jesus Christ.

And the one question he would ask him is, “Were you born of a virgin?”

Because that’s what history boils down to.

It’s funny how the identity of this Man, Jesus — that question — never goes away.

That’s actually what I want to talk about in this message.

There’s a question a lot of people have about Jesus inside the church and outside the church… and I’ll put it like this.

A lot of people wonder:

Why did people decide Jesus was divine and what difference does it make?

He was probably a good person

and he probably taught about love

and God

and the Golden Rule

and being a good Samaritan

and turning the other cheek

and all that good stuff…

But the idea that he was divine, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity just sounds kind of weird.

It makes Christianity exclude people who can’t believe that stuff about Jesus.

Isn’t it true all that stuff about Jesus being the Son of God actually got made up centuries after his death?

Isn’t it true when people wrote the Gospels they would take passages from the Old Testament and kind of twist them around to make it sound like they were predicting Jesus?

These are really important questions.

What’s fascinating is if you read through the Gospels, you see the question of Jesus’ identity puzzled people in that day just like it does in our day.

For example, one time John the Baptist was in prison. John had baptized Jesus, expected great things from him, but Jesus didn’t do what John thought he would.

So John from prison sends followers to ask Jesus a poignant question.

Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? — Luke 7:19

Jesus replies in a very unusual way. He says to them:

Go back and report to John what you see and hear. — Luke 7:22

This is odd.

He deliberately doesn’t say yes or no. It’s kind of like he’s saying, “You’re going to have to think more deeply about this question.”

There’s a similar conversation in the gospel of John…

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. — John 10:22-23

These details are loaded.

The Festival of Dedication is what we call Hanukkah. It’s when Israel would celebrate many years earlier that they had won their independence from Syria. So it’s kind of like the Fourth of July.

Here’s Jesus, who everyone is wondering, “Who is this unusual man? Is he the Messiah? Is he going to lead us to freedom?”

He’s not just in Jerusalem, not just in the temple, which is Ground Zero for their hopes for independence. He’s walking around in what’s called Solomon’s Colonnade.

Some of you will remember Solomon was the son of David.

Israel is waiting for a son of David who will free them.

Jesus is sending really loud signals.

That’s why those who were there gathered around Jesus, were saying:

How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly. — John 10:24

But Jesus doesn’t tell them plainly.

His response is:

I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me. — John 10:25

This is starting to sound like a presidential candidate when he’s asked, “Are you going to balance the budget?”

It’s almost like Jesus is saying, “Because you all have the wrong idea about who the Messiah is going to be, you’re waiting for the wrong thing. A plain yes or a plain no would mislead you, so I’m going to have to change your concept of Messiah.”

Here’s another strange statement Jesus made.

Another group of people were wrestling wi