Why Did Jesus Come? - Part A

Now we are looking at why. What is the purpose that Jesus came? Matthew, in quoting Isaiah, wants you to know there are at least four reasons why he came. He came to serve, he came to speak, he came to strengthen, and he came to save. Do you know why Jesus came to earth?

Well, in today's Connect with Skip Hytech, Pastor Skip shares a powerful message revealing four reasons why Jesus came. But right now, we want to tell you about a resource that'll help you answer the tough questions about Jesus' life, ministry, and divinity. Is there archaeological proof that Jesus existed? Did Jesus ever actually claim to be God? Is Jesus really the only way? There's a good chance you'll be asked tough questions like these at some point.

You may ask these questions yourself. That's why we want to send you Josh and Sean McDowell's new book, Evidence for Jesus, to help you answer crucial questions about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Was that truth challenged in the presence of knowledgeable witnesses, especially antagonistic witnesses? Peter on the truth phone, he says, men of Israel, listen to these words, you leaders, Jesus of Nazarene, a man attested to you, not just to us. See, he threw it right back in the antagonist's lap, said, attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs, which God performed through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. I'll tell you this folks, if those antagonists had not seen those witnesses, miracles, and signs, Peter would have been lucky to have made it out there alive.

Instead of what happened historically, thousands were added to the church. Evidence for Jesus will help you confidently answer tough questions like, is there evidence that Jesus was real? Did Jesus actually claim to be God? What makes Jesus unique from other religious figures? Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

And why does that matter? Evidence for Jesus by Josh and Sean McDowell will join classics like More Than a Carpenter and Evidence That Demands a Verdict that have shaped Christian apologetics. We'll send you a copy of Evidence for Jesus as thanks for your gift of $50 or more this month to reach more people with the teaching and resources of Connect with Skiff Heitzig. So be sure to request your copy of Evidence for Jesus today when you give online securely at connectwithskiff.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888.

Okay, now let's turn over to Matthew 12 as we join Skiff. The dominant figure in Western culture for the last 20 centuries has been none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. His coming divided time and people to this day still mark their calendars according to his coming BC and AD. The Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. 20,000 words. That's more words than the same encyclopedia uses in writing about Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Buddha, Caesar, Cicero, Confucius, and Muhammad put together. That's because that venerable encyclopedia realizes the influence that Christ has had on our culture. No one has influenced the world like Jesus.

Think of it this way. Socrates taught for 40 years. Plato taught for 50 years. Aristotle taught for another 40 years. That's 130 combined years of Greek philosophical learning that was given. Jesus came and his ministry only lasted three and a half years.

But the impact and influence he has had on history far exceeds any of those thinkers put together. I've always loved James Hefley's little article called One Solitary Life where he notes, here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop till he was 30. For three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place he was born.

He never did any one of the things that usually accompany greatness. But today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader in the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this one solitary life. I grew up hearing about him. I grew up knowing facts about Jesus. But when I was 18, I met him.

And I was changed because of that. We've been looking at that one solitary life through the lens of the prophets of the Old Testament. And we have seen in this series called Against All Odds how Jesus came and fulfilled so many of the predictions made by those Old Testament prophets concerning what this Messiah, this King, this Deliverer would be like. And we've done that because the apostles in the New Testament appealed to two areas to authenticate that Jesus was the Messiah.

The first is the bodily resurrection of Christ. And second is fulfilled prophecy. And it wasn't just one or two or three predictions thrown out there. There were hundreds of predictions made over 1,500 years that pointed to Jesus Christ. And because they were written so far in advance, hundreds of years before, we can look at them and say, well, this is far more than just a good guess.

This is far more than just some logical deduction. Prophecy lends itself to statistical analysis, as we have noted, that there is a reasonable order of magnitude that can be estimated. And if you recall back to our very first study in the series, we noted that mathematicians have figured that the odds of one man in history fulfilling just eight of the predictions Jesus fulfilled is one in ten to the seventeenth power. The odds of anyone fulfilling 16 of the predictions Jesus fulfilled is one in ten to the forty-fifth power. If you know your math, we're talking enormous numbers. The odds, and by the way, there are 300, 330, some say 332 prophecies, some more direct than others. For Jesus to fulfill 30 of the predictions He fulfilled is one in ten to the one-hundredth power.

It's the same odds as one person winning the lottery 16 times in a row. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Far more wonderful is this one solitary life. And when we look at it this way, it does something for us. It shows us the reality of God. It shows us the authenticity of Scripture. We're dealing with a far different book than just another holy book. And it shows us the validity of Jesus Christ.

Now we want to take a turn. Instead of looking at His birth and His genealogical record and some of the things we've noted or the over the past few weeks, we take a turn and we examine His life. The prophecies He would fulfill in His life and ministry, His adult life. Matthew does that for us in chapter 12.

We're going to look at a whole section of Scripture, but he quotes Isaiah chapter 42 beginning in verse 18. And what we're answering here is why Jesus came. You know, we have noted so far where Jesus came, Bethlehem. The prophets predicted that. We have noted how Jesus came. A virgin birth.

Talk about against all odds. But now we are looking at why. What is the purpose that Jesus came? Matthew, in quoting Isaiah, wants you to know there are at least four reasons why Jesus came. He came to serve. He came to speak. He came to strengthen.

And He came to save. First of all, He came as a servant. That's the word used in quoting Isaiah chapter 42. Look at verse 17. Matthew says that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. One of the most beautiful descriptions in all of the Bible of Jesus Christ is that He would be a servant. Now, I told you that there are far more prophecies about His life than about His birth. And here's what I want you to know. I want you to know that there are far more prophecies about His life.

And here's just a smattering of them. The prophets predicted that He would be preceded by a messenger. Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 and Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3. And who was that messenger that preceded Him? It was John the Baptist.

He was predicted. Also, that Christ would perform miracles. Isaiah 35 verse 4 through 6. That He would teach in parables. Psalm 78. That He would strengthen His ministry in Galilee. Isaiah chapter 9, 1 and 2. That He would be sent to heal the brokenhearted. Remember, Jesus quoted that prophetic utterance of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue.

I've come to heal the brokenhearted. He'll be praised by children. Psalm 8 verse 2. He'll enter the temple suddenly.

Malachi chapter 3 verse 1. He'll come to Jerusalem riding in on a donkey. Isaiah 9, 9. He'll be rejected by the Jewish nation. Isaiah 53 verse 3.

He'll come at a precise timetable on a prescribed day. Isaiah chapter 9 verses 25 and 26. A few days later, the same prophecy says He will be killed. He will be betrayed by a close friend. Psalm 41 and Zechariah 11.

And He will be silent when He is accused at His trial. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 7. But all of those predictions of what He would do in His life can be summed up by a single word.

Servant. He will be a servant to the Father. Did you know that the Bible has roughly 150 different names for Jesus?

Some of them you know. He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, to name a few. Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd. Paul called Him the Chief Shepherd, the Messiah, the Cornerstone. The writer of Hebrews called Him our Great High Priest. There are 150 different titles, but Isaiah's favorite title for Jesus was that He would be the Servant of the Lord. He would serve the Father's will.

Now, that's not an uncommon title. Abraham was called the Servant of the Lord. Isaac was called the Servant of the Lord. Jacob was called Servant of the Lord. It's one of the titles given to Moses, the Servant of God. Many of the prophets were given the title, the Servant of the Lord. But Isaiah uniquely has four sections of his prophetic book where he highlights the servant nature of the Bible. The servant nature of the Messiah who is to come. Jesus, the Servant of the Father. Now, what I want to do is show you a little bit of context. I don't want to just jump into Matthew quoting Isaiah.

I want you to find out why. So, if you don't mind, would you go back to verse 9 of the same chapter and let's see what's happening. When He had departed from there, He went to their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a third hand. And they asked Him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

It's kind of a dumb question, but when was the last time they did that? But they're all worried about the narrow interpretation of the law. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? If I were to Jesus, I would have said, try it. But notice why, that they might accuse Him.

That's important. Then He said to them, what man is there among you who has one sheep? And if he falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not lay hold of it and lift it out?

Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep. Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. And He said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and 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, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory. And in His name, Gentiles will trust. So we're seeing that there is a resistance that is building against Jesus, a resistance that is Jesus, a rejection that is mounting. The religious people especially are looking at Him, and now they want to destroy Him.

And here's why. When Jesus came on the scene, and they thought He might be their Messiah, they were disappointed. Jesus must have been a terrible disappointment to them. Because they had it in their mind that when their Messiah comes, He will deliver them from the Roman oppression and set Israel up as top of the kingdom and establish His earthly kingdom. It's wonderful that He's healing people, but He did not come and meet their expectations.

So they're against Him. But Jesus, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, is a low-key Messiah at this point. He just sort of backs out, doesn't say anything, withdraws, and tells people, keep it quiet when I heal you. Don't tell people.

That'd be very hard to do, by the way. If you've had a lifelong disease and suddenly you're cured and somebody says, don't tell anybody, it's a miracle if somebody doesn't. But because He didn't meet their expectations and they're trying to trap Him, that gives us the context for this. See, they expected the Messiah to keep their rigid interpretation of the law. The Messiah, they said, will be the servant of the law.

Matthew says, no, according to Isaiah, the Messiah will be the servant of the Lord. He's there to please the Father and fulfill the agenda of the Father, not the expectation of people. You know, when Jesus woke up every morning, there was one dominating thought in His mind.

You know what it was? Pleasing the Father. Pleasing the Father. He was on a mission. He was on a mission.

There was an exact timetable and He was there to redeem the world from sin. He knew it. And so He said in John chapter 8, verse 29, I always do those things that please Him. Don't you wish you could say that?

I wish I could. I can't say that, but Jesus could. I always do those things that please Him. In fact, He said in John 4, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. So He came to serve the Father. But He also came to serve His followers.

We know that from looking at the ministry of Christ. He washed their feet. He taught them truth. He fed them food. He multiplied food. But even the apostles themselves had expectations that Jesus did not fulfill.

Now I want you to hear this. Jesus wants to serve you as well. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean He'll give you everything you want. He'll give you everything you need.

But that doesn't mean everything you want. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean He'll always make you comfortable. He'll heal you of every toe ache you have, or He'll find you a parking space in the mall during Christmas time. He tells us how He came to serve. This is what He said. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Now hear this. Jesus Christ did not come to fulfill your expectation. Jesus Christ came to end your condemnation. That's how He serves us best, is by giving His life a ransom for many. It's what God sent Him to do, and it's why He said He was so pleased with His Son. He came to serve.

There's a second reason He came. He came with a message. He came to speak. You'll notice in verse 18, the second part, quoting the prophet, I will put my spirit upon Him, and look at this word, He will declare. He will declare justice to the Gentiles. That word declare, apangelo, means to proclaim, to tell, to preach, to teach.

What Isaiah is saying is when my servant comes, He will have a message of truth that people need to hear. Now Jesus did a lot of things. He walked on water. That was cool. He healed people who were sick. Awesome. He raised people who are dead.

Unheard of. He held little children in His arms to bless them. The parents loved that, but He didn't come to just do some tricks and make people feel good, and I'm still amazed at how many people think Jesus came to just be a great example and to live a wonderful life and show us what it's like to live to our full potential.

No, He came with a message. He wanted people to hear, and so He declared, He preached, He taught. In Luke chapter 20, verse 1, He enters the temple. It says, He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel. He taught and He preached. Then He went into the synagogue, and we are told He taught them. Then He went out in the sea of Galilee and sat in a boat, and people gathered around on the shore, and He taught them. He went to the temple again, and He taught them. The multitudes came to Him on the mountain, and what do you think He did?

He taught them. That's exactly right. One of the most astonishing stories is when our Lord is in Capernaum living at Peter's house, and He comes to the house, and we are told, many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. That's a big party. That's a lot of people at your house. It's so many people that they're looking through the windows and spilling out into the courtyard. So many gathered together. There was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door, and listen to what He did. And He preached the Word to them.

What? What do you do with a group full of people? Many are diseased. Many have maladies. There's a lot of needs in that group.

What's the most important thing that Jesus thought He ought to do? Preach the Word to them. Preach the Word to them. Preach the Word to them. Not heal them, but to preach to them. Why? Because hearing truth for your soul is more important than getting healing for your body. You can be living in perfect health and die without Christ, and you'll be hopeless for eternity.

What good is that? So He wanted to make sure while He has them, the first thing He does is He preaches the Word to them. In the Gospels, Jesus is said to teach the Word. That's what He used 36 times. He's one who teaches. He's called a teacher 47 times, and we know why. Our Lord Himself said, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

That's why. You will know the truth, and it will be the truth that will set you free. Jesus came to speak God's truth to people in bondage to their own lives, and there's a lot of those lies. It's why I believe in the exposition of Scripture. It's why when you come here, we're going to say, open your Bible, too. It's why we're going to say, notice that Word, and notice the context, is because we believe that the exposition of Scripture unleashes God's truth in your life. I've always been concerned, and more so as time goes on, that evangelical churches are moving away from the teaching, the expositional teaching of Scripture.

It seems that some preachers think that what they have to say is more important than what the Scripture already has said, and they live for that. And so what you do is you produce a congregation that is long on zeal, but short on facts. It's very, very shallow, and the prophet Hosea said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Jesus taught them truth. Jesus preached and proclaimed a message. The Bible is the one miracle you can hold in your hand. You want to know what God has to say?

Open your Bible, and you'll find out. What He has to say to you today is what He had to say back then, and how you apply that to your life. Come back tomorrow for the conclusion of Skip's message, Why Did Jesus Come? Find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Right now, listen as Skip shares how you can share life-changing teaching from God's unchanging Word with more people around the world. God's Word informs every aspect of our life with timeless wisdom from His own heart. This ministry exists to connect people around the world to God's Word so they can experience the life change that comes from knowing and following Christ. Through your generosity today, you can help expand Connect with Skip Heitzig into more major U.S. cities and reach more people with the life-changing truth of the Bible. Plus, you'll keep these teachings available to you wherever you listen.

Would you partner with me in this effort? Here's how you can give a gift now. to sign up for text messages from Skip. When you do, you'll receive a free digital booklet, Living in the Last Days, in which Pastor Skip gives you a glimpse into the last days and how you can be ready for them. So text Connect to 74759 today to keep in touch and get your free booklet that's Connect to 74759. And join us tomorrow as Skip shares more about the incredible life of Jesus that defied all odds. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.