The Mysterious Jesus

The mystery of God and man. How can anybody be God and man? How can there be a child who is the child of a human being and who at the same time is God with us?

A human child and yet a divine reality. Twelve days! That's all the time you have to complete your shopping and wrapping, and finalize your travel plans, and that's probably just a fraction of what you're trying to get done. Well, we appreciate your tuning in to Grace To You during this busy season, and amid the chaos, we want to help you stay focused on the most important part of Christmas, the Jesus of Christmas.

That's the title of the study John MacArthur begins today. Now, John, as much as you and your family embrace the joys and the special memories that come with celebrating Christmas, I know that you have some strong feelings about where our focal point needs to be. Yeah, you know, it's kind of a two-sided reality to come to Christmas. On the one hand, it's fraught with all kinds of pagan things and nothing to do with the gospel whatsoever. I mean, it's an excuse for wild partying and extravagant purchasing and all of that. And you say, well, maybe we ought to avoid it because it's so corrupted. But on the other hand, somehow in that mix, there's this birth of Christ. So rather than ignore it, I would say, yeah, I get the corruption part, but as long as people are thinking about Christ, let's take advantage of it. And there's no reason to set it aside when it is such a dominant reality in global culture.

But I think we're back to the essence of the discussion. If you're going to talk to people about Christmas, you have to talk about Jesus Christ. And that is the heart and soul of the gospel, of course. But it's also the fact that while people know the name Jesus and they have some amount of information that they have accumulated in their minds about him, most people don't understand who he is.

In fact, I wonder sometimes if most professing evangelicals even understand who he is. So we're going to do a message on the Jesus of Christmas. And this is very important. This is where everything has to begin.

You must know who he is. So we're going to be looking at the mysterious Jesus, the miraculous Jesus and the majestic Jesus. And then next week, we're going to hear messages on the theology of Christmas, the ugliness of Christmas and the true spirit of Christmas. So for the next couple of weeks, we're going to be setting a tone for Christmas of real worship and clarity, identifying who Jesus is in the middle of all the traveling and shopping and tasks at home and gathering for this and that.

You want to make time for a series of messages that will help you stay focused on what is central to this holiday season. And that's our Lord Jesus Christ. That's right, helping you make the holiday that bears Christ's name truly be all about Christ.

That's what John's series, The Jesus of Christmas, is all about. And now to look at some miraculous prophecies about the birth of our Savior, here's the lesson. We always worship the Lord together by searching out His word.

One of the elements of worship is to be sure we know the God whom we worship, that we hear Him speak to us. And as I thought about the season and the message that the Spirit of God would put upon our hearts, I thought that perhaps we ought to look at the New Testament to see the fulfillment of the miraculous Jesus and also at the old, to see the mystery that surrounded the prophets as they spoke of Him who was to come. And the prophets wrote of the Messiah. They wrote the word of God. As it says in Luke 3 to about John the Baptist, the word of God came unto him. As it says of so many prophets of old and the word of the Lord came unto them and they said. They wrote the word of God. And much of the word of God was about the coming Messiah, the coming anointed one, the coming Christ, the coming King, the coming Savior. And as they wrote, they were somewhat mystified by the very thing they themselves wrote. I'm reminded of Peter's words in 1 Peter chapter 1 where he says the prophets searched diligently into the very things they wrote. To try and understand what person or what time or what circumstances could bring all these prophecies to pass regarding the suffering and the glory of the one who was to come.

For they were really dealing with mystery. They were dealing with apparent contradictions, statements on the one hand about His glory and on the other hand about His suffering that just seemed irreconcilable and they were mystified by much of it. And the people to whom Jesus spoke were equally mystified. Some said He is the Christ. No, some said He is a prophet. And others said, but can a prophet come out of Galilee? And some said He is Jeremiah and some said He is Elijah and some said He is some other pre-Messianic prophet. But He can't be the Messiah because everything doesn't seem to fit. And the disciples wondered themselves with confused minds. Can this really be the Messiah? Where is the kingdom? Where is the glory?

Where is the power? And John the Baptist, John the Baptist of all people, found it very, very difficult to understand. Look with me for a moment at Matthew chapter 11 as a starting point. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He was the one who stood one day and said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And he pointed to Jesus Christ and said, This is the one. And he said, You follow Him, not me, for He must increase and I must decrease.

It's time for me to fade away. He's arrived. But all of a sudden we find John the Baptist in prison in chapter 11 of Matthew. And verse 2 says, When John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples unto him to say, Art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? And here John, who was so sure initially, is now so unsure.

Are you the one? And we say, You must know that, John. You were his herald.

You must know that. You pointed to him, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. You must know that, John. You baptized Him and a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You must have known, John, for the Holy Spirit descended as a dove.

You must know who this is. But John is struggling because he's mystified. Well, he assumed one thing and he said it in Matthew 3. When he comes he will have his fan in his hand and he will separate the chaff from the wheat and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. He said he will baptize you with fire. He will come with judgment. He will come with fury. He will come as a consuming fire to engulf the ungodly and the unbelievers in the flames and then to set up the kingdom for the righteous. But by now John can't figure out what went wrong because where is the fire?

Where is the consumption? Where is the wrath? Where is the kingdom? He, in fact, who of all people should have been exalted as a prisoner at Machaerus, an old Herodian fort, a gloomy, dismal place east of the Dead Sea in a devastating area. And there he is a prisoner and Jesus is going around meek and mild, healing the sick and loving people and he wonders where is the thunder and where is the vengeance and where is the wrath and where is the kingdom? And he can't resolve it in his mind and so he's mystified and he sends his disciples to ask, Are you really the Messiah? You see, without the full unfolding of the New Testament there was tremendous mystery about who this one would be and the mystery came about because of the very diverse and apparently contradictory statements that were made about him. And I agree that there are things about Jesus that are mystifying. The world today is still somewhat mystified by Jesus. Those who do not understand and believe with all their heart the truth of the New Testament are left with incredible mystery regarding Jesus Christ and as a result of that there are myriads of fables and wild tales and fantasies that have grown up about him. I read Canadian Motorist magazine, not one of your top three magazines.

I don't even know where I even found the thing. But anyway, there was an interesting article in there and the article was about the book titled Jesus Died in Kashmir. Now if you know your geography, Kashmir is a little country somewhere between India and Pakistan. And the book propagates the fact that Jesus died in Kashmir written by a man named Faber-Kaiser. Now the book begins by telling us that there is alive in the world today a man who is the son of Jesus Christ. He is the only living traceable descendant to Jesus Christ. And he is alive right now.

His name is Sahibzada Beshara Salim. And he is the living descendant of Jesus Christ. Now the man who writes the book is sure of that. However, Sahibzada is not quite yet convinced. But he is very excited if it is in fact true. He's not sure what it entitles him to, but he's sure it must entitle him to something, to be the son of Jesus Christ. Now the premise of the... and when I got into the article that far, I was hooked.

Put it mildly. But the book suggests that Jesus visited Kashmir between the ages of 12 and 29. A convenient time because that's the time the New Testament is silent on his life. And so when the New Testament is silent, it is because he went to Kashmir and from the ages of 12 to 29 he studied Buddhism. And he became a Buddhist lama, or priest.

They also note in the book that this can't be proven because the British stole all the evidence in order to preserve Christianity. Now Jesus then spent from 12 to 29 becoming a Buddhist lama. He had such diverse and unique views that they drove him out of Kashmir. He went to India. They drove him out of India. He went to Iran and they drove him out of Iran and he just kept going west until he got to Israel.

At the age of 29 he landed in Palestine and ministered there. He never died on a cross. He never rose from the dead.

Those are fables that have no historical evidence, says the book. He was crucified because there were wounds in his hands that healed over, they say. He was removed from the cross, took Mary his mother and Thomas and the three of them went to India. Now the reason they went to India, says the book, is they were looking for the lost tribes of Israel, who obviously were in India. Now when they got to Pakistan they stopped there and Mary died in Pakistan and was buried. And Mary is buried, they believe, 30 miles from Rawalpinda.

And in case you think this is really strange, let me make it stranger. There is in Rawalpinda a tomb, marked as the tomb of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and revered as such by the local people. Thomas went to South India and died.

Nobody knows where, nobody really cares. But Jesus was left alone. He married, fathered children, lived to be 86 years old, and was buried at the Roosevelt crypt in Srinagar in Kashmir. And to this day people believe that that's his crypt. He traveled to Afghanistan and other places, and they gave him a name.

His name was Shazadah Nabi Hazrat Yussa Asif. And Yussa is the equivalent of Jesus. I don't know if you know this, but the Quran speaks of him.

And the Quran says, We, that's God, speaking in plural, We didn't allow Christ to die on the cross, says the Quran, and instead we lifted him and took him away to a place full of natural beauty, gardens, lakes, rivers, flowers, and fruit. And by the way, hundreds of books have been written to embellish this incredible fable. Now there are probably a hundred other fantasies about Jesus. There's little question that he's a mysterious individual. But he's not only mysterious to the outside world of unbelievers and the incredible hoax such as this is indicative of the mystery of Jesus and also of the unbelief of their hard hearts. But there is a certain amount of mystery even about Jesus in the Old Testament, and that's what makes it so interesting. There are things that seem very difficult to resolve.

Yes, in fact, impossible to resolve. If you were to look only at the Old Testament and have no information in the New, if you didn't know Jesus Christ or anything about him, you would look at certain Old Testament passages about the Messiah and you would say no one could fulfill this. These men are wrong. There is utter and absolute inconsistency in the Old Testament. There's no way all these things could come to pass on any one man.

They're just too far-fetched. Well, let's look at some of them and let's meet the mysterious Jesus of the Old Testament. To give you the idea that we want to have as we flow through these thoughts, the reason there is mystery attached to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is because of the apparent conflict in regard to prophecies. For example, in one place he is said to be the coming king. In another place he is seen as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.

In one place he is seen with all of the saints. In another place he is presented as lonely. In one place he is presented as worshipped and adored and honored and revered. In another place he is lonely and rejected. On the one hand he is king of glory, king of heaven, eternal savior, desire of all nations, wonder of wonders, beauty among beauty.

In another place there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is a servant. He is bloody. He is suffering. He is crucified.

He is even dead. And how can it be? How can all of these confusing, contradictory things ever come to pass? Little wonder that John was confused. Little wonder the disciples were mystified. Little wonder the people couldn't make up their mind about who this man really was.

Mystery. But you and I have a privilege. Matthew chapter 13 verse 17. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them.

Now back to verse 16. But blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. Listen, folks, we are able to see what they couldn't see. We are able to understand what they couldn't understand. We are able to see resolved what they could never imagine could even be resolved. The mysteries.

Let's see if we can't get some help. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter 7 and I'm going to select about a handful of mysteries and show you how they are resolved in Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 7, 14 we read this and the New Testament tells us that it went beyond Ahaz, the man of the time in which it was written.

It went beyond any child that would be born into his family. And it stretched down through history to have connotations that are only possibly finding their full meaning in the Messiah. It says in verse 14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Now this is a marvelous statement in its full New Testament implication. The Lord himself of his own volition, unasked and unsought and unsolicited. The Lord himself gave a sign.

And a sign points to something and the sign in this case in relation to Ahaz pointed to something far beyond him. The virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Alma, virgin. It seems to me that all other Old Testament uses have reference to virgin.

And even the Septuagint carries that out and certainly the use of this passage in the New Testament would emphasize the virgin nature of this young woman. A virgin conceives and bears a son. Not unusual for a girl to have a baby. Not unusual for a human child to be born. But very unusual that he should be called God with us. And even more unusual that he should be God with us. While this child may have been called God with us, there would come another child born of a virgin who would be God with us. A human child and yet a divine reality. And you look then at the mystery of God and man. How can anybody be God and man? How can there be a child who is the child of a human being and who at the same time is God with us?

Look at Isaiah 9. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Not so unusual. Not so strange. This too a messianic prophecy.

The earlier part of it even quoted by Jesus Himself saying He came to fulfill it. Not so unusual a child to be born. Not so unusual a son to be given.

It happens all the time. But the government on his shoulder? Possibly. Possibly he is to be a ruler. His name to be called Wonderful Counselor.

Possibly. Perhaps he is a wonder of a counselor. The mighty God? The Father of eternity?

Mystery. How can you have a child? God with us.

How can you have a child? The mighty God. The Father of eternity. How can one be born in time who fathered forever? The paradox is clear.

The mystery is obvious. A child born human yet God. A son given in time who is the Father of eternity itself.

How can it be that a woman should bring forth a child who made the woman? Little wonder they were confused. Little wonder there was mystery. Blessed are ye because you can hear what they couldn't hear and see what they couldn't see. Look at Luke 1. The sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth. Verse 26. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail thou who art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.

When she saw him she was troubled at his saying and considered in her mind what manner of greeting this should be. And the angel said unto her, Stop being afraid, Mary, for thou has found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son. Not so unusual that a woman should have a son. And shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great. Not so unusual.

There have been other great people. And shall be called the son of the highest. Now wait a minute.

That is unusual. Who is the highest? God. The son of God. And the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.

Yes he will be great. He will be a king forever. An eternal king. The son of the highest who is God. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be? Seeing I know not a man, I'm a virgin.

How can I have a child? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee. And the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God. How can a child be man and God?

How can it be? The mystery is unresolved in the Old Testament, resolved right here. On the one hand the child is a man born of Mary. On the other hand the child is God born of God.

For Mary knew no man. There was no earthly father. God was the heavenly father. God put deity in human flesh provided through the loins of Mary.

The mystery is solved. He was fully God, fully man. Jesus, God in human flesh.

Think of it. The Old Testament said that he would be the seed of the woman. Daniel 7 13 said he would be the son of man.

Then Psalm 2 7 said he'd be the son of God. Then Genesis 22 18 said he'd be the seed of Abraham. How can he be the seed of a woman?

A woman has no seed. How can he be the son of man and the son of God? How can he be produced from Abraham, produced from David, and produced from God?

An amazing complex of prophecies. How can God be man and man be God and at the same time be the son of man and the son of God? How can one be a son of man and yet have no human father and how can he be a seed of a woman when the woman has no seed?

No wonder the prophets were mystified. Yet Jesus was all of these. He was God. He was man. He was the seed of the woman. He was the son of a man. He was of the line of Abraham. He was of the line of David and yet he was the son of God.

Hebrews 1 says God in these last days has spoken through his son, the express image of his person. Whose son is he? God's son. Mary's son. And so resolves the mystery.

Let's pray. Our Father, we acknowledge that our minds are unable to resolve even the truth you've given us except that we take both Testaments and be taught by the Spirit of God. Thank you, Father, that you laid down such prophecies to mystify even the saints so that even the well-meaning could never counterfeit them, let alone the critics and unbelievers. Thank you that the credentials of the Messiah are so divine, so otherworldly, so supernatural that every event and circumstance and element was so totally controlled by your sovereignty that there is no other explanation than that Jesus Christ is all in all, everything promised, the suffering Savior and the glorious King. There is nothing for which there is equal evidence to compare to the truth that Jesus is God in human flesh. The Savior who came to die, rise again to forgive your sin, give you eternal life. Believe it.

Only a fool would not. And if it is true and you've given him your life and received his salvation, then walk in joyous obedience and submission to his holy purpose. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.

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