The Majestic Jesus

It is true that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, but it is also true that the Son of God, the Christ, the Lord who came into the world in human form did not begin at Bethlehem. Yes, there was a birth and a beginning of the God-man, but the second member of the Trinity was around before Bethlehem. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Some cows and sheep, some shepherds, Mary, Joseph, probably an angel, and of course a baby resting in a manger. That's the traditional nativity scene. And at the very least, it gives an idea of what was going on the night Jesus came to earth. The question is, have you ever gone beyond the circumstances of Jesus' birth to the person of Jesus himself, and the response you should have to the mysterious Jesus, the miraculous Jesus, the majestic Jesus who came to earth and will reign forever? Today on Grace to You, John MacArthur helps prepare you for a Christmas of genuine worship. You'll be approaching Christmas truth from some angles you might not expect, so stay here as he continues his timely look at the Jesus of Christmas. That's the title of John's current series, The Jesus of Christmas. If you have your Bible, open up today to the gospel of John, and here's the lesson. I want you to turn in your Bibles to a text which may not on the surface seem to relate to Christmas, but it does.

John chapter 8, John chapter 8. When you think of Christmas, you think of a baby being born. When you think of the birth of a baby, you think of a beginning. The baby born in Bethlehem was a beginning.

The beginning of the incarnate God in human flesh, the God-man Jesus Christ. But here, would you please note that the very one Jesus Christ who was born at Bethlehem said, before Abraham was born, I am. It is true that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, but it is also true that the Son of God, the person, the Christ, the Lord who came into the world in human form did not begin at Bethlehem. Yes, there was a birth and a beginning of the God-man, but the second member of the Trinity was around before Bethlehem.

He just took on human form. And so, as you look at Bethlehem and think of a beginning, you have to also realize that while there was the beginning of a life, the life that began was the life of one who had no beginning. Jesus makes that abundantly clear in one of the most shocking statements He ever made. Before Abraham was born, I am. When Jesus said that Abraham saw his day and was glad, in verse 56, the Jews were absolutely shocked. What do you mean Abraham saw you? They knew that Abraham could not see into the future and so they rightly concluded that if Abraham saw you, it isn't because he's alive now, it's because you're claiming you must have been alive then. If Abraham saw you, you must have seen him. That shock registers their response in verse 57. You're not even fifty years old. How have you seen Abraham? The number 50 is a round one commonly referred to reaching maturity or agedness. You're not even an old man.

You're not even mature yet physically. How could you ever make us to believe that you saw Abraham who has been dead for millennia? And the Lord's responding statement is monumental. Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.

What a claim. This phrase, before Abraham was, I am, harbors within it the most authentic, the most audacious, and the most profound claim Jesus ever made regarding His being. And the Jews didn't miss it. They knew exactly what He was saying. They knew He was claiming to be the eternal one, the timeless one, the God who is from everlasting to everlasting. They knew therefore that they must fall on their faces immediately and worship Him as the Creator God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the eternal God, or else they would stone such a claim because of its blasphemy. And so they made their choice in verse 59, they took up stones to stone Him. Any man who would stand in the personification of such a claim, blasphemously claiming to be the eternal God in the temple, making such a claim, should have his life crushed out. And so they attempted to do it and he escaped. The temple at this time was under construction.

There would have been plenty of stones for them to grasp. Jesus left them. There's no question what He was claiming. He was claiming to be the eternal God. But when He said, before Abraham began, I am, in that little two-word phrase, I am, Jesus opened up vast understanding for us about who He is. The familiar Greek words are ego, I, am, am. Familiar words. They are really the Greek equivalent of an Old Testament name for God that we call Yahweh.

It's called the tetragrammaton, made up of four letters. It is the name of God in the Old Testament, used 6,800 times. I believe it comes from the Hebrew verb to be, and it is the Old Testament way of saying, I am. The Jews knew the name of God to be I am.

When Jesus said, I am, they knew He was claiming to be God. This is an honored name. This is an awesome name.

This is a blessed name. The Jews knew it. And when Jesus said, I am, they picked up rocks to kill Him because the blasphemy overwhelmed them because they knew exactly what He was claiming.

John loves that term. He tried to capture the essence of the I am in the words of Jesus when Jesus said, I am the bread of life. When Jesus said, I am the light of the world.

When He said, I am the door. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life.

I am the true vine. John, by quoting Him in all those phrases, is using those substantives to fill up the content of who the I am is. He is the bread of life, that is He is the one who savingly feeds the hungry soul. He is the light of the world, the one who savingly leads the sinner out of darkness into light. He is the door, the one who savingly opens the way to the Kingdom. He is the Good Shepherd, the one who in salvation protects and guards and feeds His flock. He is the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life. He is the true vine through whom we can produce fruit under the glory of God. That's who the I am is.

All of those are saving titles and they fill up the content of the I am. Jesus is saying, I came into the world as the I am to redeem because that's what I am means, to bring to myself a people and then to bless that people forever and ever. That's why He came. To accomplish this redemptive purpose as the sovereign over salvation, our Lord had to exercise power over several elements. To be the I am and accomplish redemption, He had to exercise power, first of all, over sin.

Look at Mark chapter 2, Mark chapter 2. This is a very familiar story about four men who brought a paralytic to Jesus. The place was so crowded they couldn't get Him in the door, so they tore the roof off and lowered Him down the roof in front of where Jesus was standing. And you remember when the man finally landed at the feet of Jesus on this pallet or hard bed, Jesus saw the faith of these four men and also the paralytic. In verse 5 of Mark 2, He said, My son, your sins are forgiven.

This is astounding. This is absolutely shocking for anyone to say, I forgive you your sins. Chapter 6, some of the scribes were sitting there and they were reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

And here again they're faced with the same choice. He is either God who can forgive sins, or He is the worst blasphemer. And of course in verse 8, we learn that Jesus, reading their minds, He was immediately aware in His Spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, so He said to them, Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

That must have been a shock. Then He said this, Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven? Or to say, Arise and take up your pallet and walk? Which is easier? It's a fair question, easy to answer. I'll tell you which is easier. It's a lot easier to say, Your sins are forgiven. It's easy to say.

It's impossible to do, but it's easy to say. Priests all over the place say it every day. Oh my son, your sins are forgiven.

You do your confession, you do... your sins are forgiven. It's easy to say. I could say it.

Your sins are forgiven. Easy to say. That's what Jesus said, which is easier to say. That's easy to say. Verse 10, But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I'll say the hard thing. So I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home. That's hard to say.

You know why? Because immediately we're going to find out whether you're God, whether you have any authority at all. I can say to you, my beloved, your sins are forgiven. And some of you might even believe that.

But if I go to the hospital and I say, everybody rise up and walk and nobody moves, you know I don't have that power. It's easy to say your sins are forgiven because it can't be verified. So Jesus said, I just forgave the man his sins because of his faith and just to show you that I really forgave his sin, I'll do the hard part, get up and walk. And he got up and walked. And in verse 12, they were all amazed.

They went into some kind of fright, panic, and they were glorifying God saying, we've never seen anything like this. You see, if He is the Redeemer God, then wouldn't we expect that He could forgive sin because He'd have to forgive sin to redeem, wouldn't He? And He did. And to prove that He forgave sin, He did the hard part. He healed the man.

That could be verified. The forgiveness couldn't be. But once you verify the authority and the power that He demonstrated in the healing, you can see the authority and the power that He expressed in the forgiveness. There's a second thing. As you think about Christ, if He is to be the sovereign I AM, the Redeemer God, He not only must exercise power over sin, but He must also exercise power over spirits.

Why? Because men are held in bondage to damning sin. They are held captive to demons and devils. He must have power over them as well. Look at Luke chapter 4, and let's see if He has such power. Luke chapter 4, verse 31, came down to Capernaum, city of Galilee. He was teaching them on the Sabbath.

They were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. Now there was a young man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. Here's a demon-possessed individual. This...all demons are sinful, wicked and unclean, but some are designated in the New Testament as unclean demons only to emphasize that they tend to produce deviant, perverted behavior. There are white-collar demons also. There are religious demons. You know, there are those clean, sharp demons in a gray flannel suit.

There are those kind that are more subtle. This is the vicious, wicked, perverted kind of demon that has come to dwell in this young man. And so the spirit cries out with a loud voice. Verse 34, ha! That's interesting, isn't it? That means demons have emotion, feeling.

Ha! This is panic. What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? If you come to destroy us, I know who you are, the Holy One of God. This is a demon talking. Did you know that all demons are fundamentalists?

All of them. They're all evangelicals. They all have an absolutely accurate theology about Christ. No demon would join a cult that denies the deity of Christ. They know better.

That's for witless men and women. They may work through those systems, but they know they're lying. They know He's God. They know He's the Holy One of God. So the demon says, is this our time? Have you come? And this demon is in fear. Ha!

Is this the time? Is it now we've got to go to the pit forever? And Jesus rebuked him saying, be quiet. Come out of him. It's like that. And a demon was mad, so he slammed the guy down one final time and left.

This is amazing. And Jesus was saying, the final doom isn't yet, but for now, get out of that man. The demon's gone. You say, well, why did God let him slam the guy down? Because he wanted it very apparent that something dramatic had just happened. And everybody watching would have known. And they did, verse 36. They were all amazed and they began having a discussion. What is this message? What is this word? With authority and power, He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.

And the report about Him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district. Listen, this is the saving I am. And the saving I am, if He's going to do His redeeming work and gather a people whose God He will be, and if He's going to pour out blessing upon them for eternity, He's going to have to have power over sin that binds them and power over the demons of this world that hold Him captive to satanic institutions and schemes. He is sovereign over sin. He is sovereign over demons. Yes, this is the I am.

No one else could do this. The third thing we note is that He would need to be, if He were going to redeem, the sovereign over Satan himself, over Satan himself. A couple of passages that are key. One is John 14.30, a very, very important statement made by Christ.

In John 14.30, Jesus, of course, in the last supper of the evening that He was going to be taken captive, talking to His disciples. And in verse 30, He starts to feel the arrival of Satan. Satan is coming. Satan is approaching. He can feel it. And He says, verse 30, I will not speak much more with you.

This conversation is about over. For the ruler of the world is coming. I can feel Him coming. He's moving toward me. He'd seen Him before.

Oh yeah. He'd been around trying to destroy the messianic line so no Messiah could be born, trying to destroy the Jews altogether so there would be no nation to redeem. He was there when the baby was born because He was killing all the rest of the babies, trying to kill this one. He had been there trying to tempt Christ to abandon His obedience to God and follow Him. He had been around a lot but here He came again and this was the final major conflict. He's coming. Jesus can feel it this night. And then He says the most incredible thing, and He has nothing on me. What?

That's right. He has nothing on me. I've lived 33 years or so and Satan does not have one single valid accusation against me of any wrong thought, word or deed whatsoever.

He has nothing on me. If He is the I Am and He is, if He is the Redeemer God, He must have power over sin and He did exhibit that, power over spirits and He did exhibit that, power over Satan and He did exhibit that. There is one other over which He must have power and that is death or sleep. It was death, according to Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, the fear of death that held men bondage and doomed them to hell. The power of death had to be conquered. He had to conquer sin. He had to conquer spirits, conquer Satan, conquer death. Back in John chapter 2, Jesus said, verse 19, destroy this temple and in three days, what?

I'll raise it up. And these blockheads, never understanding what He said, said it took 46 years to build this temple. You're going to raise it up in three days, but He was speaking of the temple of His body. You kill it, it will come out of the grave because Satan can't hold me. He has nothing on me.

There can be no punishment because there's been no crime. In John 10, verse 17, Jesus said, I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one has taken it from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down.

I have authority to take it up again. I will die and I will live again. It is because of His voluntary devotion to this great work of redemption that the Father loves Him and we love Him. When Jesus said, before Abraham became I Am, they knew He was claiming to be the God of redemption. They should have also remembered He had shown them His power over sin to prove He was the God of redemption. He had shown them His power over spirits over and over, His power over Satan. And if they hadn't seen that yet, they would soon see it on the cross and through the open tomb. They would see also His power over death. They should have made the right choice.

They had enough evidence that this was the I Am. You say, well, what should be the proper response? I'll give you an illustration, chapter 18. Theirs was the improper.

At least this is a partial illustration of the proper response. John's gospel, chapter 18, Jesus is in the garden. They all come to capture Him. Jesus takes the initiative in verse 4. Here comes the Roman cohort, the officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees. They've got their lanterns and torches and weapons.

And they don't know whether there's going to be a riot or whatever is going to happen, so they're armed. Jesus takes the initiative. He's not hiding. He knows all things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, whom do you seek? They answered Him, Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, remove the word in italics, what did He say? I Am. This is rubbing it in.

I Am. And also Judas, who was betraying Him, was standing with Him. When therefore He said to them, I Am, they drew back and fell to the ground. The whole entourage collapsed in a heap.

That's power. Just saying His name, I Am, crash goes the whole crowd into the dirt. And then in verse 7, who was it you were seeking? Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I Am.

What is the proper response? To fall down? They did that. They were sheer terrorized. They were crushed by the force of His name.

They should have stayed down. The proper response to the I Am is to fall down, perhaps in fear, perhaps in terror, but ultimately in worship. The tragedy is they got up, took Him prisoner, killed the I Am, failed to honor the awesome name, and were destroyed as a people. How will you respond this Christmas to who it is that we remember and worship?

You can cast stones at Him and call Him a blasphemer, or you can worship Him as God, the God who saves His people from their sins. It's about more than a baby in a manger. Christmas is about the Savior of humanity coming to earth. That crucial reminder is from John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, as he continued his current study on grace to you, titled The Jesus of Christmas.

Well, with a weekend upon us and just over a week until Christmas, for lots of people, John, I'm sure shopping is still on the agenda. So for those who still haven't checked off everyone on their Christmas list, you have some gift ideas that can make a profound spiritual difference long after December 25th. Everything is as powerful as divine truth, and it beats a bad sweater for Christmas, I think.

So let me mention a few Christmas gifts. Truth for Today. Truth for Today, particularly helpful for someone who may not be a Christian. It is sort of a beginner, basic-level devotional book. It takes you through a series of devotions one day at a time and exposes the reader to a brief portion of biblical truth every day.

That's Truth for Today. It's a small, handy size devotional. Not expensive, just a really good starter for those who want to get started in daily devotion. And then One Perfect Life. I love this book. The book takes the four gospels, blends all four of them so that you have one narrative telling the full story of Christ. A complete chronological narrative. And it includes notes from the MacArthur Study Bible that explains some of the issues in the text as you read.

You start at the beginning, you read through the whole life of Christ as all the gospels are blended, and you see how they perfectly harmonize. And then again, to remind you of the MacArthur Study Bible, kind of our flagship resource, it's in the New American Standard Translation, the ESV, the New King James, and a number of non-English translations, Spanish, Russian, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, hardcover, leather, premium, goatskin, lots of different formats. But we're still hanging on to the sale price. We've discounted the price of every MacArthur Study Bible 25%, so this is a great time to order them for the people you love. By the way, the last day we recommend placing Christmas orders with second day shipping is next Monday, so don't delay. Place your Christmas orders now, and we'll get your gifts to you as fast as we can. Yes, and friend, that 25% discount applies to every MacArthur Study Bible we sell, including our many non-English translations.

And again, you can still get these gifts before Christmas, but you will have to order soon. To pick up Truth for Today or One Perfect Life or the MacArthur Study Bible, get in touch today. Our toll-free number, 855-GRACE. You can talk to our customer service representatives about our expedited shipping options.

And remember, our business hours are Monday through Friday, 730 a.m. to 4 o'clock p.m. Pacific time. Or if you order online, make sure to choose the express shipping option you need. Our number here again, 855-GRACE, or order at our website, gty.org. I'd also encourage you to visit the website, gty.org, if you want to review any part of John's current series, The Jesus of Christmas. Our website has thousands of free sermons from John, including any message you ever hear on Grace To You. And if you have an iPhone or an Android device, download the Grace To You app. It gives you access to all of John's sermons wherever you take your phone. The app and all of John's sermons are available for free at gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace To You staff, I'm Phil Johnson reminding you to gather with your family and watch Grace To You television this Sunday. And then be here next time when John looks at all that Christ gave up to come into this world in order to save sinners like you and me. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Monday's Grace To You.