CHRIST’S AMAZING PREDICTIONS

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

EASTER SUNDAY 2007

 

 

 

 Millions of grateful Christians throughout the world are rejoicing today as they bring to remembrance the resurrection from the dead of their Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. The Apostle Paul reminded the early Christians that if what some men were saying was indeed true and that there was no resurrection, and if Christ has not been raised, then the apostles preaching and the faith of all Christians is in vain. Paul meant that if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ is raised and their faith would be futile, because they, and the rest of the human race would still be in their sins, doomed to die and suffer the excruciating eternal consequences of being separated from the love of God and his adopted children forever.

 

 As we think about the horror of the agony Jesus suffered on His cross in order to atone for the sins of His people, our thoughts turn to the man and His earthly ministry. We can’t help wondering why anyone would want to murder such a compassionate and loving Person. It’s easy for us to remember many of the eternal truths He taught His disciples and the thousands of people in the great crowds that sought Him out.

 

 Unlike those creatures that flew in the air or swam in the sea or roamed the earth, Jesus said in so many words that human beings have been created for a magnificent purpose, and that is to struggle every day of their lives to glorify Him by becoming more and more Godlike. In other words, all people ought to be doing their utmost to fill themselves with such a love for God and their fellow creatures, by striving to become humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, merciful, compassionate, and truthful and the like just as He is.

 

 He taught them about such things as divorce, lust, sinful anger, giving to the needy, judging others, forgiving as they had been forgiven, worrying, retaliation, the proper way to pray, and a myriad of other truths. He also healed many people from terrible infirmities such as leprosy, blindness, and all kinds of physical abnormalities, even some poor souls who had been plagued by demon possession.

 

 Jesus certainly called a lot of attention to Himself. He attracted people as honey bees are attracted to the pollen in flowers. He was infinitely different from any other human being that ever walked on this earth. Needless to say, He certainly wasn’t a typical religious teacher either; the kind those first century Jewish people were accustomed to being dumped on by. The contrast between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees was as stark as black and white. For instance, one day:

 

Matthew 7:28-29 (ESV) ²⁸ when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

 Not only did Jesus speak and act as someone who had authority, but He came across as a man who knew without a shadow of doubt that He had authority, and He didn’t hesitate to let them know it. For instance, speaking to the scribes we read:

Matthew 9:5-6 (ESV) ⁵ For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home."

 Now these kinds of in-your-face claims certainly didn’t endear Jesus to the Scribes and Pharisees and Saduchies as the events that took place on Calvary two thousand years ago this past week confirm. Nor did the fact that after Jesus appointed certain men to be His disciples, He gave them the authority to go and do the same works He was doing.

 

Matthew 10:1; 5-8 (ESV) ¹ And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.  5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

 Tell My beloved people, tell the Jews that the longed for kingdom of heaven is at hand. Let them know it’s not far away. And while you’re at it; I know you guys could make a fortune doing these kinds of miracles’, but I don’t want you to take as much as a penny. How unlike they were when contrasted with today’s phony self proclaimed faith healers who have exploited the gullible and turned their nonsense into a lucrative industry. Needless to say, knowledge of this kind of supernatural first century activity rapidly spread like wildfire all over the region.

Matthew 11:1-6 (ESV) ¹ When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. ² Now when John [the Baptist] heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" ⁴ And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."

 The religious leaders were well informed about the activities of Jesus, and they also knew that God was with Him and was blessing many people through Him.

John 3:1-21 (ESV) ¹ Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." ³ Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

⁵ Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."

¹⁶ "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God."

 Can you imagine the thoughts that must have gone through the minds of those Jews, especially the religious leaders? To say that their power, prestige and security were threatened is a gross understatement. And what do you think those Sadducees; the ones who taught that death and the grave is the end, when they received word that Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the grave? Can you imagine their stomachs churning and their blood pressure soaring when they learned about what Jesus told the formally dead man’s sister?

John 11:25-26 (ESV) ²⁵ Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."

John 5:24 (ESV) ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 14:5-6 (ESV) ⁵ Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" ⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 As I said a moment ago, that kind of talk didn’t endear Jesus to the Jews or their religious leaders in the first century any more that it does to most people in the twenty-first. Can you visualize the tension building up within those Jews and the effect it would have had on their blood pressure? Controlling it would be like trying to use an automobile tire hose to pump air into a little child’s birthday balloon. These guys were getting ready to explode.

 They would go ballistic when we consider another vitally important element of His teaching which is often overlooked in our day. Not only did He proclaim the Good News about all that He was going to accomplish on His cross but He also started to echo and amplify the scathing accusations and warnings of John the Baptist to the religious leaders. For instance, John warned them:

Matthew 3:7-8 (ESV) ⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

 Jesus didn’t mince words when He confronted those men. He called them hypocrites, blind guides straining at a gnat, serpents and a brood of vipers, and evil men who were full of greed (Matthew chapter 23) just as many other of the Jews in the crowds were.

Matthew 4:12-17 (ESV) ¹² Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶ the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." ¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 Mark 1:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

 Does this sound familiar? It ought to. John the Baptist first gave this warning. Matthew 3:2 (ESV) ² "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." As we saw last week, John was referring to that particular they were living in as being the time the Prophet Malachi described as being one of great blessing for a faithful remnant of Jews, and also one in which Jesus would execute judgment upon the unrepentant Jews of that generation. Malachi referred that awful day as being “a great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

 Christ made some truly amazing predictions concerning Himself to those first century people. Consider these.

John 2:19 (ESV) ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

Matthew 16:21 (ESV) ²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Matthew 20:19 (ESV) ¹⁹ and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."

Matthew 26:32 (ESV) ³² But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

Mark 9:9 (ESV) ⁹ And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Mark 14:28 (ESV) ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

Read the testimony of the great Apostle Paul. Acts 26:22-23 (ESV) ²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles."

 Look at how Christ described the generation of Jews He was a locking horns with and the predictions He made concerning them and Himself.

Matthew 11:16 (ESV) ¹⁶ "But to what shall I compare this generation?

Matthew 12:41 (ESV) ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Matthew 12:42 (ESV) ⁴² The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 23:36 (ESV) ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Matthew 24:34 (ESV) ³⁴ Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Mark 8:12 (ESV) ¹² And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."

Mark 13:30 (ESV) ³⁰ Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Luke 7:31 (ESV) ³¹ "To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?

Luke 11:29 (ESV) ²⁹ When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

Luke 11:30 (ESV) ³⁰ For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Luke 11:31 (ESV) ³¹ The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Luke 11:32 (ESV) ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Luke 11:49-51 (ESV) ⁴⁹ Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,' ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

Luke 17:25 (ESV) ²⁵ But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

Luke 21:32 (ESV) ³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.

Mark 9:1 (ESV) ¹ And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

Revelation 1:7 (ESV) ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

 Jesus would call a spade a spade today just as He did back then. Can you imagine Him confronting the leaders in the churches that bear His name who are defiantly ordaining homosexuals and blessing same sex marriages and defending a woman’s right to kill her unborn baby?

 Those first century Jewish leaders and many of the Jews in the crowds knew who Jesus was just as there are millions of people today who do. They know about the purpose of His birth and His agonizing death and His resurrection. Christmas and Easter are special days for them. I can’t help wondering what Jesus would have to say to those of us who, deep down in our hearts know without a doubt that that there are areas in our lives which He hates with a passion and for which we will suffer eternal consequences if we don’t repent.

 It’s too late for those unrepentant Jews of the first century but not for any one here this morning, and so I will close by reminding each of us, including myself, of the loving warning of John the Baptist and Jesus the Risen Savior: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

 I pray that it pleases the Lord to make this message a blessing to all who have just heard it and those who may read it later.

 

|| Additional Sermons || Leave Feedback ||