Matthew chapter 3.
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea,
and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah,
a voice of one calling in the desert,
Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea,
and the whole region of the Jordan.
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
But when they saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come into where he was baptizing,
he said to them, You brood of vipers,
who warned you to flee from the coming wrath,
produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not think that you can say to yourselves,
We have Abraham as our father.
I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
The axe is already at the root of the trees,
and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for repentance.
But after me will come one who is more powerful than I,
whose sandals I am not fit to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning the chaff of unquenchable fire.
Then Jesus came into Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
But John tried to deter him, saying,
I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?
Jesus replied, Let it be so now.
It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.
Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.
At that moment, heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said,
This is my Son, whom I love.
With him I am well pleased.
May God bless his word.
I was recently feeling very ambitious in my reading,
and I decided that I would read a Russian novel by Dostoevsky,
the Brothers Karamazov.
It's a massive brick of a book.
The reason I decided I would read it,
there's a very famous statement that comes from it,
that if there is no God, everything is permissible.
Maybe some of you have heard that.
It comes up, Christians often quote it.
If you've done the Christianity Explorer course,
I think, for example, it comes up there.
The point, obviously, is that we know that everything is not permissible,
and that's evidence that we recognize on one level that actually there is a God.
I decided I would read this book.
I said I finished it recently.
I won't tell you when I started reading it,
because that would be embarrassing.
It was very long and complex.
One of the things that made it difficult was that being a Russian novelist,
obviously, Dostoevsky would frequently make allusion to other Russian works,
which we wouldn't know anything about.
The editors would put footnotes at the back to explain that,
so that wasn't so bad.
Dostoevsky had obviously also read Shakespeare,
and at points he would make reference to that,
and my knowledge of Shakespeare, embarrassingly, isn't that good either.
But there were no references for that,
because the editors obviously felt that we ought to already know that.
It was a very complex book to read,
and part of the reason is because he assumed so much.
He was assuming an awareness of other literature to understand what he was saying.
And sometimes, as we read the New Testament, it's a little bit like that.
The New Testament is written in light of the Old Testament,
and very often the authors, to a greater or lesser extent,
will assume a knowledge of the Old Testament.
Well, this morning I would like us to look at Matthew 3, verse 17.
This is my son.
That was the father's statement about Jesus
when he was being baptized by John the Baptist.
I would suggest that in order, many people suggest it,
in order to understand that,
there are several passages in the Old Testament
that are being referred to.
So I'd like us to look at those passages.
There are three of them.
Now, don't worry.
You may feel like you're going to be getting three sermons
for the price of one.
Don't worry.
We won't look in great detail at those passages.
But just briefly looking at them,
seeking to understand what they tell us
about what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God.
Now, hopefully, if I've done this right,
yes, there they are.
So the passages will appear in the screens there behind me.
So the first one is in Isaiah 42.
It's actually the passage that we read earlier.
Now, Matthew 3, verse 17,
we have the voice from heaven saying,
this is my Son whom I love.
With him I am well pleased.
And in Isaiah 42, we read God saying about Israel,
this is my, well, God saying about his servant, sorry.
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I will put my spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
Now, the parts that are particularly similar,
I've put in bold in both of those places.
Now, you will have noticed, very obviously,
that the one thing that's missing in Isaiah 42
is the word Son, isn't it?
And nevertheless, we read this language of being well pleased.
God said about the servant that he was going to send
that he was well pleased in him.
When Jesus was baptized,
he said that he was his Son in whom he was well pleased.
This does seem to be the passage
that the Father is alluding to in what he says.
Also, notice what happened in verse 16 of Matthew's Gospel.
What happened to Jesus as this was going on?
At that moment, heaven was opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting on him.
Notice what God says in Isaiah 42.
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I will put my Spirit on him.
The language and the events that are being recorded
in Matthew chapter 3
call to mind Isaiah 42.
This passage is one of those passages
that enables us to understand what it is
that Jesus is the Son of God
in whom the Father is well pleased.
Something that's helpful for us
to fully appreciate this passage
is that many Jews in Jesus' day
thought that when this figure came,
when this promised king came,
he would come just for Israel,
just for people who are physically descended
from Abraham.
And that was true in Isaiah's day.
As they looked forward to what God was going to do,
they thought that God was going to do it
just for them
and not for other nations.
Now,
we can sympathize with that kind of attitude,
excluding people, that is,
because we often do that, don't we,
if we're honest.
It's easy for us to compartmentalize people,
to think that there are some people
who might be interested in Christianity
and other people who just wouldn't be interested.
And perhaps we write them all.
We may make these decisions based on interest.
We may think that Christianity
is just for people from a certain class.
There was a story that illustrates this.
When I was at the Free Church College,
one of our professors told us a story,
a true story.
He can tell you afterwards
if I've gotten the details wrong.
I think I've gotten most of the details correct.
In the 19th century,
there was a minister named John Eady.
He was a very well-known minister and theologian.
He was minister of a church in Glasgow,
and the church was on Cambridge Street.
If it's the same Cambridge Street that's still there,
I think it's been redeveloped.
But in his day,
it was a very poor part of the town.
He was minister of a church there.
He was a very well-known preacher,
and things were going well.
The church was growing and thriving,
so much so that it was decided
to build a new church building.
I'm not sure.
I suspect they were given a gift of money
to build the church.
But this building wasn't in the poor part of town.
It was in the rich part of town,
here, Calvin Bridge.
And when the church was dedicated,
when it was opened,
there was a poem.
It was an unofficial poem that was written.
I think it may have been fixed on the door,
but I'm not sure.
But the poem says,
about the new church building,
that this church is not built for the poor and needy,
but for the rich and Dr. Eady.
The rich may come in and take their seat,
but the poor must go to Cambridge Street.
So there was a perception, at least,
that poor people were being excluded.
They didn't really count.
Now, we can laugh at that,
but as God's people,
we have often done that.
We have often excluded people.
But notice the language that we read in Isaiah 42.
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I will put my spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to whom?
To the nations.
To everyone.
In verse four,
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law,
the islands will put their hope.
Now, in the free church,
for many people,
because of where many folk are from,
the islands can seem like the center of the universe.
But we appreciate that,
obviously, for them,
it was the other way around, wasn't it?
The islands were the furthest corner of the world.
Okay?
This figure who is coming,
whom we know to be Jesus,
he would come for the nations.
He would come for the islands,
for the furthest flung parts of the world.
In verses six and seven,
I, the Lord,
have called you in righteousness.
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you,
and will make you to be a covenant for the people,
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and to release from the dungeon
those who sit in darkness.
It's a very simple point here,
that if Jesus is the son,
if he is this figure who is spoken about,
then Jesus is for everyone.
Now, in some ways, that's challenging.
It's challenging for you
if you're maybe not yet a Christian.
Maybe you've made it this far,
you're here in church,
but you can't really imagine things
going any further than that.
You can't really imagine yourself
professing to be a Christian,
professing to follow Jesus.
Maybe you think that Christianity
is just not for you.
Jesus would challenge that,
because he is telling us
that he is for everyone.
That's challenging as well
if we are Christians,
because often we can behave in ways
that exclude other people,
whether it's as a congregation,
or whether it's as individuals.
We can behave in such a way
that place obstacles
in front of other people,
that make it unnecessarily difficult
for them to come to faith in Jesus.
Well, again, Jesus is challenging us,
because he's telling us
that he is for everyone,
and he wants everyone
to hear about him
and to come to him.
That means that we need to think
about everything that we do
as Christians,
whether as individuals
or as a congregation.
Are we making it possible
for people to hear
the good news about Jesus?
So this is challenging,
but it's also tremendously encouraging.
Again, if you're not yet a Christian,
or maybe you feel that you're a Christian,
but you struggle in your faith,
read through the Gospels
and try to find any occasion
on which Jesus excluded people.
Whenever Jesus encountered people,
actually, interestingly,
the people that he often seemed
to have the most affinity for
were those who would have seemed
to be the least religious.
Jesus never said to anyone,
I'm sorry,
I can't afford to be seen with you.
Jesus never said to anybody,
no, I'm sorry,
I've given you so many chances
and you've messed up
and I don't really want
to have anything to do with you now.
Jesus never did that.
He accepted everybody
who comes to him.
I think we could say
that all human beings
naturally have a desire
for acceptance.
We want to find acceptance
with one another
and I think that's because
whether we acknowledge it or not,
we seek acceptance
with the God who created us.
The tremendously good news
of the Gospel
is that that acceptance
is offered to you
through Jesus
because he is for everyone.
There should be no one
who is sitting here this morning
thinking to themselves,
Jesus just isn't for me.
So first of all,
if Jesus is the Son,
we see that he is for everyone.
A second point that we see,
and this comes from Psalm 2,
is that if Jesus is the Son,
Jesus is in charge.
We sang earlier in the service
from Psalm 2,
and there we notice
particularly in verse 7,
again, this is up
on the screens for you.
I will proclaim
the decree of the Lord.
He said to me,
you are my son.
Today,
I have become your father.
Again,
this is one of the passages
that the father
is alluding to
at Jesus' baptism.
He says,
you are my son.
This is my son.
And again,
in Psalm 2,
what does it mean
for Jesus to be the Son?
Well,
at the very least,
it means
that Jesus
is in charge.
If we continue
reading through this Psalm,
we see that he tells him,
ask of me,
and I will make
the nations
your inheritance,
the end of the earth
your possession.
Again,
we see this universal
reign of Jesus.
Then we read,
you will rule them
with an iron scepter.
You will dash them
to pieces like pottery.
Therefore,
you kings,
be wise.
Be warned,
you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord
with fear
and rejoice
with trembling.
Kiss the Son
lest ye be angry
and ye be destroyed
in your way.
For his wrath
can flare up
in a moment.
Blessed are all those
who take refuge
in him.
Notice particularly
verse nine.
You will rule them
with an iron scepter.
You will dash them
to pieces like pottery.
Now,
we could easily
misunderstand that.
We could think
this language
is smashing them
like pottery,
that Jesus
is someone
who's given
to wanton destruction,
a bit like
the children's talk,
that Jesus
is presented here
as someone
who's simply
dangerous
and violent.
We need to bear
in mind
that those people
who are at risk
from him
are his enemies.
Those who reject them.
They're the ones
who are smashed.
Now,
we shouldn't think
that this means
that Jesus
is somehow
given to wanton
destruction,
but it does mean
that Jesus
is not to be trifled with.
It's another book
that I read
recently about
a journalist
who had covered
the war,
the civil war
in Yugoslavia
in the 1990s.
And on the anniversary
of that,
it was 2014,
I think,
tied in as well
with anniversaries
relating to
the First World War,
he went back
to that part
of the country
and he decided
that he would follow
the route
that Gavrilo Princip
took in 1914.
Now,
because of the conflict
that had happened
in the last century
in the 1990s,
there are still landmines
all over that country.
And so he got
a local guide,
someone that he'd known
actually when he had
been there before.
And the guide
had the maps
and the guide
could read the language
and he knew
where the minefields were
and he could guide him.
Now,
the journalist
had a choice.
He could either say,
who do you think
you are?
Who do you think
you are to tell me
where I should go?
Well,
that would have been
suicidal,
wouldn't it?
Because if he wandered
off the wrong way,
it would have led
to his destruction.
Alternatively,
he could listen to him
and he would guide him
on the safe path.
Maybe that's a little bit
of an illustration
of who Jesus is.
Jesus claims
that he is in charge.
He is the son of God.
He has the authority
to direct us
how we should live.
And we have a choice
to make.
Either we could say,
who do you think
you are
to tell me
how to live?
Or,
we could follow him.
Now,
I suspect
this is one of the things
that puts many people
off of Christianity
because they don't
want someone
who's going to tell them
how to live.
But as we think
of that,
we should notice,
for example,
in Psalm 2,
in verse 11,
serve the Lord
with fear
and rejoice
with trembling.
As we follow Jesus,
we're meant to rejoice
in who he is
and what he has done
for us.
We might also think
of the language
that Jesus himself
uses
later on
in Matthew's gospel.
In Matthew chapter 11.
Come to me,
all you who are weary
and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle
and humble in heart,
and you will find rest
for your souls.
For my yoke is easy
and my burden
is light.
Now,
see there
that Jesus
again claims
that he is the one
who is in control,
he is in charge,
he is the one
who claims the authority
to tell you
how you should live.
But that's not
an onerous,
terrible thing.
Jesus says
that that is actually
the path of true freedom
in following him.
So if Jesus is the son,
it means that he is
for everyone.
If Jesus is the son,
it means also
that he is in charge.
Then finally,
if Jesus is in charge,
sorry,
if Jesus is the son,
it means that he is
the one who brings
salvation.
And through him,
we come to recognize,
in fact,
how precious
and how costly
our salvation is.
The third passage
that we would look at
is in Genesis
chapter 22.
God had called out
to Abraham,
Abraham,
and then in verse 2
he says,
take your son,
your only son,
Isaac,
whom you love.
Now again,
when Jesus,
when the father
says to Jesus,
this is my son
whom I love,
he's clearly echoing
the language
of Genesis
chapter 22.
But this passage
in Genesis 22
is perhaps
the most difficult
passage of the ones
we've looked at,
partly because salvation
is hard for us.
It can be difficult
for us to acknowledge
that we need
to be saved,
but also simply
because this passage
is difficult.
Notice what we read here.
Take your son,
your only son,
Isaac,
whom you love,
and go to the region
of Moriah.
We know,
interestingly,
interestingly enough
that that is the temple.
It's the area
where the temple
would be built
in Jerusalem.
That's where Moriah was.
That's where Abraham
was called to go.
But notice what God
tells him to do.
Sacrifice him there
as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains
that I will tell you about.
We read that
and we tremble.
It is God
commanding Abraham
to offer his son
as a sacrifice.
Our society,
understandably,
has a profound fear
of religious fanaticism.
And a religion
that would lead you
to sacrifice
your own child
would be the very worst
possible kind
of fanaticism.
And so we find
this passage
very troubling
and we wonder
what on earth
is going on here.
we should appreciate
that we are not
the first people
to find this passage
troubling.
The people of Israel
for whom this book
was written,
they would have been
troubled by this,
not least because
their God himself
had told them
that they mustn't
ever worship him
in this way.
He pointed out
that that's the way
the nations around them
worshiped their gods,
but he said
that that was an abomination
and that they must
not do that,
that it was a very
great evil.
And yet we come
to this passage
and it would appear
that that is what
God is telling
Abraham to do.
Now as it happens,
as we read through
Genesis 22,
it makes it clear
that that is not
ultimately
what God intended.
Some people commenting
on this passage
have pointed out
that in Abraham's society,
child sacrifice
is as horrific
as it is to us
in their cultures
wouldn't have been
that surprising.
So the thing for them
that would have been
surprising wasn't so much
that a God might ask
for that,
but that in fact
that a God would say
no, stop that.
That is what is surprising.
And then consistently
from this point onward
in the Old Testament,
God says,
you must not ever
do this.
And so what is the point?
Why is it that God
speaks to Abraham
in this way?
So we come to Matthew
chapter 3,
I would suggest
that we see at least
one profound lesson
that is being taught here.
God in Matthew chapter 3,
verse 17,
is echoing the language
of this passage
and he is using it
to describe his own son,
his beloved son.
As we think about
what that means,
I think it's helpful
for us to call to mind
two things
that I mentioned previously.
one thing,
I suggested
that everybody
seeks acceptance.
We seek acceptance
with other people.
Ultimately,
we seek acceptance
with God.
And when Christians
speak about salvation,
that's one of the ways
you could understand salvation.
It means to be accepted
by God,
to know that he loves you,
to know that he's
forgiven your sins.
acceptance.
So,
we all seek acceptance.
The other thing
that I mentioned
was that quote
from Dostoevsky,
that if there is no God,
anything is permissible.
But of course,
the whole point of that
is that not everything
is permissible
because there is a God.
And that God
who exists
is judge.
He is the one
to whom all people
are accountable.
and he is a just judge.
If you think
of human judges,
you can get just judges,
you can get corrupt judges.
A just judge
will not condemn
the innocent.
He will not justify
the wicked.
A crooked judge
would simply
let the guilty
walk free.
That's not
the kind of judge
that God is.
But then you begin
to see perhaps
that there is
a tension
between those two things
that I've mentioned.
Our desire
for acceptance
with God
and the fact
that God
is a just judge.
We tend
to think
that our salvation
is easy for God.
I think if we're honest,
we tend to view salvation
almost as something
that God owes us.
to be a good
God
but what if we've
sinned?
What if we have
done wicked things?
It's easy for us
to think of other people
whom we reckon
to be bad people
but what if we're
the problem?
What if we are
the bad people?
Then how is it
that we can find
acceptance
with a God
who is perfectly just?
So you see,
for God to save us
is not in fact
an easy thing.
Had God simply said,
well yes,
you've sinned,
yes,
you've done horrible things
but let's just forget
about that.
Had God done that,
he wouldn't be just.
In order for God
to be just
and the God
who saves us,
he himself
needed to satisfy
his justice
and we get a glimpse
of that here.
Remember where
Abraham was
as he was traveling
along with
his beloved son.
He was traveling
to Moriah.
He was traveling
to the place
that would ultimately
be Jerusalem
and as he was traveling
there,
he was going
to the place
where he thought
that he was going
to have to sacrifice
his beloved son
and you can't read
Genesis 22
without your heart
being moved.
It's a fearful passage
and yet ultimately
at the last moment
there was that voice
that cried out
staying Abraham's hand
and stopping that.
He didn't sacrifice
his son.
But here in Matthew
chapter 3
we find the reality.
Here we have
our heavenly father
and his beloved son
and in a few short years
they will be traveling
together to Jerusalem.
Except this time
there will be no stain
of the sacrifices
to be made.
The son will be
sacrificed upon the cross.
And why is it
that that happened?
Why would God
do that to his beloved son?
Well he did it for us.
For God so loved the world
that he gave
his one and only son
that whoever believes
in him
might not perish
but have everlasting life.
And as you've begun
to understand that
as you see Matthew
chapter 3
and the whole of Matthew's
gospel
in light of Genesis 22
we read about
this relationship
of a father
and his beloved son
and our hearts
are torn
as we think
of what Abraham
must have gone through.
God is revealing
to us
that that is
how much he loved us.
in spite of your sin
he loved you
so much
that he was willing
to give his son
that Jesus
would endure
what we deserve
that our sins
might be forgiven.
God didn't simply say
we'll just forget
about your sin
your sin doesn't matter.
He paid the price
himself
so that he is just
and also
the one who accepts you
and loves you
and forgives you.
and that's the thing
that transforms
everything else
that we've looked at
doesn't it?
Why does it make
any difference
that Jesus
is for everybody?
Why should you care
if Jesus is for you?
Because Jesus
is the one
who loved you
and gave his life
for you
that through him
you might be forgiven.
Why should we
give our lives to him?
Why should we
recognize that he
is in charge
of our lives?
Why should we
willingly accept
his direction
in our lives?
Well again
because he loved you
so much
that he gave himself
for you.
What does it mean
for Jesus
to be the son of God?
As we think of that
we see lastly
that it means
that Jesus
is the one
who brings salvation.
Not only does he
bring salvation
but we come
to understand
through him
how much
that salvation
caused.
Christ.
So as we think
about what it means
for Jesus
to be the son
of God
if Jesus
is the son
it means
that he is
for everyone.
Because Jesus
is the son
of God
it means
that he
is in charge.
And because
he is the son
of God
it means
that he
is the one
who brings
us salvation.
to be the son
of God
to be the son
of God
is in charge.
Of course
of God
we see
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are other
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are other
people
who Pelosi
are
trying
to other
who