Who Is This Man

Allister Murphy looks at the crucifixion of Christ through the eyes of someone who happens to be in Jerusalem for the Passover. There are many questions as to why this is taking place and a reflection on who Jesus claimed to be. The answer is profound.

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Transcript

Who Is This Man

I want you to imagine something with me this afternoon, so I want you to maybe want to close your eyes and imagine the sea, but I'm going to paint a picture for you. Imagine that you find yourself in Jerusalem in AD 33. It's crowded with people from all over the world there to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover. The city is a buzz about a young rabbi who has been causing a bit of a stir. You heard stories from other pilgrims about the things that he has done riding into the city on a cold, tearing up the market in the temple, and even standing up to the religious leaders. He must be some kind of man to do that. And as you walk through his streets, you hear a commotion. Criminals are being led out of the city to be crucified by the Romans.

You've never seen a crucifixion before and you're a little bit curious. You walk towards their noise And as soon as you see, you get there, you see three men staggering under the wave of a cross being strapped across their shoulders. One of the criminals stands out from the other two. It's almost too much to look at him. His whole body is covered in blood. Strips of skin are hanging off of his body. And on his head, he has what looks like a crown, but it's made out of thorns.

You think to yourself, "He must have done something really bad." You follow the crowd outside the city gates to a little hill just outside the walls. And there you witness the soldiers driving nails into the hands and feet of these criminals. Their screams are blood curdling. And you think about leaving, but something makes you stay.

You watch as they raise these crosses up and fix them in the ground, suspending the three men several feet off the ground. Just hanging there in agony. It is the most gruesome thing you've ever seen. The man in the middle, the one with the crown of thorns, had a group of people standing around him and some women are crying. And some people are shouting mocking curses at him. The other two men, the other two criminals, are not receiving the same attention.

And you find yourself asking the question, "Who is this man?" A sign above his head reads, "This is Jesus, King of the Jews."

So I want to look briefly at the question, "Who is this man? Who is this man Jesus?" Who was Jesus? Almost every major religion teaches that Jesus was a prophet or a good teacher or a very godly man. But the Bible tells us that Jesus was infinitely more than just a prophet, a good teacher, than a godly man.

The writer CS Lewis said, "Either this man Jesus was and is the son of God, or else a madman or something worse." Jesus is God. In John 10:30, Jesus says, "I and the Father am one." set the Jewish religious leaders because by saying this Jesus was saying that he was one with God and he was God and they tried to stone him for that.

The Apostle John also wrote of Jesus in the beginning was the word in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. Jesus is God. Jesus is also what the writer to the Hebrews calls the radiance and the exact imprint of God. The radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature.

It's hard for us to look straight at the Sun. It is so bright that And if we stared at it for too long, we stared at it for too long, we would probably go blind. But we bask in the radiance of the sun. We experience its light and we experience its warmth. We can't look into the sun, but we can feel the warmth. We feel the radiance. We can't look into the face of God, but through Jesus we can experience God.

Jesus is God. He is the exact same nature as God. He is the exact same person as God. Jesus is the Savior. When Joseph Mary's husband was visited by the angel, He was told that Jesus would save his people from their sins. God didn't come down to earth just to spend some time with His creation. He came for a purpose. Jesus came to save people from their sins. He came to save you and me from our sins. He came to be our Savior. He came to die and save us from death and the grave. He came to give us eternal life.

Jesus is the Savior. And Jesus is the King. Jesus is the King of everything, everything you see around you. Jesus is King of it all. He is the King of the universe. He is the King of kings. There is no one higher than Him.

In the book of Revelations, Jesus is depicted as a triumphant king in the imagery of the Second Coming. The book says, "And he has on his robes and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords."

This highlights Jesus' ultimate authority over every other king and ruler of this world. Jesus is the king. And a question to you, is he your king? Is he your savior? Is he your god? The Bible tells us that Jesus is God in flesh, our savior and our king. We've all done wrong in life, but God didn't leave us in our sin.

We sang about how wonderful and how marvelous is Jesus' love for us. And His love was so great. God's love was so great that He sent Jesus to die for us to rise again so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life. So I ask again, do you know Jesus? Not just in your head as being a prophet or a holy man or a good teacher, but do you know Jesus in your heart. He is ready to forgive you and give you peace." So my question again is, "Will you trust Him today?"

Cody Kairns is a songwriter and he wrote these words, "Who is this man that even the wind and the waves will bathe? Who is this man that even the power of death can't break? Angels and demons a like answered to his name, Jesus, Jesus, who spoke the word that set everything in its rightful place, who left the keys of sickness and death lying in his grave, heaven and earth, bow at the sound of his holy name, Jesus, Jesus.