Are You the Son of God?

Text: Luke 22:70 Speaker: Pastor Matthew Ude Festival: Lent Passages: Luke 22:70

Luke 22:70

Is Jesus the Son of God? Jesus says yes, the Jews say no. What do you say? With Peter we confess, “Yes you are the Christ the Son of the living God.”

Of course, it is easy to write yes in the bulletin and go home but Jesus wants more from us than a verbal yes. Just like when your wife asks, “do you still love me?” She wants a little more than for you to say yes and then go back to the football game. Since Jesus is the Son of God, He wants us to say yes not just with out lips but with our attitude, actions, and our whole life.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5   ⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!  ⁵ “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Since Jesus is our God, we need to let Him be true God for our entire life.

One of the claims of modern physics is that there is no fixed point in the universe. Everything is relative. You can make a model of the universe with the earth at the center, and you can make a model of the universe with the Sun at the center, or pick another planet. This works well in physics but unfortunately, we have tendency to take the same view in philosophy, politics and even religion. There is no fixed point. Everything is relative. And if everything is relative, I can put myself at the center, no problem. Everything revolves around me. Even in Sunday morning services, we think what does this have to do with me, and if it has nothing to do with me why do I care.

When Jesus answers yes to the Jews He shifts all space and time and claims to be the one absolute fixed point, the one absolute center of creation. More importantly the one absolute center of our lives.

As Paul says in

Colossians 1:15-17 ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I could come here on Sundays and simply talk about Jesus. Who He is. What He did.  But that doesn’t work because we are all so self-centered that mostly we only care how does this effect me? I only care about what Jesus did and said if it applies to my life. This is especially true in America where the churches that thrive the most are the ones that make it all about me. What do I want? What do I like? What applies to my life?

Anyone who makes himself the center of the universal is going to wander without direction. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus we have a sure and certain north star. Since Jesus is our God He ought to be the center of our life.

The really wonderful thing, the truly amazing thing is that although Jesus says “yes, I am the Son of God, and yes I am the center of all things.” Nevertheless, He makes you the center of His life. He came to die for You. He answers this question, not for his own sake but for yours. So that you might know who He is and might have life through Him.

Jeremiah 31:3   ³ The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Because of our self-centeredness, our tendency is to make everything revolve around me, we often wander through life. Yet Jesus died for our sins. He claims us as His own. We are his people, so that we are no longer wanderers but His own special people, the people of the Son of God.

Since Jesus is the Son of God his voice ought to guide us.

This morning after Kaylee’s therapy appointments my phone battery was very low. For some reason it didn’t charge last night even though I had it plugged in. The result was I couldn’t just plug my phone in and follow google directions. One would think that after five years of driving to Portage and back I wouldn’t have had any problems driving home. But I did make one wrong turn.

I probably shouldn’t be so reliant on the directions my phone gives me, but we should be that reliant on the directions that Jesus gives us. That is what it means for Jesus to be our God, that we are so reliant on His word that we do not know where to turn or what to do without Him.

John 15:4-5  ⁴ “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  ⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

I remember the days when I used to look up a route on the map, memorize the route, pay attention to the road signs. Now I just do whatever google tells me. To say Yes, Jesus is the Son of God means that his voice ought to guide and direct our every step. Of course, Jesus is so much better than a mindless computer voice. The voice of our God is not empty and mechanical but filled with love for us lost sinners

John 15:9   ⁹ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

He proved this love when He came down from heaven and was willing to die for our sins.  His voice is one that is well worth following, since we know that He will lead us to green pastures and living water.

Jesus is the Son of God. Let this be not just an answer to the question but the answer to our whole lives. Let Him be the center and the guiding voice of our life. For His is a voice of love and He has made us the center of His life.

Are you the Son of God? Jesus says yes I am, and I will be Your God as well. Amen