“Christology” 4-23-23
Overview
Everyone Has a Christology
Christology is simply the doctrine of the person and work of Christ. Anyone who has heard the name of Jesus has formed some understanding of who He is and what He came to do—whether wildly inaccurate or wonderfully faithful. Jesus Himself pressed this question on His disciples: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16:15. The risen Lord raises the same question, in a different form, on the road to Emmaus: "What things?" Luke 24:19.
The Emmaus Disciples' Confession—and Their Lament
Cleopas and his companion answer with a real, if incomplete, Christology: Jesus of Nazareth was "a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people" Luke 24:19. Then comes the lament: "our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him" Luke 24:20. Their three categories—prophet, mighty one, suffering servant—echo the Old Testament prophetic office, including the description of Moses as one "mighty in his words and deeds" who was rejected by his own (Acts 7:22, Acts 7:35).
But their hope was misplaced: "we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel" Luke 24:21. They expected political redemption from Rome, not redemption from sin. They expected a Messiah who would kill, not one who would be killed. The cross was inconceivable to them as the means of salvation, and so the empty tomb left them confused rather than rejoicing.
The Danger of "My" Christology
The trouble was not that they had a Christology, but that they had placed "my" in front of it. They expected the Messiah to fulfill their expectations and solve their problems. We are tempted in the same direction—to assume Jesus exists chiefly to remove our difficulties, and to quietly conclude, when He does not, that He must be less than all-powerful, less than all-knowing, less than present, less than gracious. A "my" Christology shrinks God and produces a fake Christ.
Yet God often allows problems to remain precisely because He uses them to mature us and deepen our dependence on Him. Paul pleaded three times for his thorn to be removed and heard instead, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. Paul learned that when he was weak, then he was strong.
His Christology, Not Mine
At the cross, Jesus bore every sin—including the sin of refashioning Him into someone He is not. The empty tomb is God's trumpet sound that all of it has been atoned for, washed away in the victory delivered to us in baptism, with the gates of heaven opened to us. By grace, He keeps drawing us away from "my Christology" and embracing us with His. The right confession is not the Christ we have hoped for, but the Christ who has come, suffered, risen, and reigns.
Transcript
Do you want your Bibles please with me to the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. 2s
If you're using a few additional this morning, you're going to find that on page 78 for our 8s
study. 14s
Luke the 24th chapter. 14s
One of the beautiful things I think of our Easter season worship is something that's very 18s
simple. 24s
And something that's quite quiet. 25s
It's behind me the Christ candle. 30s
And you'll notice that the Christ candle is a flame all Easter season starting with the 33s
day of resurrection Easter Sunday and all through the Easter season. 41s
That is a flame because it is a reminder to us. 48s
That for the 40 days after the resurrection until the ascension there were many resurrection 53s
appearances of our Lord. 61s
In fact, there were 11 of them, 11 of them. 64s
So by the time Jesus came out of the tomb until he ascended into heaven ascension day. 70s
And then the Sunday right after ascension day is the day of Pentecost that we celebrate. 77s
For those 40 days there were 11 appearances of our Lord. 81s
The Apostle Paul gives sort of summary in 1 Corinthians the 15th chapter. 88s
He writes he appeared to seefus then to the 12. 96s
Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time. 99s
Most of whom are still alive. 104s
Those some have died. 106s
Then he appeared to James then to all the apostles. 108s
If you were going to try a court case and it was your job to defend the resurrection. 113s
You have quite a few witnesses. 121s
Don't you? 123s
That you can bring into the courtroom. 125s
I witness that saw the resurrected Christ, including the two. 127s
That were walking on the road to Amaz. 136s
Throughout this Easter season we are focused here in Luke 24. 142s
On the Amaz story changed by the risen Christ. 147s
You'll recall from our study last week that it's the day of resurrection. 154s
The two of them are walking. 159s
They're talking about all the things that have occurred. 161s
The risen Savior comes up to them, 164s
but their eyes at this point are kept from recognizing him. 168s
Look at verse 18. 173s
Then one of them whose name was Cleopis answered him, 176s
are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things 179s
that have taken place there in these days? 184s
He asked them, 188s
what things? 189s
And that question leads into Christology. 196s
In Matthew the 16th chapter, our Lord turned and he said, 210s
who do the people say that I am? 217s
Very susponses. 220s
And he turns to disciples and he says, 223s
but who do you say that I am? 225s
That is a crystallological question. 233s
And anyone that has heard of the name Jesus, 241s
anyone who has heard of Jesus Christ has a crystallology. 246s
A crystallology has to do with the person and the work of Christ. 254s
And so if anyone has heard the name of Jesus of Nazareth, 262s
Jesus Christ, they have a crystallology. 266s
They have some type of belief of the person and the work of Christ. 270s
It can be wildly incorrect or wonderfully accurate. 277s
But anyone who's heard of Jesus has a crystallology. 288s
So did these two walking along the road from Jerusalem to Amaz. 298s
Here they are, 307s
Christ, 308s
their understanding of the person and the work of Christ. 309s
Look again, verse 18, 314s
then one of them whose name was Cleopis answered him, 316s
are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days? 319s
He asked them what things they replied, 325s
the things about Jesus of Nazareth, here comes their crystallology. 330s
Who is a prophet mighty indeed and word before God and all the people? 336s
A prophet mighty and word indeed and then a third component, 347s
verse 20. 354s
And how our chief priest and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 356s
A prophet, one whose mighty one who suffers. 364s
That by the way is the essence of the office of the Old Testament prophet, those three components. 369s
I think for example, in Acts 7 chapter, 378s
it says, 385s
Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful, 386s
here it comes, in his words and deeds. 392s
Going on, verse 35, 399s
it says, it was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, 402s
who made you a ruler and a judge? 408s
Prophet mighty, suffering servant, 414s
the essence of the Old Testament prophet. 421s
And that was their crystallology, 427s
their understanding of the person and work of Christ. 430s
They had a crystallological lament back in Luke, verse 20. 438s
Here's the crystallological lament, 445s
how our chief priest and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 447s
That's their lament over their crystallology. 455s
And here is their crystallological hope. 459s
Next verse. 463s
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 465s
But how did they understand redemption? 475s
What was their crystallology? 479s
Their understanding of redemption was political. 483s
It was social reform. 491s
Their understanding of redemption was that the Messiah would come and redeem them from the rule of the Roman. 495s
And that crystallology, 510s
that understanding of the person and the work of Christ, 512s
that led to massive confusion. 518s
Going on, verse 21. 521s
We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 525s
Yes, and besides all this, it's now the third day, 528s
since these things took place. 531s
Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. 534s
They were at the tomb early this morning. 537s
When they did not find his body there, 539s
they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels 542s
who said that he was alive. 547s
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb 550s
and found it just as the women had said, 553s
but they did not see him. 556s
He was inconceivable, you see, for them. 561s
To think that the Messiah would be killed. 565s
Their crystallology is that the Messiah would be one who would kill, 572s
not be killed, that he would kill the Romans, 579s
that there would be an overthrow of their power. 584s
They didn't understand the cross as the means of redemption. 589s
Their concern was about the Romans and not their own sin. 598s
Their crystallology led to a false Christ. 608s
Book of the police, verse 21, 620s
but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. 624s
But because of their crystallology, 634s
they had a misplaced hope, didn't they? 638s
What was at the heart of it? 645s
What was at the heart if you had to reduce it down to the most simple 649s
forms? What was at the heart of their crystallology? 655s
It was my first year in seminary. 667s
Second quarter of my first year in seminary. 672s
Had a really interesting class, it was entitled crystallology. 677s
Very engaging, engaging professor. 686s
I didn't keep all of my seminary work, 692s
but as I was pondering this sermon this week, 696s
I seemed to recall that I wrote a paper in that class on the subject. 700s
And so I wanted to see if I happened to have kept it. 707s
So, when did the file, I dusted off the cobwebs on the seminary file, 710s
and low on behold, there it was, right in the file. 716s
So, I took it out. 722s
I was filled with a little bit of fear to be honest, 725s
wondering what it was that I had written. 731s
But I was pleased as I was reading it, 737s
that I didn't find myself disagreeing with myself. 740s
Except there was one glaring thing. 748s
One glaring thing that if I could write that paper all over again, 756s
one glaring thing, I would change. 761s
And it was the title, the title. 767s
The professor had told us to write a paper on crystallology. 777s
What our crystallology was. 787s
And so, I came up with a very imaginative title, my crystallology. 788s
But I see, that's the problem, 801s
because when you put my in front of crystallology, 807s
when my is the word, danger lurks. 817s
That was the problem with the two of them that were walking along the road. 831s
They had put my in front of crystallology. 838s
That was the problem. 844s
Their expectation of the Messiah, 847s
their crystallology of the person and the work of Jesus. 850s
Their crystallology was that the Messiah was going to fulfill their expectations. 858s
That was part of their crystallology. 865s
And so, when the Messiah didn't fulfill their expectations, 869s
when the Messiah didn't redeem as they thought the Messiah, 875s
that should redeem, they became sad. 880s
They became just lost in their thinking. 886s
They became confused. 890s
But their crystallology had led to a fake Christ, 893s
because it was my crystallology. 900s
As the two of them walked along the road, 904s
they had put my in front of their crystallology. 907s
Beloved, we are tempted to do the same thing. 911s
We're tempted to do the same thing. 915s
We're tempted to put my in front of crystallology. 917s
And really, we're tempted to do the same thing as the two that were walking along the road to a Mayus on that Easter day. 923s
We are tempted to have an understanding of the person and work of the Messiah 929s
that part of what Jesus is to do for us is to take away our problems. 938s
And to fulfill our expectations. 947s
Just as those two walking along the road to a Mayus, 950s
wanted the problem of the Romans alleviated, 953s
and that was part of their crystallology. 958s
Even to the tiniest of degrees, we can be tempted to do the same. 960s
And think that Jesus, part of our crystallology, 965s
his work, he exists to take away our problems. 970s
Because if he really loved us, 978s
why wouldn't he just take away all of our problems? 981s
But you see sometimes, God allows our problems to remain, 990s
because he uses them as vehicles to mature us, 995s
to chisel us into people that are more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. 1001s
He moves us out of the kindergarten of our walk into a greater and deeper dependence upon him, 1009s
and the vehicle that he so often uses are the problems that he allows to remain. 1019s
Poller in that lesson. 1027s
Poll writes in second Corinthians the 12th chapter, 1030s
he says, therefore, to keep me from being too elated, 1032s
a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. 1036s
To keep me from being too elated. 1042s
Three times, I appealed to the Lord about this that it would leave me, 1045s
but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, 1050s
for power is made perfect in weakness. 1054s
You see, there is God not removing the problem, 1060s
but allowing the problem to remain, because there was something to teach, 1063s
Poll, and what is it that you go on in that text? 1068s
What is it that Poll says? 1071s
He says that he's learned that when he's weak, he's strong. 1074s
He's learned that when there's dependency on the Lord, 1080s
that is his strength. 1084s
But we want in our lives can oftentimes not be what God wants for us. 1088s
And when we put my in front of Christology, 1101s
we can fashion a fake Christ. 1111s
What you can extend into so many other areas? 1118s
We can be tempted to believe that God is not all powerful. 1123s
And so as part of our working Christology, in our lives somehow, 1127s
to various degrees, we can believe that God is therefore not all powerful. 1132s
Why? Because he doesn't alleviate my problems. 1137s
If he was all powerful, then he would alleviate my problems. 1140s
And so in our Christology that we live, we can act as if God somehow was limited. 1145s
Somehow his hands are tied with regard to things. 1154s
There are just some things that he just can't do. 1157s
And practically speaking, as we live out that Christology, 1161s
that's really a terrifying place to be, isn't it? 1166s
To have a limited God, 1171s
we're tempted to believe we're tempted to embed in our Christology. 1175s
We're tempted to embed in it that God is not omnipresent. 1179s
We're tempted to believe that perhaps there are areas in our life that God isn't concerned about. 1186s
Or there are times when God is just simply absent and we're alone. 1190s
We can embed in our Christologies a practical understanding that plays itself out, 1196s
that somehow God just isn't omniscient, 1203s
that God doesn't know everything that is going on. 1205s
Again, limiting God. 1209s
We can create a Christology where His grace is not as wonderful in His all encompassing. 1211s
We can create a Christology in which His mercy is absent toward us. 1217s
We can do it in the most subtle of ways, 1225s
but it affects how we approach each and every day. 1228s
Why we can even come to the point where our Christology is reduced in Jesus to be just a good teacher. 1232s
The my can lead us a field. 1244s
We had hoped we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. 1256s
And my was in front of their Christology instead of His, His, His, His Christology. 1270s
When Jesus went to the cross, He took all of our sin on Him, all of it, 1300s
including the sin of the times and the degrees to which we make Him, what He's not. 1310s
And all of that sin, including those times when we make Him what He's not, all of it was born at the cross. 1328s
And the empty tomb is God's trumpet sound that all of our sin has been a tone for. 1337s
For given, washed in the victory of our baptisms, the gates of heaven opening and encompassing us in the glory to come. 1351s
And God and His grace keeps pulling us. 1375s
He keeps pulling us away from all the times when we put my in front of Christology. 1382s
He keeps pulling us all away and embracing us with His Christology, His. 1394s
One more question. 1417s
Can you guess what the topic of next week's sermon is all about? 1423s
Thank you. 1444s