"His Christology" 4-30-23
Overview
His Christology: Knowing Christ on the Road to Emmaus
On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walked with the risen Jesus and did not recognize him. When they described the man they thought was the Messiah, their words revealed a faulty Christology—a Jesus too small, hemmed in by their expectations and limited hope. Jesus' response in Luke 24:25-27 is not cruelty but loving reproof: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!" They knew the Scriptures, yet they had missed the One the Scriptures were about. Throughout church history, heresy after heresy has arisen from precisely this error—an incorrect understanding of who Jesus is.
Jesus tells them it was necessary that the Messiah suffer and enter his glory—a word that carries both senses of required and inevitable. The atonement was required because, as Leviticus 17:11 declares, "the life of the flesh is in the blood," and it is the blood that makes atonement. Yet the priests' daily sacrifices could never finally take away sin Hebrews 10:11, for "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" Hebrews 10:4. Because the human heart is bent toward evil from youth Genesis 8:21, no human could atone. So God himself entered humanity to provide the pure sacrifice—"we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" Hebrews 10:10.
Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Christ is woven through the whole of Scripture: the promised offspring who crushes the serpent Genesis 3:15, the blessing of the nations through Abraham Genesis 22:18, the Passover lamb Exodus 12 and the scapegoat that bears the people's iniquities Leviticus 16:21-22, Immanuel born of the virgin Isaiah 7:14, and the suffering servant who was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities Isaiah 53. Melanchthon said, "To know Christ is to know his benefits"—but it works the other way too: to know his benefits is to know Christ. To know that he lived sinlessly, bore our transgressions on the cross, rose triumphantly, washes us in baptism, and feeds us with his body and blood—this is to know who he truly is.
This is what we confess every week: Jesus Christ is true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man born of the Virgin Mary. At great cost he has redeemed us—not with silver or gold, but with his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death—that we might be his own and live under him in his kingdom. In Christ, "God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" 2 Corinthians 5:19-21. The chains of sin and death are cut. And in that freedom, we are sent as his witnesses—to proclaim his benefits to friends, family, and neighbors, that they too may come to know Christ.
Transcript
If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, the 24th chapter. 3s
If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, that is on page 78 of the New Testament. 11s
We are continuing our walk on the road to Amaz in the Gospel of Luke 24. 18s
Melanchthon, who is one of Martin Luther's comrades, one who wrote the Augsburg confession. 28s
So, Melanchthon had this sort of battle cry, and he would say, to no Christ is to no His benefits. 40s
And when we know Christ, which I think we all would say we do, when we know Christ, we can turn to His Word, 48s
and we can find and mark the benefits, and we know that because we know Christ, we will see Him in His Word. 58s
I had a seminary professor who said, it's actually the reverse. 70s
It's actually the reverse. We're going to get to that. 78s
But let's first begin where our text today begins in verse 25. 84s
So, these two disciples have been walking along this road. We know this is about a seven-mile 90s
stretch of road that comes into play because Jesus talks a lot to them. So, we know that they have seven 96s
days are kept from recognizing Him. Remember, these are disciples who knew Jesus or who thought 107s
they knew Jesus, but their eyes are kept from recognizing Him. When he asks what they're discussing, 114s
and they tell Him that they're talking about this man Jesus, who they thought was the Messiah, 120s
and then they lay out their idea of who Jesus was, who they think they know Jesus to have been. 126s
And we realize that their Christology, their thoughts of who Jesus was, their understanding of Christ, 137s
was wrong. It was wrong. As you go through church history, you see, 147s
heresy after heresy arise. And heresy after heresy arises because of incorrect 154s
Christology, incorrect understanding of who Jesus is. Verse 25, Jesus said to them, 163s
oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared 174s
foolish men. Foolish and slow of heart. He's not being cruel here. He's not being cruel. 182s
He's pointing out their doneness of mind, their difficulty in understanding what they should have 191s
known about Christ. By their own Christology, they were drawn into a false 200s
Christology, and they were limiting Jesus. They were limiting God Himself. And so Jesus is 210s
reproving them here. He's reproving them because they have a weakness of faith. They knew the 219s
scriptures, they knew the prophets, they should have known Jesus. But in their weakness of faith, 228s
they got their understanding of Jesus wrong. They had a false Christology, and they were filled 237s
with hopelessness. So Jesus is telling them, you should know, you should know through the 246s
prophets and the scriptures, all that the prophets have declared this thread of grace that runs 254s
throughout the whole of scripture. When we talk about scripture, we are not talking only new 262s
testament. There is the entirety of Moses' books, there's the entirety of the prophets, and all of the 270s
writings of the historical books, the Psalms, the Proverbs. That is also scripture. 278s
Through that, this thread of Christ, this thread of grace runs throughout. And what have 287s
the prophets declared? Looking at verse 26, Jesus continued, was it not necessary that the Messiah 296s
should suffer these things and then enter into His glory? Necessary is a very difficult 306s
word here. It's a very difficult word because necessary can be that which is required. 315s
Necessary can also be that which is inevitable. In this case, necessary is twofold. It's 326s
both something that is required and something that is inevitable. The necessity of the Messiah's 338s
suffering and entry into glory was established by God, by the counsel and the decree and the wisdom 347s
of God himself before time. The sacrifice for sin was required. The sacrifice for sin was required 354s
in Leviticus. It says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you 368s
for making a toement for your lives on the altar. For as life, it is the blood that makes a toement. 374s
In Hebrews, the author says, every priest stands day after day at His service offering again and again 384s
the same sacrifices that can never take away sin required is the atonement for sin. 391s
And so the priests offer sacrifice after sacrifice, but sacrifices that continued to be made 406s
continued to be required to be made because they will never fully atone for sin. 415s
Atonement for sin is required. It is necessary because as Moses writes in Genesis, 427s
the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth. No man can atone fully for sin. 435s
The priests were ordered to make atonement for sin, but they had to do it over and over again 446s
day after day, year after year. The sacrifice for sin that would be fully accepted was inevitable. 455s
It was inevitable. In Hebrews, the author writes, for it is impossible to take the blood of 468s
bowls and goats. It is impossible for the blood of bowls and goats to take away sins. It is by God's 475s
will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 482s
In the gospel of John, Jesus in his priestly prayer before He is heading to the cross says 490s
to the Father, I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 496s
It was inevitable that God would have to enter into humanity. It was inevitable that God 505s
himself would have to provide the pure sacrifice to make full atonement for sin. 514s
Jesus, man, God entered into the humanity because it was required and it was inevitable. 526s
It was necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory. 543s
Verse 27, then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about 554s
himself in all the scriptures. We don't know exactly what passages Jesus shared with these two 561s
disciples. We do know that they had a good portion of that seven miles as they were walking along 572s
where He could open up and interpret the scriptures for them. We know that He began with Moses. 578s
We know that He began with those prophets and He worked His way through scripture. 587s
Interpreting scripture for these two disciples so that they would see 595s
Christ. They would see who Christ was is and will forever more be. 602s
So who is Christ? Who is Christ? What has He done? 614s
Beginning with Moses, Christ is the promise, the promise to Eve that God will put 620s
enmity between the serpent and the woman in between His offspring and hers. 628s
He will strike the serpent's head and He will strike His heal. Christ is the promise to Abraham 634s
by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing. Christ is the pastoral lamb 640s
of Exodus and the scapegoat of Leviticus where Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head 649s
of the live goat and confess over it all the inequities of the people of Israel. 656s
The goat shall bear on itself all their inequities. Christ is Emmanuel. In the prophet Isaiah, 662s
therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman, the virgin, is with child 673s
and shall bear a son and shall name him, Emmanuel, God with us. Christ is the suffering servant 680s
who bore our griefs. Isaiah the 53rd chapter. Surely He has borne our infirmities and 690s
carried our diseases yet we accounted Him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, but He was 700s
wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the punishment that made 709s
us whole and by His bruises, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned 718s
to our own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of all. He was oppressed and He was 728s
afflicted yet He did not open His mouth like a lamb that has led to the slaughter and like a 740s
sheep that is before its shears is silent so He did not open His mouth by a perversion of justice 745s
He was taken away. Who could have imagined this future for He was cut off from the land of the 754s
living stricken for the transgression of my people, they made His grave with the wicked and His 761s
tomb with the rich, although He had done no violence and there was no deceit in His mouth. 768s
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him with pain. When you make His life 776s
and offering for sin, He shall see His offspring and shall prolong His days through Him, the will 782s
of the Lord shall prosper. Out of His anguish, He shall see light. He shall find satisfaction through 792s
His knowledge, the righteous one, my servant shall make many righteous and He shall bear their 801s
nicquities. Therefore I will a lot Him, a portion with the great and He shall divide the spoil with 813s
the strong because He poured Him out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, 820s
yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. 828s
Christ is the one who is the suffering servant. Christ is the one that the prophets spoke 843s
about. To know Christ is to know His benefits, but it's reversed. To know His benefits is to 857s
know Christ to know that Christ entered into humanity, that Christ entered in living a perfect 874s
life, sinless, righteous, to know that Christ suffered death on the cross, 884s
taking the iniquity bearing the sin, the transgressions of every single one of us, 893s
to know that Christ rose triumphantly from the grave, to know that He walked with these two disciples 903s
teaching them, leading them, guiding them, to know that Christ washes us clean in the waters 913s
of baptism calling us as His own, to know that Christ feeds us with His own body and blood in the 926s
hour sins, the tangible grace of Christ, to know the benefits of Christ is to know Christ for us. 943s
Holy One's slow of heart. What Jesus opened to these disciples on the road to amaze, 958s
what He opened to those disciples is Himself. What He opens to us every single time, 973s
we read scripture every single time we hear His word proclaimed, He opens Himself to us, 981s
that Jesus is the living word of God, that He is our mediator, He is our demer, 991s
and through His blood we are reconciled to the Father. As Paul writes, Christ was made sin for us. 1001s
Taking upon Himself our sins and their punishment. Every week, we confess the true Christology. 1011s
We confess His Christology every week. We confess that we believe in Jesus Christ. 1023s
In Martin Luther's explanation of the second article of the Apostles Creed, 1033s
He writes that what we are confessing is that we believe that Jesus Christ is true God, 1038s
son of the Father from eternity, and true man born of the Virgin Mary, and that He is indeed our Lord. 1045s
At great cost, He has saved and redeemed us, lost and condemned people. 1055s
He has freed us, freed us from sin, freed us from death and the power of the devil, 1065s
and He did not do this with silver or gold, but He paid the debt. He paid the price with His Holy 1071s
and precious blood with His innocent, suffering and death. We confess that all this, all this, 1081s
He has done that we may be His own, that we may live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him 1090s
in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. We confess that we believe that just as 1097s
He is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally, we will rise with Him to live eternally 1111s
in the presence of His glory. This is His Christology, and this is most certainly true 1123s
Christ. In Christ, my brothers, my sisters, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself. 1143s
He was counting our trespasses not against us for our sake. He was made to be sin, 1157s
who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 1166s
My brothers and sisters, in His Christology, in the truth of who He is and what He has done 1176s
for us, He has freed us. He has come through cut the chains of sin, cut the chains that we are 1185s
bonded to the devil, and He has let us ride in the glory of His Spirit. In that freedom, 1194s
we are called as His missionaries. We are called to preach, to proclaim, to be witnesses of His 1208s
glory so that we can proclaim His benefits to our friends, our family, our neighbors, so that they may know 1217s
His benefits and that they may come to know Christ and His Christology. 1232s