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Book: Matthew
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Matthew 22:42 What Think Ye Of Christ?
Intro. The tide of resentment is building against Jesus among the
religious leaders, they are in a verbal warfare. They are seeking
to trap Jesus so as to turn the tide of his popular appeal. The
Pharisee's had tried to catch Him in a question of paying taxes to
Rome. Sadducees had tried to make the resurrection look ridiculous,
instead He made them look ridiculous. The Pharisee's then took
another shot at Him, finally Jesus asked them a question. What
think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?
I. The text within the context.
A. The culture was a very strong patriarchal society. As long as
the father lived, he ruled over the family. Age or marriage did
not alter his rule. He was always addressed as and considered
the Lord over the family. Under no conditions would a father
call a son Lord.
A. The question of Jesus to them was concerning the
Messiah. "What do you think of the Messiah, whose Son
is He?"
1. The word of God to David was that God would
establish his house and from his seed the
Messiah would come.
2. When Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah he
said, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a
Son is given and the government shall be upon
His shoulder. He shall sit upon the throne of
David."
3. Isaiah 11, "There shall come forth a rod out of
the stem out of Jesse (The father of David) and
a branch shall grow out of his roots."
JER 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
EZE 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed
them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he
shall be their shepherd.
EZE 34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a
prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it].
B. It was the common expectation that the Messiah would be a
descendant of David, thus the title Son of David was one of
the Messianic titles.
1. The Pharisee's correctly answered Jesus, "The Son of
David."
2. Jesus then asked them how it was that David in the
Spirit called Him Lord? For David said, "The LORD said
to my lord, Sit thou on My right hand until I have made
thy enemies thy footstool." If David called Him Lord,
how can he then be his Son?"
II. I would like to consider the question outside of the context, "What
think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?"
A. This is what it comes down to. He is either the Son of God, or
He is the son of some unnamed man in Nazareth who had an affair
with Mary, and she tried to cover her indiscretion with this
wild story of angels visiting her and telling her that she had
found favor with God and she had been chosen to be the
instrument by which God would bring His Son into the world.
B. What are the chances of Mary's lying to cover her sin of
fornication?
We know that there are unwed mothers all of the time.
Fornication is a very common sin.
1. We know from Luke 1 that Mary was a deeply devout
person.
a. When she met her cousin Elizabeth who was also
pregnant under unusual conditions, for she had
been barren for years, she burst forth in
glorious praise that is commonly called the
magnificent.
b. She followed the law of Moses and went through
the purification rites after the birth of the
child.
c. According to the law she brought a sacrifice
for the first-born son. Incidentally as she
brought the sacrifice there was this Godly old
Saint that had received the promise of the
Holy Spirit that he would not die without
seeing the Messiah. When he saw Jesus, he took
Him up in his arms and blessed God. He then
prophesied over the child.
d. Do you think that Mary could have stood there
at the cross and watch her Son die for her sin?
If there was a unnamed man, surely she would
have confessed the cover-up story to save her
Son's life.
C. What are the chances that she was telling the truth?
1. The changed attitude of Joseph the man she was engaged
to.
a. He saw only two alternatives. Expose her, and
allow her to be stoned for her sin, or send her
away to some far off village where no one knew
her.
b. The angel gave to him a third alternative.
"Fear not to take Mary as your wife, for that
which is conceived in her of from the Holy
Spirit, and she shall have a Son and you shall
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins."
2. The fact that they were forced to come to Bethlehem
because of the edict of Caesar, and that the child was
born in Bethlehem.
Thus the prophecy of Micah was fulfilled, which named
Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah.
3. No man in history has had such an effect on the history
of the world as this man.
a. When you date your letters, you are
acknowledging His birth. 1994 years since
what?
b. Our whole Western culture has been influenced
by this Man.
4. Man through the years have tried to destroy Him, they
have long since fallen, He still lives on. Voltaire
claimed that he would live to see the day when no one
would believe this fairy tale any longer. One hundred
years after his death, the home he lived in had become
the head quarters of a Bible publishing house.
5. No man in history ever had so much written about him
before his birth.
a. For almost two thousand years the sages and
prophets had been foretelling His coming.
b. Over three hundred details were being given
concerning his birth, life, death, and
resurrection. Even the time of His coming was
predicted.
6. All of these prophesies were literally fulfilled by
this one Man.
a. Have you ever wondered concerning the chances
of such a thing happening?
Dr. Peter Stoner who was a professor at Pasadena College wrote a
fascinating little book published by Moody press called "Science Speaks"
In this book
he speaks of his class taking eight of the prophesies and calculating the
chance factor of one man fulfilling the eight prophesies, and using the
law of compound probabilities they estimated that the chances were one in
10 to the 28th power. Subtracting the population factor of all mankind to
that date to be 11 billion, they came up with a figure of 1 to the 17th
power. This many silver dollars would cover the state of Texas 2 feet
thick. Taking another 8 prophesies and assuming the same chance factor
you would have one chance in 10 to the 45th power. This many silver
dollars would create a ball with the center at the earth, and the edge
would be 30 times further away than the sun. Remember there were more
than three hundred prophesies.
b. You may say that many of the prophesies were
rather ambiguous. Perhaps, yet born in
Bethlehem, isn't very ambiguous, making His
entry on a donkey, being betrayed for thirty
pieces of silver, the money later thrown down
in the temple, then used to but a potters field
seems fairly clear to me.
c. Making His arrival 483 years after the
commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is
quite precise.
d. His then being cut off and the nation being
dispersed throughout the world is plain enough.
7. To not to believe takes a deliberate closing of your
eyes and mind to the facts.
8. It means your rejection of Him is a matter of choice.
You have deliberately chosen to reject Him, and there
can be only one reason for your choice. You have a love
for evil, you reject the high moral standards that He
espoused. You love the darkness in which you live.
III. What think ye of Christ, whose Son is He?
A. You cannot be politically correct and declare, "I think He was
a good man that has influenced our Western Culture."
1. I think that He might have been a prophet.
2. I think that He was a great philosopher.
3. I think that He was the greatest teacher who ever
lived.
4. Whose Son is He?
B. He has to be either the son of some man, or the Son of God.
1. He claimed to be the Son of God.
2. He made continual references to God as His Father, and
being sent by His Father into this world.
3. He was a liar, or He was speaking truth.
4. He was a fraud, or He was genuinely the Son of God.
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