Credentials

      When I go to the airport to fly out of Fairbanks, I am required to show my ID.  When I vote in our elections, once again I must show some credentials.  When I visit my bank, once again out comes some identification credentials.  When you read through the gospels about Jesus much of his ministry is sharing his credentials.  Jesus claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.  He claimed to be the Son of God, fully divine.  To make such a claim requires some credentials.  The gospel writers, Matthew in particular, show how Jesus fulfilled ancient prophecies about the Messiah.  In a sense this is Jesus’ first piece of ID.  For example, he is to be of the genealogical line of King David.  In addition, he was to be born in Bethlehem.  Throughout his life he fulfilled many prophecies; so many that the evidence is powerfully convincing. 
       In partnership with the prophecies, Jesus performed miracles.  This miraculous ministry was predicted hundreds of years before the arrival of Jesus (Isaiah 35:5-6).  He opened the eyes of the blind and in one of my favorite gospel stories the lame leaped and walked! (Mark 2:1-12).  When Jesus interacted with this lame man, he was very clear about his authority.  He told the lame man that his sins were forgiven.  Many of the Jews were shocked, for that is something that only God can do.  You or I can forgive a person’s sin against us, but we cannot give someone blanket forgiveness as Jesus does in this story.   Forgiveness for all sin is a God prerogative and Jesus blatantly claimed it.  Notice what he says, “which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven, or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So, he said to the man ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’” (Mark 2:9-11).   Therefore, when the man miraculously got up and walked, he confirmed the right and ability of Jesus to forgive the sins of people everywhere.  In addition, since that right belongs only to God, this miracle was a credential when Jesus claimed to be God.  We see the miracles as credentials when John the Baptist had his moment of doubt and sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he was the expected one or should they look for someone else.  Jesus answered, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:  The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised . . . (Matthew 11:4,5).  Jesus pointed to his miracles as his miraculous credentials proving who he said he was. 
      The final credential, his Real ID to use our terminology, was when he predicted his own death and resurrection, died and then walked out of his own grave just as he said he would (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31).  The earliest apostles died as martyrs saying that they saw the resurrected Christ.  James the half-brother of Jesus saw Christ after the resurrection and threw aside his doubts about his older sibling and became a devoted follower.  Saul, a zealous Pharisee who hated the church with a passion, did a spiritual U-turn after seeing the resurrected Christ and became one of the church’s greatest missionaries, church planter and apostle. 
     Study the case for Jesus as the Son of God. Our assessment of his identity dramatically affects our eternal destiny.  Jesus is more than a mere teacher, Rabbi, prophet, or revolutionary; he claims to be and is the Son of God.
Pastor Derek Dickinson
Journey Christian Church