Do You See Christ?

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE
DO YOU SEE CHRIST?
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 2:8
DECEMBER 24, 2009

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City was destroyed in the year 2001 in conjunction with the tragedy that was 9/11. When the twin towers fell, the south tower fell on top of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City and that 5-story church was destroyed and fell into the rubble. Today, if you want, you can go on the web and see the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, New York City, website. You’ll notice that they’re asking for prayer. Even today, they’re asking for prayer. They’re asking for money. For a variety of reasons, they have been unable to build. But the truth is that around the globe, around the world, in the Greek Orthodox churches, many are called St. Nicholas. This is after the 4th century Bishop of Myra, a man who, in that century, made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem that he might walk where Jesus walked.

According to tradition, St. Nicholas was incarcerated for his faith by the Roman emperor Diocletian. According to that same tradition, he was later released by Constantine the Great and ultimately became an emissary, a representative of the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD. St. Nicholas loved to give out gifts to children. His feast day is in December and he’s oftentimes associated with Christmas and in Germany St. Nicholas is called Father Christmas. In Holland, in the Dutch language, St. Nicholas is called Sinterklaas, which simply means St. Nicholas, but it has been anglicized as Santa Claus.

Of course, today we know that Santa has little to do with the historic person of St. Nicholas. And when St. Nicholas actually died, the Roman Catholic Church took his bones and declared them relics. And in the 12th century, Pope Urban II granted those bones to the Eastern Church, to the orthodox churches, and ultimately, incredibly, those bones came to be kept at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City. When the towers came down and when the rubble was formed, it all fell on top of the remains of St. Nicholas. It’s an amazing story. And yet, I think in this room we all know that Christmas isn’t really about St. Nicholas. I think in this room we all know that Christmas isn’t really about Santa Claus. Christmas is about Christ. Do you see what I see this Christmas? Do you see Christ?

You all know the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas. Not a lot of Hollywood movies give the Christmas message so clearly. That is, indeed, what Christmas is all about. When Linus says the words of the angels, “Do not be afraid,” he drops his security blanket. He didn’t need it anymore. Of course, he took it with him off the stage, but it’s all about Christ. If you’re a Christian, you believe that Jesus is the Christ. That’s what it means to be a Christian: Someone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Christ is not a name. It’s a title. The Christ. And it means “the anointed one.” It has the exact meaning as the Hebrew “Messiah.” Both of these words, Christ and Messiah, mean the anointed one, the promised anointed one. If you’re a Christian, you believe Jesus Christ is the promised anointed one.

In Israel there were 3 anointed offices: prophet, priest, king. The prophesies in the Old Testament proclaimed that there would come one who would fulfill all three offices: prophet, priest, king. He would be the fulfillment of all the anointed offices, the Christ. And so, tonight I want us to take a closer look at this title “the Christ,” and ask the question, “Do you believe? Do you see what I see? Do you see the Christ?”

First of all, he would fill the office of prophet. Now, I don’t think there’s any role, any calling, more misunderstood than the call of prophet. Now, one of my favorite stories concerns Aeschylus. Aeschylus was a Greek philosopher. He was also a Greek theologian and he was also a Greek playwright and he wrote Greek tragedy. Now, I really am not impressed with his philosophy or his theology or even his plays, although he is said by many experts to rival Shakespeare. But what fascinates me about Aeschylus is the manner of his death. He died in 456 BC. He was walking along a country road. He was 69 years old and suddenly from the sky fell a tortoise, and it landed on his head and killed him. By all the ancient accounts, this is tradition and apparently in that region of the Greek world where Aeschylus lived, eagles fed on tortoises. Eagles loved to dine on tortoises and they had to air lift them and then look around for a rock on which to drop the tortoise so as to open it up. And Aeschylus was bald. It’s been said that instead of the story of the tortoise and the hare, this is the story of the tortoise and the no hair. Aeschylus was bald, so the tortoise broke open, and of course, Aeschylus died.

Now, in that region there was a prophet. There was a prophet and an oracle who had predicted that in the future Aeschylus would die by a blow from heaven and this prophet was launched into fame because of what appeared to be a fulfillment. And I think at that time, and I think in this time, then and now, most people when they think of prophesy think of predicting the future. Maybe that’s true of many of you. Maybe when you think of prophesy, you think of an oracle. Maybe when you think of prophesy you think of someone predicting the future.

But the biblical concept of prophet has little to do with that. The Hebrew word for prophet is “nabi.” The Greek word for prophet is “prophetes.” These words both mean the same thing. They mean to speak for God or to speak God’s word: To speak forth the word of God. This was the prophetic office. That word of God might concern something that’s already happened. It might concern something in the present, something that is going on now, or it might concern, on rare occasions, the future. But it was the word of God. So, the prophet was concerned with proclaiming the word of God.

Now, you notice in the Bible Jesus is called the Word. He’s called the Word because he is the fulfillment of the prophetic office. He is the Christ, the anointed one. He fulfills the anointed office of prophet. He is the fulfillment, so he is the Word. He doesn’t just speak for the Word. He is the Word. John 1—he is the Word. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So if you’re a Christian, you believe this. You believe he is the Christ, the fulfillment of the prophetic office.

Now, this title, the Word, is a little bit different in the Greek and the Aramaic and the Hebrew languages. This title the Word in the Greek language is “logos,” which in Greek philosophy was the title given to the mind of God. The mind of God is called the Word, and in fact, from this word logos we get our English word logic. So, for the Greek to say that Jesus is the Word is to say he is the mind of God. He is the logic of God.

Now, for the Hebrews, this title the Word is expressed in the Hebrew term “dabar,” which means the Word, but the Hebrews used it for the creative power of God because God spoke the universe into existence. God spoke the universe into existence by his word, so the Word is the creative power of God: Dabar. And so, to say that Jesus is the Word is to say that he is the creative power of God. The Word means the mind, the logic of God, and the creative power of God.

In Aramaic, which was the common, everyday language of the Jews in the time of Jesus, this title the Word is expressed through the term “memra,” and this word memra was used by the Jews in the time of Jesus as a title for God because they were afraid to say the name of God. They used it as a circumlocution for the name of God and they called God “The Word.” So, here we have it. Jesus is the Word: He is the mind and logic of God, the creative power of God. And that’s why at Christmas we understand this title, Emmanuel. He is God with us.

But you need to understand that in all three of these languages—Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic—this title, the Word, had a secondary meaning and it was common to all three. And that secondary meaning was “truth.” To say that “this is the Word” is to say “this is the truth.” So, to say that Jesus is the Word is to say that he is the truth. That’s why in John’s prologue it says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. The true light, which enlightens every man, was coming into the world.” So, he is the truth. He is the true light. He is the one who enlightens the world. So, he is the fulfillment of the prophetic office. You’re saying a lot when you say Jesus is the Christ, that he’s the anointed one, that he is the very fulfillment of the prophetic office. You are saying he is the truth. He is the true light. He is the enlightenment of the world.

I ask you this. God would ask you this tonight. Where do you find truth? I mean, think about it in your life. Where do you find truth? Particularly, where do you find moral truth? Where do you find your morality? Where do you find theological truth? Where do you find your worldview? If you believe Jesus is the Christ, you find it in him. You find your worldview in him. You find your morality in him. You find your doctrine and theology in him, because he is the truth. Philosophers come and go. Theologians come and go. Religions come and go. If you’re Christian, you find your truth in Jesus, the fulfillment of the prophetic office.

Now, secondly, to say that he is the Christ means that he is the fulfillment of the priestly office, the second anointed office in Israel. The Priest. He fulfills that office. He is the very fulfillment of the priestly office. Now, when you think of a priest, what do you think of? Maybe you think of an intercessor. Priests were certainly intercessors between God and man. So, maybe you think of an intercessor, someone who would pray for you. That’s a priest.

From time to time, because I hold a priestly office, I’m asked to pray at certain events and sometimes when I’m asked to pray at this event or some other event, people will say to me, “Now, we would like you not to pray in Jesus’s name. Don’t pray in Jesus’s name because this is going to be a mixed audience. There’s going to be some Christians here, but also some Jewish people here and maybe some Muslims here and we’re going to have some atheists, so don’t pray in Jesus’s name.” And I always say, “Well, I think you need to find somebody else.” I thank them for their invitation, but I say I think you really need to find somebody else because I pray in Jesus’s name because he’s my high priest and intercessor. And so, you understand, I’m grateful for the fact that we live in a democracy. I understand there is a free marketplace of ideas and should be in a democracy, but I think you don’t need to neuter people. I think if you ask a Jewish person to pray, they should pray a Jewish prayer. I think if you ask a Muslim to pray, they should pray a Muslim prayer. I think if you ask an atheist, they should probably decline. But you see, if you ask a Christian to pray, you should expect a Christian prayer.

You see, I really believe in Jesus. I believe he is the Christ. I believe he is the way, the truth, and the life. I believe no one comes to the Father but by him. I believe he is my high priest and my intercessor. I seek to pray in his character and to pray in his authority. I pray in his name. So, that is part of the priestly office to recognize that he is our great intercessor, but it’s not simply that. To say that Jesus fulfills the priestly office is much more because one of the ways the priest interceded for the people had to do with their sins. The function of the priests of Israel was to intercede for the people on behalf of their sins.

So, the priests of Israel offered sacrifices on the altars of Israel. They offered the blood of animals. The high priest would go into the Holy of Holies in the temple on Yom Kippur, and prior to that the tabernacle. He went where no one else could go and there he sprinkled the blood of animals on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the presence of the shekinah, in the presence of God, seeking atonement for the sin of the people. But you see, Jesus is the final sacrifice. He is the final sacrifice and he offered his own body as atonement for our sins. He is the fulfillment of the priestly office. He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to die. He came to fulfill the priestly office: To be sacrificed, to be crucified for the sin of the world and substitutionary atonement. So, when you say he is the Christ, you’re recognizing that he fulfills the anointed office of prophet and he is the truth. You’re recognizing that he fulfills the anointed office of priest and he is the sacrifice for sins, the high priest and intercessor, the one who atones for the sin of the world.

So, where do you find forgiveness? I mean, if you’re a Christian, you find it in Jesus. You find it in Christ. Around the world there are people who seek forgiveness and God bless them. And there are Hindus who fall into the Ganges River crying out for forgiveness, thinking that those allegedly sacred waters, which are now polluted, might somehow cleanse them. And, of course, in all the aesthetic traditions there are people who practice self-flagellation seeking to atone for their own sin. And, of course, in Islam there is the belief that in the final judgment there will be two angels and one will have a list of all your sins and the other will have a list of all your good deeds and you can only hope that somehow your good deeds exceed your sins. But there’s no forgiveness. Jesus is the savior, only Jesus, who died for the sin of the world. It was only Jesus who claimed to. He is the Christ, the anointed one. He fulfills the anointed office of prophet and priest.

Maybe you love giving gifts. Maybe you love sending out Christmas cards and receiving Christmas cards. Maybe you love the whole Christmas tree deal and the decorations, and you love to put up the tree every year, and yet you know something is missing. Maybe in the midst of it all, in the midst of all the lights and all the noise, you feel a depression, a kind of emptiness. And maybe this is the night you need to embrace the Christ with forgiveness of your sins because he fulfills the priestly office, and as the source of truth, because he fulfills the prophetic office.

There is one more office, and really in terms of the title the Christ, this the most important of all. Normally, when you see this title, “the Christ,” it means this: King. There was a third anointed office in Israel and it was the anointed office of king. Above all else, when you say Jesus is the Christ it means he’s the king. So, if you’re a Christian and you really say he’s the Christ, you’re saying he’s the king.

Now, some of you have traveled to Ohio and you’ve gone to the city of Cincinnati. The city of Cincinnati is named after the society of the Cincinnati, which drew its name from the Roman general and the Roman statesman Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus, in the year 458, was on his farm plowing his field and Romans came to him. They came to this famous general and they said, “We need you and the time is now. Armies are approaching Rome and they are going to attack us. We need you to come in your brilliance and lead the armies of Rome.”

So, Cincinnatus left his farm, went on that relatively short journey into the city, and he led the Roman armies to victory. Sixteen days later, just 16 days later, he returned to his farm and began to plow his fields again. When he had won that victory over the invaders, historians record that he was offered the kingdom. He was offered kingship and he turned it down. He turned it down.

Now, that’s why in some of the ancient literature George Washington is called the American Cincinnatus. He’s called the American Cincinnatus because he also turned down the kingship. After the war of independence there were some who wanted to make George Washington king. We actually have in historical archives a letter from George Washington dated May 22, 1782, and in that letter, he renounces kingship and he also renounces anyone who would want to make him king.

Now, there are some people who say, “Well, Jesus kind of did that.” They say that when Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he came down the Mount of Olives, down the Kidron Valley, approaching the Holy City, the walled city, and as he approached it, thousands and thousands of people lined the roadside shouting, “Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed is the king, blessed is the king!” And it’s often said he renounced the kingship. And that’s not really true. I mean he is and forever shall be king. But you see, he didn’t come into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday to fulfill the kingly office. He came into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday to fulfill the priestly office. He came to die in atonement for the sin of the world. That’s why he came.

The Bible says he’ll come again. He’ll come again in power and great glory. He’ll come with the angelic hosts and he will beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation anymore and the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. He shall reign forever and forever, the Christ, the king, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And if you’re a Christian you have embraced his kingship and his reign. We sing, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, glory to the newborn king” at Christmastime. We’ve sung that all of our lives. And, of course, as we sing Christmas Carols, we sing Isaac Watt’s great hymn, “Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king.” But the question is, “Do you believe? Do you see what I see? Do you see the Christ? Do you see the king? We live in a world where there’s not a lot of authority, at least not a lot of authority that is widely accepted.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, it shows how authority sometimes is not responded to. They made Charlie the director of the Christmas pageant and then didn’t pay any attention to him. They just kind of did their own thing, danced to their own music. I couldn’t help but think, as I was watching that movie again this last week, of how it reminds me of God and his son Jesus Christ. We call him king, and then we just do our own thing. Everybody’s busy dancing to their own music, but not to his. We don’t embrace his reign.

There’s a lie that’s out there with regard to the Christian faith. It’s a lie that you can become a Christian and not make him king. No, you see, a Christian is somebody whose accepted him as the Christ. You have to take it all or nothing. You can’t just say, “Oh, I accept him as the Christ in the sense of the priestly office. So, I’ll take him as savior. I’ll take him as a sacrifice for my sin. I’ll accept the fact that I find forgiveness in him. I’ll just take that.” No, you’ve got to take the whole title.

So, if you say he’s the Christ, you understand, he’s the truth. He fulfills the prophetic office. He is the Word of God, so he’s the truth and he is also the source of forgiveness because he fulfills the priestly office, but then most importantly, he’s the king. So, where do you find authority? I mean, where is your authority in life? It must be Christ if you are a Christian. So, a Christian is somebody who’s made that decision, as Peter did so long ago. Remember Caesarea Philippi? Jesus said, “Who do you say that I am?” It was Simon Peter who said, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father.” And you see, all through the centuries those who become Christians are those who make that same confession. “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” That was the confession Martha made outside of Bethany when Lazarus had died. “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” And that’s the confession we must make.

So we close this Christmas Eve and maybe you’ve never made that confession. It involves the relinquishment of your life. It’s what it means to be a Christian. It involves embracing him as truth, savior, and king. It involves the whole deal when you say he’s the Christ. When you make that declaration and you give him your life, he makes you a child of God and brings you into his kingdom and you live forever and ever. This is the gospel, and I share it with you tonight. Let’s close with a word of prayer.