What Will You Do With Jesus of Nazareth? I. Introduction A. Acts 2:22 1. Christianity has never been a religion of events in the shadows 2. The claim of Christianity is a public claim, based on a person known in the first century and attested by words and deeds 3. The claims have always been open to examination and criticism 4. If the Jews had never heard of Jesus of Nazareth, why would Peter preach as if they had? B. Jesus of Nazareth, by His public personality and His words and deeds done in the sight of men (cf. Matthew 5:14-16), in a sense demands that every person make decisions about how they perceive Him C. The question, therefore, must come: what will you do with Jesus of Nazareth? D. This question was acutely felt while He walked the earth 1. The Jews saw Him and all that He said and did, and we can see from the Scriptures how they strove to grapple with this question 2. Different persons ended up having different responses to Jesus E. Let us consider these responses II. Responding to Jesus A. How did the Jews respond to Jesus? B. The Pharisees and other religious authorities 1. We hear much of the responses of the Pharisees 2. The Pharisees, along with the chief priests and elders, have much to lose if Jesus in the Christ, for His teachings expose their faults and their arrogance (Matthew 23:12) 3. The Pharisees contemptuously dismiss Jesus as a sinner and a fraud a. After all, the Scriptures do not say that any prophet comes from Galilee (John 7:52) b. He is a sinner, for He "works" on the Sabbath (John 9:16, 24)! c. He casts out demons by Beelzebul (Matthew 12:24) 4. The Pharisees, of course, believed that they were somehow exempt from being born in sin and did not stand to have their authority questioned (John 9:34) 5. They therefore leapt upon any thing they could find to discredit Him, and they often went out of their way to find some way to trap Him (cf. Matthew 19:3, John 8:6, etc.) 6. They could not believe in Jesus-- to do so would mean the loss of their power and their identity (cf. John 11:47-48) 7. Not only this, but to maintain their power, they cast out all who would accept Jesus (John 9:22), and therefore they not only shut themselves out of the Kingdom, but they hindered others from entering (Matthew 23:13) 8. For their constant and willful unbelief, the Pharisees were condemned (Matthew 23:33) C. Those Having Doubts 1. We read that many Jews would speak together regarding Jesus and who He was (cf. John 7) 2. Some such persons always found reason to doubt 3. They perhaps could not explain the signs and wonders He was doing (John 7:25-26, 41)... 4. ...but they always found a reason to not believe! a. They "knew" where He was from, but they do not know from where the Christ will come (John 7:27) b. After all, He was from Galilee, not Bethlehem (John 7:41-42), in their view! 5. Let us not think that if such persons were told that Jesus was really born in Bethlehem but was really from Heaven that they would suddenly believe 6. Such persons are doubters, and would have found other reasons to doubt! D. Shallow Belief 1. There were other Jews, however, who were willing to say that He was a prophet or the Christ (John 7:41) 2. Many believed because they saw His signs and wonders, like the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:14) 3. There were even some who believed because they heard some of His words (John 8:30) 4. Nevertheless, the majority of such persons did not fully or truly believe, but had a shallow belief based on what they saw or what they were willing to accept 5. John 6: the people were willing to believe that He was the prophet when He gave them food, but when He taught them the need to follow Him, do what the Father says, and to eat His body/drink His blood, the majority no longer walk with Him (cf. John 6:26-66) 6. John 8: Some "believe" in Him, but Jesus knows that they are not really committed to Him proper, for they still follow their spiritual father Satan; after some difficult teachings, those who are said to "believe" in Jesus (John 8:30) pick up stones with which to stone Him (John 8:59) 7. John 12:37-43: many did not believe because they were hardened, but many did not believe because they loved the glory from men more than the glory from God E. His Disciples 1. There are some, however, who fully believe and accept Him 2. The Samaritan woman and her neighbors believe in Him, even if the Jews do not (John 4:1-42) 3. There were some who followed Him and remained with Him even if the teachings were not always pleasant or convenient-- the Twelve! 4. John 6:68-69 5. Notice that Peter does not necessarily show enthusiasm for everything that was taught, but he was wise enough to recognize that they were true because they came from the Holy One of God 6. Peter and the eleven could go nowhere else, for they knew that Jesus had the words of eternal life! III. Responding to Jesus Today A. Such is how persons in the first century responded to Jesus B. The question regarding Jesus demands an answer as much today as it did then C. Even though two millennia have passed, we still have the same types of persons today as then D. "The Pharisees": Religious Authorities 1. There are many today who cannot and will not accept Christ and His true teachings because such would require them to lose their positions and accept that they were not right 2. How many "authorities" in other religions or in denominations simply will not accept what Jesus says because it offends their belief systems? 3. How often will we see some of the most patently ludicrous arguments being presented to get around the manifest reality of what Jesus has said and done? 4. Furthermore, how often will all claims regarding what Jesus taught be rejected because such a one holds tenaciously to some tradition or belief of what is true and is unwilling to give that up, even if a mountain of evidence is piled up against it? 5. How often do we see this in discussions about baptism, or about instrumental music, or about elders and deacons, or other such things? 6. Are we guilty of this ourselves? E. Those Who Doubt 1. The world today is full of skeptics and doubters 2. Such persons have already established that they do not believe, and then they go ahead and find any reason to justify their unbelief 3. They will look for anything that could be considered a contradiction or an inconsistency 4. Even if each contradiction or inconsistency were answered, the person would quickly move on to another 5. It does not matter if the objection sustained is only a technical matter and pales in comparison to the mountain of evidence presented: if it allows one to feel justified in unbelief, then it will be tenaciously maintained F. Shallow Belief 1. Shallow belief is endemic in our society 2. How many polls show that a majority of Americans believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that there is a Heaven? 3. A good number even believe in Hell…but of course no one thinks that they are going there! 4. Such persons are willing to believe because it provides a benefit or as long as it is convenient 5. If one seeks food from a church-run food pantry, or medical care from a church-run hospital, it is easy to profess Jesus to receive a better quality of physical life 6. (Such is why such practices are beyond the work of the church and confuse matters more than help) 7. Many are willing to believe and to accept Jesus as long as they can remain comfortable 8. If their lifestyles get challenged beyond what they think is reasonable, or if the teachings of Jesus go against a cherished view of the world, or if great financial and physical cost is necessary to follow Jesus, they no longer walk with Him! 9. Such persons correspond to the rocky and thorny soils in Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23! G. True Disciples 1. Those who end up being Christ's true disciples are few (Matthew 7:13-14) 2. As with the Samaritans, so today: many times believers are found in the unlikeliest of places, among the people whom we would consider least expected to believe 3. Nevertheless, the true disciple is marked by the willingness to constantly humble himself before his Teacher, and follow Him, whether for good or ill (Matthew 10:24-25)! 4. The true disciple will say, as did Peter, that even though many things that Jesus of Nazareth taught are hard, and His path is often difficult, he can go nowhere else, for Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6:68, John 11:25, John 14:6) 5. Such persons who persevere are the ones who will be saved (Matthew 10:22)! IV. Conclusion A. The life and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth demand that every man make a decision about Him 1. One cannot go through life without making some kind of decision as to whether Jesus is the Christ and what they will do with Him 2. One can either choose to be with Him or against Him, to walk in His ways or to not walk with Him 3. There are eternal consequences for this decision! B. The question, then, comes to you today: what will you do with Jesus of Nazareth? C. Will you not believe, as the Pharisees and those who doubt did not? D. Do you think that you can be comfortable believing to a certain extent and a certain extent only? E. Or are you willing to become Jesus' humble and obedient disciple today, and be saved? F. Invitation/songbook