We love committees and group projects, because there is great power in agreement! Many heads are better and smarter than one. Also, being part of a group gives us a secure feeling, knowing that we are supported in what we think and do. Group dynamics also factor into creativity and provide strengths that compensate for weaknesses. Though working with others also presents challenges, it’s a beautiful thing when we are all on the same page; there is real strength in that. Yes, when consensus is reached, that’s a significant accomplishment!
However, in Nazareth around 28 A.D., the consensus was totally WRONG…
Luke 3:23 (NKJV): Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli…etc. [Read Luke 3:23-38 for the whole picture.]
When Jesus was about thirty years old, he began His public ministry. As was the consensus, He was thought to be the son of Joseph, grandson of Heli, etc., because that was thought to be his lineage. In Christ’s day, ancestry was everything. (That’s why we have so many genealogies in the Bible!) However, when it comes to determining the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth, all the men in the world can never come to the right answer, simply by agreeing!
There are two fundamental and essential reasons that the consensus of man will always fail in this matter. Firstly, as was the case in Jesus’ day, their premise was faulty making their conclusion incorrect. Simply put: They had the wrong facts. Jesus was NOT the Son of Joseph, as they thought. And secondly, Jesus’ true identity can never be known in a transformative way simply by putting facts together. The knowledge of who Jesus is must come by revelation – to the heart, not mere facts.
When Jesus came out of the wilderness, one of the first places He went to share the good news was to Nazareth, His hometown. They certainly knew Jesus; He grew up there! Like most small towns, everybody probably knew everybody’s business. They knew that this was the Wizkid who debated with the Pharisees in Jerusalem at age twelve – much to His parents’ chagrin! (Luke 2:41-52) No doubt they had also heard about Him turning water into wine and healing an official’s son in Cana! He had grown up to be more than a carpenter – a bit of a hometown here – who had returned to Nazareth to give them hope…
So, all eyes were on Jesus in the synagogue that sabbath, as He read from the beginning of Isaiah 61, as reflected in Luke, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV))
But then, He sat down and said something strange:“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21b NKJV) What?! Certainly, they were curious and maybe even a little confused, but “… all bore witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22 NKJV)
However, the mood clearly changed, when He jumped right out of the box of their assumptions! If Jesus had just stopped while He was ahead, everything may have been okay – but He didn’t. What happened next used up all His social cred and filled his hearers with WRATH!
Essentially, He told them that prophets are often rejected by those closest to them and must bestow their blessings upon others who will receive. Righteousness is what counts, not geography or nepotism, in His Kingdom! Indeed, the King was standing in their midst, saying things Joseph’s son had no right to say! So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way. (Luke 4:28-30 NKJV)
Throughout His Ministry, Jesus had to battle this very common misconception about His identity. Though it hindered His reception in some places, He never backed down or pulled His punches – even if they wanted to kill him! On another occasion, about a year and a half later, in Capernaum, the same thing happened… The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, I have come down from heaven?” (John 6:42 NKJV)
The miracles that drew people didn’t seem to matter the minute He talked about His Father. All of that went out the window, when people assumed He was the son of Joseph! In this case, He was speaking to them about coming down from heaven from His Father in heaven to do His will. Why couldn’t they see it? Because they were blind – spiritually blind – and Jesus’ true identity can only be spiritually discerned.
In His case, genealogies will always fall short. His mother was a woman, yes, but His Father was not a man. As Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:24a, “God is Spirit.” Jesus’ Father is Spirit, not human. So, if anyone is ever to know who Jesus really is, quite literally, His Father in heaven has to reveal this to them.
A few months later, Jesus spelled this out to His disciples: When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So, they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17 NKJV)
By this time, people were really confused about who this miracle worker was – and there was no consensus! With so many competing ideas, Jesus wanted to find out what His disciples thought. They weren’t very forthcoming, until Peter answered definitively – and correctly. His understanding and the boldness to voice it did not come from hearsay or the genealogies. It came from revelation – and that made all the difference. In fact, this kind of revelation knowledge is so important that Jesus builds His Church upon it!
Heaven-sent revelation of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God is the starting point for those who believe and bear the keys to His kingdom. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.” (Matthew 16:18-20 NKJV)
Some say “the rock” upon which the Church is built is Peter, himself, but that doesn’t fit the context. In this passage, Jesus is referring to Peter’s eye-opening understanding of who He was. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God … and upon this rock [of revelation] I will build my church.” Simon (Peter) was blessed, because God had personally revealed Jesus’ true identity to him. It is the personal revelation of Christ that qualifies us to be the Church that rules and reigns with Him, now, on the earth through His Spirit – and in His physical Kingdom when He returns. (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:6)
So, how important is it that we have a personal revelation of Jesus from the Father? It is vital.
Paul echoes this sentiment about the revelation of Christ, in 1Corinthians 12:3 (NKJV) when he says, … No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Paul wanted the Gentiles to know that salvation is based on a personal revelation of Jesus as Lord – master and complete owner. It always has been and it always will be!
So, how does this happen? How do we receive revelation? We must be born again from above – by the Spirit of God…
John 3 records a secret meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus, a famous teacher of the Jews… “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8 NKJV)
When we are born again from on high, our human spirit comes alive and sensitive to God. The “natural man” (born only of water, not also spirit) is hopelessly blind to that Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) tells us that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Nicodemus had the same problem that everyone else had: He needed to be born again to become a “spiritual man” – not just a religious one. Without the revelation of the Spirit, he could not see (or enter) the Kingdom.
Isn’t it interesting, though… In Matthew 16:20, after Peter let the cat out of the bag, Jesus told His disciples not to tell people that He was the Messiah. You’d think Jesus would want everyone to know Him – at least that’s the idea the Church seems to espouse. We want to tell everyone who He is! Not Jesus. He knew that “information” was not enough to produce saving faith; our understanding must be accompanied by personal revelation. Perhaps, that explains why many can hear the gospel – and only a small portion truly come to saving faith.
There is nothing wrong with the message (repent and believe). It just needs to be received in the heart, as personal revelation from the Father. Agreement in principle or giving mental assent to the gospel is not enough. Our spiritual eyes must be opened, because salvation is a spiritual thing – not merely mental or emotional – or simply a matter of human choice. Certainly, all of the above may be involved, but everything in Jesus’ Kingdom comes by revelation – by grace through faith – and is the gift of God! (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
Indeed, much of what Jesus had to say was obscure to those to who did not have “ears to hear.” (Matthew 13:9) In Luke 8:10, Jesus said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” Comprehending the things of the Kingdom must come through revelation from the Father by the Holy Spirit. Knowing God and having insight into His Kingdom is a gift – and to whoever has, to him more will be given. (Matthew 13:12) That’s how it works with revelation: There is always more to come!
In 1Co 2:9-12 (NKJV), Paul quotes from Isaiah 64:4, But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which god has prepared for those who love him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
So, concerning the Truth we seek, it will never be found in what others think, even in consensus – but in the heaven-borne revelation that brings rebirth. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him, personally. Saving faith is a gift that comes by the grace of God through the revelation of Jesus Christ, God’s Son – sent from heaven for our salvation. Ideas do not save us; Jesus does. May our eyes be opened to see Him!
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3 NKJV)
