Sabbath: Witnesses of Christ as the Messiah

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 19th of October 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: John 1:19-23, Isaiah 40:1-5, John 1:29-37, Romans 5:6, John 1:35-39, John 1:43-51, John 3:1-21.

Memory Text:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’ ” (John 3:3, NKJV).

No question, Jesus provided people with powerful scriptural evidence to back up the claims that He had been making about Himself, including “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47).

But there’s more: turning water into wine; feeding thousands with a few loaves of bread; healing the nobleman’s son; restoring the man at the pool of Bethesda; giving sight to the one blind from birth; raising Lazarus from the dead. The evangelist calls on a variety of events, and people—Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, male, female, rulers, commoners, educated, and uneducated—to bear witness to who Jesus is.

John points even to the witness of the Father Himself, and to Scripture, all giving evidence of Jesus’ identity.

This week begins with the powerful witness of John the Baptist. Other witnesses come on the stage as well: Andrew and Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael, and a most unexpected witness, the Pharisee Nicodemus. But another witness stands back in the shadows (that other disciple with Andrew, in John 1:35,40)—John himself.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 26.

Sunday–>

Print/PDF/Email

(20)

I quoted a paragraph from C S Lewis's "Mere Christianity" recently in this forum but I think the preamble to what I quoted then sets an important background to this week's lesson study.

Let me preface the quote with a couple of remarks. "Mere Christianity" started out as a series of radio broadcasts in 1941. Britain at that time was in the middle of World War 2. Christianity was already on the decline in Britain and surveys revealed that less than 28% of the soldiers even knew what Easter was. The story is told that is a pub in England, frequented by soldiers, the broadcast of Lewis's talk came on. The barman shouted for everyone to shut up and listed because this bloke was worth listening to. The bar was quiet for the next 15 minutes as Lewis gave his broadcast. His argument had passed the "pub test".

I became acquainted with "Mere Christianity" in the 1960s where it was required reading for a class in "Christian Evidences" at Avondale. I have my dog-eared paperback copy of the book on my bookshelf above my computer, where I still reach for it to reacquaint myself with why I still believe in Christianity.

Here is the quote from the chapter, "The Shocking Alternative":

Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.

One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct.

Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history. Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is "humble and meek" and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

[Note: The book is still available from multiple commercial sources but it is also available as a pdf, free.
Mere Christianity - C S Lewis]

(51)

Reply ↓

Comments

Sabbath: Witnesses of Christ as the Messiah — 6 Comments

Maurice Ashton on October 18, 2024 at 1:22 pm said:

I quoted a paragraph from C S Lewis's "Mere Christianity" recently in this forum but I think the preamble to what I quoted then sets an important background to this week's lesson study.

Let me preface the quote with a couple of remarks. "Mere Christianity" started out as a series of radio broadcasts in 1941. Britain at that time was in the middle of World War 2. Christianity was already on the decline in Britain and surveys revealed that less than 28% of the soldiers even knew what Easter was. The story is told that is a pub in England, frequented by soldiers, the broadcast of Lewis's talk came on. The barman shouted for everyone to shut up and listed because this bloke was worth listening to. The bar was quiet for the next 15 minutes as Lewis gave his broadcast. His argument had passed the "pub test".

I became acquainted with "Mere Christianity" in the 1960s where it was required reading for a class in "Christian Evidences" at Avondale. I have my dog-eared paperback copy of the book on my bookshelf above my computer, where I still reach for it to reacquaint myself with why I still believe in Christianity.

Here is the quote from the chapter, "The Shocking Alternative":

Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.

One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct.

Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history. Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is "humble and meek" and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

[Note: The book is still available from multiple commercial sources but it is also available as a pdf, free.
Mere Christianity - C S Lewis]

(51)

Reply ↓
- Valda Adriaanse on October 20, 2024 at 11:33 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much for sharing the link Maurice. I've been contemplating buying this book as many pertinent references to it has been cropping up ever so often in the last few weeks.
  
  (1)
  
  Reply ↓
- John Herscher on October 21, 2024 at 6:35 am said:
  
  Maurice needs another story. Seems as though Tim needs it too.
  
  I was a substitute teacher for a large Sabbath School class, in the 90's. Our teacher, a retired conference worker, was away and had asked me to take the helm for one Sabbath. I had a quote which I read, lo and behold. There was another retired preacher on the front row, the class room was full. He asked me the book and page number of the quote, I did not have it, so I instantaneously said, "Why do you ask?" He got a little red in the face and said so I could read it for myself. Makes sense. We should not rely on a sentence or paragraph here and there. Now, as we do with the Bible we should read for ourselves, overcoming being spoon-fed. Now, I am not knocking teachers, preachers, and doctors whose job is to spoon feed. We need to go beyond the spoon feeding and read for ourselves. Comprehension comes with the fervent readers. Hebrews 5:13-14.
  
  (5)
  
  Reply ↓
  - Maurice Ashton on October 21, 2024 at 12:57 pm said:
    
    Hehe! pp51-52 in the Fontana Edition but that changes in other printings. In the pdf version it is easier to find the chapter, "The Shocking Alternative" and I would recommend that. That is the rest of the dessert and you can enjoy it at leisure. 😀
    
    (5)
    
    Reply ↓
Tim Heischberg on October 18, 2024 at 6:10 pm said:

Maurice, thank you for mentioning C.S. Lewis in your comment. C.S. Lewis was a genius, very erudite, and was very capable of cutting through the "Christian-ease" of Christianity, and speaking spiritual concepts in the common man's language. This from a man who was once an atheist. We could learn much about witnessing and defending the faith following his method. I especially love the last paragraph which you cite. It is powerfully true.

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

So very true! So many people will either totally dismiss Jesus or accept Him as much less than He actually was and is. Let Him be in your life, what He came to be, your Savior, Lord, and God.

(39)

Reply ↓
Elsie _Rongo on October 19, 2024 at 1:04 pm said:

Thanks for your comments

(6)

Reply ↓