Christian Basics Home

Christian Basics Session 1: Good reasons to believe?

 

Session 2: Who is the Christ?

Recap

  1. Last week we looked at the start of Luke’s gospel.  We found that Luke provides two major reasons to believe in Christ: the Old Testament predictions about Jesus, and the eyewitnesses to what Jesus said and did.
  2. There was also homework to read Luke 1-2 and come with questions.  So does anyone have questions?
  3. Luke's gospel finishes in a similar way to which it starts.  Let’s read Luke 24:44-48.

   He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

  1. Our two key reasons for believing are here.  ‘The Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms’ in verse 44 is Jesus’ way of speaking of the Old Testament.  In verse 48 he tells the disciples that they are the witnesses that these things happened to Jesus.
  2. The titles for our next five sessions come from verses 46-47.  The topics are: ‘Who is the Christ?’, ‘A Man Suffers to Forgive Sins’, ‘The Christ Suffers for Sins’, ‘The Christ Rises from the Dead’, and ‘Forgiveness of Sins for all Nations’.

What is a Christ?

  1. The first thing we are told in verse 46 is Jesus’ title.  Let’s read verse 46:  ‘The Christ must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.’  This term 'Christ' is a title given to Jesus.  It is obviously important – for one thing, the religion is called Christianity.  What does it mean?
  2. The Greek word ‘Christ’ is the same as the Hebrew word, ‘Messiah’.  It means ‘the anointed one’, or ‘the king’.  The point is that the Old Testament speaks of a special king.  And it predicts certain things about this king.
  3. Today, we’re going to see how this king is predicted in the Old Testament.  But first, we need to know the Old Testament’s timeline.  [See timeline].  Notice that David was an important king around 1000BC.  Notice also that Isaiah was an important prophet, who wrote in about 750BC.  We’re going to read something that God said to David first. Then we’ll read something that Isaiah said about David’s offspring.


  1. So first, we’ll read about David.  Find 2 Samuel 7: 16.  Here’s what God said to David:

16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'"

  1. In this verse, a house doesn’t mean a building.  It means David will have descendants who will also be kings – he’ll be the first in a ‘royal family’.  One of David’s sons will be king.  And one of David’s son’s sons will also be king.  And so on.  And this will go on forever. 
  2. We need to pay close attention to this word, ‘forever’.  In this passage, it is applied to the throne of David.  It means that there will always be a place for one of David’s family to be king.  This ‘throne of David’ will last forever.
  3. About 250 years later, Isaiah speaks about this same throne.  Here we get the big idea for today’s study:  The Old Testament promises a king, descended from David, who will rule forever.  He’s called the Christ.  The Old Testament promises a king, descended from David, who will rule forever.  He’s called the Christ.
  4. Let’s read it in Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

  1. Notice three things.  First, this passage is about a king.  Verse 7 says ‘he will reign’.  That means he will rule.  He will be king.  Second, this king is descended from David, verse 7.  That’s part of being ‘on David’s throne’, as we saw in 2 Samuel 7.  So this king is part of David’s house.  Third, this king will rule forever.
  2. That might seem strange at first.  Because to rule forever, you have to live forever.  But that’s what Isaiah says.  It’s more than just that the throne will last forever.  This one king will rule forever.  This is the promised king that is sometimes called the Messiah.  He’s sometimes called the Christ.

The Christ in Luke’s gospel

  1. You might have noticed that at the start of Luke’s gospel, we are told that Jesus is this person.  We are told in Luke 1:32-33, where an angel says this about Jesus:

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

  1. This is said in the same way that Isaiah said it, 750 years earlier.
  2. We find it put more simply in Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

  1. When you read further this week, you might also wonder why there is a long genealogy in Luke 3.  A genealogy is a word which means a list of ancestors.  Let’s read Luke 3:23 now.

23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, […]

 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, […]

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

  1. So this family list[1] shows that Jesus is descended from David.  This is one important reason that the family list is given – to show that Jesus qualifies to be the Christ.  It’s important because the Christ had to be descended from David. 
  2. The question for us is a simple one: will we have Jesus as our King?
  3. Any questions?

Big Idea

  1. Today’s session has one big idea: The Old Testament promises a king, descended from David, who will rule forever.  He’s called the Christ.
  2. This week’s homework is to read Luke 3-9, and to come next week with questions about what you’ve read.

 

 

Christian Basics Course Appendix to Session 2: How reliable are the Old Testament Documents?

Christian Basics Course Session 3: A man suffers to forgive sins

 


[1] Note that the Luke account probably traces Jesus’ blood descent through Mary – Heli was probably Joseph’s father-in-law, while the Matthew account probably traces the ‘line of the throne’ – a line which can move for example from father to nephew.  So Jacob was probably Joseph’s actual father