“THIS JESUS”
Doug J Klassen
Acts 2: 14, 22-24, 32-36
Acts 1: 11
I wish to speak this afternoon, dear hearers, about “this Jesus”. It was said to Joseph in Matthew, in relation to Mary, that “she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins”, Matt 1: 21. Peter was standing up here speaking to the house of Israel, those who were the Jews. It is wonderful the way in which God brings things before men and all this is brought before them in relation to the Person of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is His personal name. Think of that, “thou shalt call his name Jesus”. And Peter would be reminding these persons of this One. He was speaking to them about this in the portion that we read, “Jesus the Nazaræan”. Nazareth, I suppose would relate to His place of birth; “Jesus the Nazaræan” refers to His humble beginnings, a place of reproach. The men of Israel were looking for some great king, some great Messiah, but what they did not realise was that He had come, He came in as Jesus, and they denied Him.
The way that Peter presents these scriptures to these persons, in using the words “this Jesus”, is quite emphatic here. Why did he say, “this Jesus”? I think that he was telling these men that this was the One that was their Messiah, the One the prophets spoke about who was going to come in. There was not another Jesus; there was only One, speaking reverently. But He was laying it before them, that it was this Jesus that they had crucified, that they had put upon the cross and had rejected; it was this Jesus. Dear hearers, if Peter would seek to impress upon the children of Israel this important fact, I think it is very important for us to lay hold of this Jesus. What does this Jesus mean to you? You might wonder if you had been there with Him and those that crucified the Lord Jesus, ‘How could I have done that?’. I think as God would impress upon you the awfulness of sin and your sinful heart, you would realise that you would have been part of that company, as I would have. But thankfully God has brought in One who has gone the way of suffering and death, and shed His precious blood, given His own life to become “this Jesus”. Is He “this Jesus” to you? Is He “this Jesus” to me? We rejoice that there are many who have laid hold of the wonderful name of Jesus and have made Him their own, and He has become their Saviour. What a wonderful privilege and fact that is. We are thankful for every one who has laid hold of that, but I have a sense that the Spirit would still desire to impress what this Person is upon us, “this Jesus”. What does He mean to you?
It is quite a solemn word that Peter has to say to them, “a man borne witness to by God to you by works of power and wonders and signs, which God wrought by him in your midst, as yourselves know - him, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of lawless men, have crucified and slain”. They said, “Away with this man” (Luke 23: 18), and, “We will not that this man should reign over us”, Luke 19:14. They crucified their Messiah. It is a solemn fact for the Jew even to consider that, that they crucified their Messiah, but that is exactly what happened. And he speaks about the hand of lawless men. Dear hearers, our hearts by nature are lawless; we all want to do our own will. We all want to take up with anything but what is in relation to God’s mind in the sending of His Son, Jesus. But Peter can say with boldness, “This Jesus has God raised up”. What a wonderful fact. He is not setting aside what was involved before this: before He was raised up the Lord Jesus had been crucified at the hands of wicked men and He went into death itself; He gave up His life. The only One who had authority to lay down His life and authority to take it again, “this Jesus”. You might wonder why that is such an important fact. We already referred to it in the times we have had together this weekend the greatness of what is brought out by the Lord Jesus in going into death; man after the flesh - that order of man - had to be finished. In laying down His life in flesh and blood, that whole order of man was ended before God. That life had to be laid down, because one order had to be finished so that another might come in through His resurrection. It is a precious fact that we have part in that new order if we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour.
So, Peter is reiterating here: “This Jesus has God raised up, whereof all we are witnesses. Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit”. Think of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and His coming out of death in power. Of His life, He says, “I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again”, John 10: 18. Dear hearers, it was in power that Jesus died. There was never weakness in relation to the Lord Jesus in that sense. Outwardly men saw weakness; they saw One who was suffering on a cross. “Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us”, Luke 23: 39. He could not save Himself, dear hearer - He must go through death so that you and I might be saved. And He knew that. And He hung there in love. Think of the personal love of the Lord Jesus, thinking of all His own, thinking of the heart of the Father, and how the heart of the Father was to be satisfied, only by the giving up of His life that others might be secured. He was not thinking of Himself. The Lord Jesus never thought of Himself; that is wonderful to think about. There was a glorious Man here, in the Person of Jesus, the Man of the Father’s choice, a Man of whom the Father could say, “in thee I have found my delight”, Mark 1: 11.
It was the wonderful heart of God that had been looking for a response from man since the beginning of time. We know how He created Adam, with some desire to have some response from His creature, and we know that sin came in right away and spoiled that; and man hid himself. Think of that: ever since that time, man has been hiding himself. There was not a response. It is true that through times of the Old Testament there were those who moved in faith and there was something for God in that, but it all looked forward to the time when Jesus would come in. It was God’s patience in four thousand years of waiting until the Man of His choice would come in, and what was exemplified in Him, this Jesus. It says, “having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit”.
Well, dear hearers, it is a wonderful privilege to know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, and know that you are secured for time and eternity; and to know that you are secured from everything that is in relation to life here as we know it: you are secured for another world. But what are you to know of that world? And how is it to be conveyed to you? It is to be conveyed by the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of Him, “for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you”, John 16: 14. Who better to speak about these things than One who knows them? - the blessed Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of promise. He knows the treasures, and they are all under His hand, at His disposal and He delights to give them. Dear hearers, He would love to speak to your heart about Christ. He would love to speak to you about this Jesus, this glorious Man, this One who has fulfilled the will of the Father in its entirety and satisfied Him. Think of that: think of the heart of God looking for a response from man and finding it now - not only in Christ, not only in the Lord Jesus, but those that His love has secured. What a wonderful thing to consider, that God’s heart is satisfied. And as receiving the glad tidings and making them your own, you too can be satisfied. That is the desire of the heart of the Father - for you to be satisfied with His Son, Jesus.
It is the importance of this very One we are speaking about that we present in the glad tidings, “this Jesus”. It was important that Peter was saying this to the men of Israel, but it is as important for us too, to recognise that this is the One, the Man of the Father’s choice. May God bless the word.
Wheaton
28th May 2023