When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
- Luke 3:21-22
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- Zechariah 9:9
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
- Hebrews 9:12
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
- Hebrews 9:24
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
- Revelation 12:10-11
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
- Galatians 5:16-17
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
- John 1:41
and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
- Acts 11:26
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
- Acts 26:28
“Q. Why is he called Christ, that is, Anointed?
Because he has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of his body has redeemed us, and who continually intercedes for us before the Father; and our eternal King, who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.
Ps 45:7 (Heb 1:9); Is 61:1 (Lk 4:18); Lk 3:21, 22.
Deut 18:15 (Acts 3:22).
Jn 1:18; 15:15.
Ps 110:4 (Heb 7:17).
Heb 9:12; 10:11-14.
Rom 8:34; Heb 9:24; 1 Jn 2:1.
Zech 9:9 (Mt 21:5); Lk 1:33.
Mt 28:18-20; Jn 10:28; Rev 12:10, 11.
- Heidelberg Catechism, Question 31
“Q. Why are you called a Christian?
Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in his anointing, so that I may as prophet confess his name, as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him, and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and hereafter reign with him eternally over all creatures.
1 Cor 12:12-27.
Joel 2:28 (Acts 2:17); 1 Jn 2:27.
Mt 10:32; Rom 10:9, 10; Heb 13:15.
Rom 12:1; 1 Pet 2:5, 9.
Gal 5:16, 17; Eph 6:11; 1 Tim 1:18, 19.
Mt 25:34; 2 Tim 2:12.
- Heidelberg Catechism, Question 32
The Message
I love these questions and answers from the Heidelberg Catechism. When you expect the straightforward answer, they take a stroll toward the deep end of the pool. If you expect the deep dive, they give the obvious one-word answer.
Why do we call Jesus the Christ? He is the Messiah that the Old Testament talks about. Of course, the catechism goes into the details of what the Messiah must exhibit. Of course, people like Lee Strobel are going to give you the odds that anyone could ever match up to even half those Old Testament prophecies. It is mind-boggling. Then to double that to all the prophecies… How can you blow your mind when it is already blown?
Then why are we called Christians? We follow Christ. The name was first used in Syrian Antioch, but the term spread within a decade or so. King Agrippa mocks Paul after meeting with him before Paul was shipped off to Rome to see the emperor.
Of course, information can travel faster these days. Before the days of the internet, I developed a chant, I am not into Rap or I would call it a song. I used it in our themes Cub Scout day camp where I was director. Break down the “funky chicken” dance into individual movements. Then repeat the chant about Space Man Billy. Add one movement with each verse. The final verse has different words, that Space Man Billy will go to and fro, but into space, he’ll never go, ‘cause Space Man Billy is chicken.
The kids loved it, but six-eight months later, one of the top volunteer leaders in our district went to a conference somewhere. At the conference were Cub Scout leaders from Illinois. I was living in South Carolina at the time. These people from Illinois learned it from someone in California. How it got from South Carolina to California, I will never know. But that was before the days of the internet, before the days of “insta-“ anything.
I know it was my original idea. I awoke my wife at one in the morning and performed it in the middle of our king-sized bed. She waited for me to finish. She said, “That’s nice.” Then she rolled over and went back to sleep. I was just the camp director. She was the program director, so it had to be her song.
So, Christians were making a name for themselves for the news to travel that fast. They were no longer a sect of the Jewish faith. They were something different. Our language may be a little different.
I read a post this morning written by a Messianic Jew who refers to the non-Jew Christians as being Gentile believers. So, let’s not get hung up on names.
And so, the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism avoided the obvious here. Regardless of language, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, because all the boxes on the survey have been checked.
When my wife passed away at about one in the morning, I got a call at home about 4:30am. It was the organ donor coordinator from the hospital. They need to know quickly, so I swallowed my grief for an hour. Yes, an hour-long telephone call. It was quickly decided that the only thing viable was my wife’s skin. She had heart disease, kidney disease, etc. After an hour, I could not give a definitive answer about dementia, with my wife’s brain fog and the neurologist claiming that being sharp one day and foggy the next did not qualify as dementia. But then, the final question was whether she had lived in Europe in set span of years. Our three years in Germany disqualified us from ever donating anything due to there being no definitive test for mad-cow disease. I hung up the phone after that hour of my life was wasted, and I sobbed until the sun was up yet another hour plus.
I say all this, because Jesus checked all the boxes on the survey. The odds of there being two people like that are astronomical, unbelievable, and no one has ever been found. So, Jesus is the Messiah.
And as for us, we take up our cross and follow Him daily. Why not be called Christians?
And now let us sing.
Here is In Christ Alone sung by Keith and Kristyn Getty.
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord,
We believe in You. Lord, You are the Christ. No one else qualifies. You are our Lord. We owe all to You. And these days, being a Christian is not very popular. The enemy has a good public relations department. But You Lord are stronger. I rest upon Your strong foundation. I trust You with my life.
In Thy name we pray,
Amen
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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