The Grace of Jesus

Overview

In the face of a person who says, “I’m doubting and I’m offended by you,” Jesus makes some of the most outrageous and offensive statements that have ever been made. John the Baptist has sent a message to Jesus revealing that he’s getting offended by Jesus’ claims. And in response Jesus says, “No one knows the Father except through me.”

What are we going to do with this? Well, what if a group of scientists asserted that they’d come up with a cure for cancer? There would be a lot of responses, but nobody would say, “They’re narrow.” Nobody would say, “How dare you think you have the cure for cancer and no one else does!” You see, the reason they wouldn’t say that is because you don’t attack the assertion. If you think they’re wrong, you have to go to the research beneath their assertion.

Jesus does not just say this in a vacuum. It comes at the end of a lot of things he’s saying. His assertion is based on a deeper claim. We’re going to look at 1) what the deeper claim is beneath the assertion, 2) why you should believe it, and 3) how you should use it.