The Son: Revealer of the Father

Monday,April10,2017 5:21PM

We have had the privilege to spend the past couple of weeks in Pentateuch studying one of the
most important passages in the Old Testament. In Exodus 33 and 34 God reveals His "Name,"
that is, His identity, to Moses. This is a very important passage particularly for us here this
morning celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today is the most happy day in our
Christian calendar, and we are going to spend our morning meditating on those events that
happened two thousand years ago. But we begin by meditating on events that happened over
three thousand and five hundred years ago.

1. TheNameofYahwehProclaimedtoMoses
Three thousand and five hundred years ago Israel broke the covenant God had made with
them on Mount Sinai. But as a result of the terrible sin of the worship of the golden calf,
Yahweh God did something incredible. He revealed His name to Moses. The following
texts are the record of that name.

"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name
The LORD. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on
whom I will show mercy" The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The
LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the childrens children, to the third and
the fourth generation.
Ex. 33.19; 34:6-7

2. TheNameofYahwehRevealedtoMankind
One thousand and five hundred years later, that is, two thousand years ago, God revealed
His Name again, but in a very different way. John, the Beloved Apostle, recorded the
following:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and
without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was
the light of men And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth For
from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ No one has ever seen
God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, he has made him known.
Jn. 1:1-4, 14, 18.

God revealed Himself to us through the Son, Jesus Christ. When John says that "we have
seen the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth," he is referring to when
God said that He is "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." One author made the
following observation:

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 In Exodus Moses hears the divine name spoken by God himself, and this is followed
by Gods word written on two stone tablets. Now, John tells us, Gods Word, his Self-
expression, has become flesh The glory revealed to Moses when the Lord passed in
front of him and sounded his name, displaying that divine goodness characterized by
ineffable grace and truth, was the very same glory John and his friends saw in the
Word-made-flesh.
D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament
Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B.
Eerdmans, 1991), 129.

We are here this morning not merely celebrating the resurrection of a good man, or a
prophet. We are celebrating the resurrection of the Revealer of the Father. But what does
this mean? I want to spend some time this morning pondering those events that
happened in Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. I want us to particularly think of them
through the perspective of the Son revealing the Father to us through those events.

3. TheCrucifixionRevealstheNameofYahweh
We begin with the events of "Good Friday" and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. What
happened on the cross?

A. Events

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led
Him away.

And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which
is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with
Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified
was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of
the Jews, but, He said, I am the King of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made
four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without
seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves,
Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled which says:

They divided My garments among them,

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 And for My clothing they cast lots.

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mothers sister, Mary
the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother,
and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, Woman,
behold your son! Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother! And from
that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the
Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst! Now a vessel full of sour wine was
sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put
it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is
finished! And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not
remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews
asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken
away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other
who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was
already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His
side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has
seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the
truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture
should be fulfilled, Not one of His bones shall be broken. And again another
Scripture says, They shall look on Him whom they pierced.

This is the story of the events that happened on Good Friday. But what does it mean?
Was something happening behind the scenes, or at least out of the obvious sight of
those who were there at the Cross?

A few years ago a movie was made called The Passion of Christ. This film portrayed, in
a very graphic way, the gruesome details of the events of the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ. But this film, despite being realistically graphic, missed the point of the
crucifixion. The point of the crucifixion was not in the brutality suffered by Jesus at
the hands of the Romans. Jesus was revealing the Name of Yahweh on the Cross.

B. Interpretation
We begin to see the interpretation of the events of the cross explained in John 12:31,
where Jesus proclaims, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this
world will be cast out." The world was being judged at the cross. What does this
mean?

God is a holy God. He is a pure God. He is a perfect God. He cannot tolerate sin. The
fact that sin exists means that sin must be punished. But sin is not just an idea. Sin is
not just a concept. Sin is what we do that offends the holiness and the purity of God.
Which means that we must be judged for our sin.

We learned that the Name of Yahweh, or His identity, is that He "will by no means

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clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the childrens
children, to the third and the fourth generation. God is a judging God. He must
judge sin. He cannot simply overlook sin and pretend it never happened. He must
judge sin.

God is an angry God. God's judgment and justice are not without emotion. Rather,
sin makes God angry. In fact, just a few verses before Ex. 34:6-7, where God reveals
His name, He says this:

And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-
necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot
against them and I may consume them."

God's anger is aroused by sin. Sin is a personal offense against God. And for that
reason God must judge sin.

So God is a holy, pure, perfect, just and judging, and angry God. Where does that
leave mankind? It leaves us lost and hopeless. It leaves us on our way to hell, under
the deserving judgment of this holy, just, and angry God.

But God is more than a holy, pure, perfect, judging, and angry God. One of the most
marvelous truths about our God is that He is a loving God. One of the very first Bible
verses that many of us memorized was from this very book of John. John 3:16 says,

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God is a loving God. God is love. And this truth about God is not pitted against His
holiness, or His justice, nor His anger. It is not as though sometimes He acts in love
and other times He acts in anger. No, God's attributes cannot be separated like that.
God never lays aside His justice because of His love. He always acts in love. And He
always acts in justice. God is not first just, and then His other attributes. God is.

And what happened on the cross was the satisfaction of His love, His justice, His
holiness - Jesus was revealing God to us on the cross.

God revealed to us in the Old Testament that atonement was possible. God revealed
to us that there was a way, through sacrifice, that the guilty soul could be acquitted
of its guilt. God revealed that blood - the sacrifice of life - could satisfy the wrath of
God. But it was not ultimately the blood of bulls and goats, for "it is not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" (Heb. 10.4). A sacrifice was
needed, but not an animal sacrifice. Animal sacrifices bastava, but only for a certain
time.

And so, "when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4). What happened that day was a sacrifice. It
didn't happen on an altar, performed by a priest of Aaron. It happened on the cross.
And it was performed by another kind of priest. This sacrifice was performed because

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 God loved the world. He desired not to send the entire human race to judgment in
Hell, but He purposed to save all those who would repent and believe in this sacrifice
which was made for them.

And so God's Son, Jesus, suffered the wrath of God in the sacrifice of Himself on the
cross. He suffered the penalty for our sins, which we deserved, on the cross. He
endured the wrath of God, the judgment of God, on Himself, so that we could be
saved from that wrath. This is the interpretation of the events of the cross. This is our
Gospel: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us (1 Jn. 3:16).

C. TheNameRevealed
In this sacrifice, in His death, Jesus revealed the Name of the Father. Remember the
Name:

"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my
name The LORD. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy" The LORD passed before him and
proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no
means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and
the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation.

In the sacrifice of the Son, the Son revealed the Name of the Father when the Father
"visited the iniquity" of the whole world on the Son. The Son revealed the judgment
of the Father. God will exercise judgment. And the Father did exercise judgment. And
the Son suffered in our place.

But the Son also revealed the sovereign grace and mercy of the Father to mankind. It
was not mankind who suffered on the cross as a sacrifice, but the Son. The Son bore
on Himself the sins of us all. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned,
every one, to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa.
53:6). God is a God who is merciful and gracious. And He extends that mercy and
grace to us all the day long.

The Son is the perfect revelation of the Name of the Father through His sacrifice,
through His death on the cross.

But was it enough? Today we celebrate not only the death of Christ, but His
resurrection as well.

4. TheResurrectionRevealstheNameofYahweh
What happened in the Resurrection? Let's read the events of the resurrection and find out.

A. Events

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of
the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate

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 gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus,
who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and
aloes, about a hundred pounds. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it
in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now in
the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new
tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of
the Jews Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it
was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then
she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved,
and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do
not know where they have laid Him.
Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb.
So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the
tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying
there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went
into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief
that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded
together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb
first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the
Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away
again to their own homes.
(19.38-20.10)

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors
were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood in the midst, and said to them, Peace be with you. When He had
said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad
when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also
send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if
you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
(20.19-23)

B. Interpretation
So those are the events, but what do they mean? What is the significance of Christ's
resurrection?

Before His crucifixion Jesus spoke with Mary and Martha about the significance of
resurrection. He told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in
Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall
never die" (Jn. 11:25-26). What does this mean? It means, Jesu has life in Himself.

You and I, we are dependent creatures. Our life depends on the will of God. If God
wills, we will not have breath tomorrow. If God wills, we will have breath. Our
existence depends on God.

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 What about God? Does God's existence depend on someone else's existence? Listen
to another statement Jesus made in the book of John: "Most assuredly, I say to you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God;
and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted
the Son to have life in Himself."

The Father's existence depends on Himself, and no one else. In the same way, the
Son's existence depends on Himself, and no one else.

So what does this mean about the death of the Son of God? Is it possible for the One
upon whom life depends, to stay dead? No. What does it mean that Jesus
resurrected? It means that He is God! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is evidence that
He is in fact God, and has the power of life and death. "Jesus Christ our Lordwas
born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God
with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead" (Rom.
1:3-4).

But what about His sacrifice? Was His sacrifice for our sins sufficient? Was it good
enough? Did the Father accept His sacrifice for us? Can we be saved? Paul says in
Romans 4:25 that righteousness is "imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and
was raised because of our justification." The Father accepted the sacrifice of the Son
on our behalf. This wondrous sacrifice fulfilled its purpose and the Father accepted
the death of the Son instead of our death. And the Father demonstrated this
acceptance to the whole world by raising the Son from the dead.

C. TheNameRevealed
Through the cross the Son revealed the Name of the Father; not just His justice and
wrath, but also His love and mercy. And through the resurrection the Son also
revealed the Name of the Father. What is the name of the Father?

"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my
name The LORD. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy" The LORD passed before him and
proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no
means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and
the childrens children, to the third and the fourth generation.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ declares and demonstrates this Name. The legal
ground has been laid for the Father to act this way toward the World. To borrow
again the words of Paul, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Cor.
5.19). "All legal barriers to any person's salvation have been removed" (Allen). The
Resurrection declares the mercy and grace of God, the forgiveness of God, the
steadfast love and faithfulness of God.

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Conclusion
"Behold Your King!" (Jn. 19:14). Behold your God! Jesus Christ has revealed the Father to us
through the Cross and through the Resurrection. We know the Name of God because we
see Jesus crucified in our place, suffering the wrath and judgment of God in our place. We
know the Name of God because we see Jesus resurrected for our salvation, demonstrating
the acceptance of His sacrifice for us. We know the Name of God because Christ
demonstrates to us the mercy, grace, steadfast love, faithfulness, and forgiveness of God in
His death and Resurrection.

Look at Christ. Behold this Jesus. Never grow tired of the vision of this Jesus, and of this
Gospel. This is the only Jesus who reveals the Father to us. This is the only Jesus who saves.
Look at this Jesus and be saved.

If you are here and have never looked to this Jesus for your salvation and placed your faith
in Him, quit trying of your efforts or good works to please God; look to Jesus alone today.
Be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus alone.

If you are a Christian joyfully celebrating Easter this morning, trusting in this Jesus as your
sacrifice for your sins, this is your Jesus. He is the One who reveals the Father to us.
Continue to look at Him. Continue to find Him beautiful, full of the beauty of the Father.
Desire Him above all else. Be satisfied in this Jesus. He is alive for our salvation. Continue in
that salvation.

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,
That great shepherd of the sheep,
Through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Make you complete in every good work to do His will,
Working in you what is well pleasing in His sight
Through Jesus Christ,
To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

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