IDENTITY WARS: The Accused King Responds- Part Two 10:45 AM

From the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, we have watched as Matthew slowly, and piece-by-piece, identified Jesus for who he really was. He described Jesus as the prophesied “seed of Abraham” and the “king from the line of David” (Matthew 1), the man born of a virgin (Matthew 3), proving that he was God in human form. Later, Matthew described Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, anointed by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3), with power to overcome the temptations of the evil one (Matthew 4). Matthew went on to identify him as the greatest teacher of God’s law (Matthew 5-7), and a master miracle worker (Matthew 8-9). As a reader of this gospel, we know what Matthew is saying. Jesus’ identity is clear: he was and is the Son of God and God’s promised king, who came into the world in human form to save people.

But, despite Matthew’s clear and irrefutable claims, many in the culture struggled to accept Jesus’ identity. Some were impressed by Jesus but not convinced he was the Messiah. Others were willing to consider that he might be God’s promised King, but were genuinely confused by how he spoke and acted. Others did not believe him at all. And still others lied about him. In this continuation of the “IDENTITY WARS” series (covering Matthew 12:22-50) Jesus’ clearly identifies who he is, while correcting and confronting the lies and unbelief of two types of people: those who falsely accused him of wrongdoing and those who baited him to prove himself when he already had.