Why is Jesus Called “Only Begotten Son” and “Lord”? (HC:LD13)

  The question we’ve been answering for the past few weeks is “Who is Jesus?” We’re going through the Heidelberg Catechism, which, at this point, is taking us through a line-by-line, word-by-word study of the Apostles Creed, the oldest and most reliable summary of Christian beliefs we have. It goes all the way back to […]

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The question we’ve been answering for the past few weeks is “Who is Jesus?” We’re going through the Heidelberg Catechism, which, at this point, is taking us through a line-by-line, word-by-word study of the Apostles Creed, the oldest and most reliable summary of Christian beliefs we have. It goes all the way back to the very beginnings of the church and is a simple statement of the very core of what a Christian must believe in order to be called a “Christian”.

If you recall, a “Creed” is “a formal statement of Christian beliefs” and a “Catechism” is “a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers”. So the Heidelberg Catechism, in order to teach the summary of the Christian religion, is using the statements in the Apostles Creed as a jumping off point. The second line of the Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord”.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been unpacking this summary by carefully going through each of these words. What does the word “Jesus” mean? What does the word “Christ” mean? And today, we head into the last two, “What does ‘only-begotten Son’ mean?” and “What does ‘our Lord’ mean?”

Are You The Christ?

“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’ Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, ‘John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in him there.” (John 10:22–42)

Hopefully, this brings to mind last week’s message where the Jewish leaders crucify Jesus because He claimed to be the Christ. Obviously, that wasn’t the first time they’d asked.

One thing that is often said of Christians is that we have exaggerated or even fabricated what Jesus said about Himself. They say that Jesus was a good morality teacher, a powerful preacher, and an influential guy, but all the stuff about Him being the Messiah, God’s Son, the Lord, is all made up by Christian leaders so they could grow their sect and use His name to manipulate people. They say that Jesus never claimed to be a Saviour or God.

These people haven’t read the Bible. In this passage, Jesus makes some very specific claims about Himself and you can see how his audience reacts.

There has been a bit of a stalemate between Jesus and His opponents because they have become split over Him. He’s obviously a miracle worker. Jesus has performed at least 20 major miracles – many in public – including feeding the 5000, healing a man born blind, casting out demons, and raising the dead. The leaders of the Jews have not only heard witnesses but actually seen things for themselves that were clearly miracles. Some of the group want to believe Him, others want to condemn Him, while others just want to leave Him alone.

At this point, Jesus is walking and teaching in an area around the Temple called Solomon’s Colonnade when a gang of Jewish leaders stop Him, form a circle around Him, and confront Him. They have finally come up with a question that they are sure, if He answers it publically, is going to allow them to kill Jesus.

In Verse 24 they basically say, “Ok, quit beating around the bush with all this teaching and miracles stuff and just spit it out. Are you the Christ or not?” Jesus had never publically said that He was the Messiah or the Christ because He knew that everyone who heard it would completely misunderstand it to be a military and political term. He didn’t want His gospel message of repentance and salvation clouded with all of that baggage and misinterpretation.

Now, do you think that if He said, “Yes, I am, so follow me” that it would have had any effect at all? Of course not. Their minds were made up.

They Hear My Voice and Follow

So what does Jesus answer? First He says in verse 25, “I’ve already told you in multiple ways, but you really don’t care, do you? The evidence is staring in your face, but you’ve already got your minds made up. You don’t want to believe and you can’t believe because your heart is so hard.”

There are a lot of people like this, aren’t there? They see evidence for the existence of God all around them in creation. They have a sense of conscience inside them that points them to right and wrong. They hear the name of Jesus, the claims about Jesus being God, Saviour, and Lord. They attend some church services, watch some YouTube videos, read some Bible, maybe even have a few conversations with their Christian friend or family member, but in their heart of hearts, it doesn’t really matter what they hear, because they don’t want to believe.

They are willfully blind because believing in Jesus, putting their faith in Jesus, has consequences they don’t want to face. For the Jewish leaders, it meant admitting they were wrong in their interpretation of the law, wrong in their application of it, and asking forgiveness of God and the people they mislead. It meant stepping off the throne and letting Jesus be in charge. It meant admitting they were wrong and changing. And they just couldn’t do that. They loved themselves and their sin so much that they were able to look at the evidence for the Messiah, the One standing right in front of them… who actually said, “Yes, I’m the Christ. Look at my miracles and you will know. Look at the scriptures and you will know. Listen to the witnesses and you will know. Listen to me and you will know.” deny the obvious, pick up rocks, and try to kill Him so He’d shut up.

Sometimes people wonder why Jesus doesn’t just show up to them, do some miracles, tell them exactly everything they need to know, answer their questions, provide evidence, and do whatever other little dance they demand. The answer is two-fold.

First, He already did all that. You want lightning, thunder, plagues, the sun to stop, the storms to quiet with a word, the dead to rise, the blind to see, to watch him walk on water? He did that. Oh, but he didn’t do it right in front of you so it doesn’t count? So, he’s supposed to do that for every human being, individually, for all time? Everyone, on their 13th birthday, gets a visit from Jesus where He blows their minds and tells them everything they ever need to know, and then moves on to the next person? And then later, when they forget, to come back and do the dance again to remind them? Why not just do a whole bunch of things in front of credible witnesses and have them pass along the whole story? Like, maybe in a book.

So that’s the first reason. God already showed us everything and isn’t a circus performer. Second, it wouldn’t work anyway. In Romans 1 it says that because people love their sin so much they actually “suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18). Regardless of the evidence or what is happening inside of them, the cutting of their conscience, the feeling of guilt and shame, the desire to know God, they “suppress the truth” so they don’t have to face the consequences. It says,

“For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Rom 1:21)

That’s what Jesus meant by, “…you do not believe because you are not among my sheep…” Look at verse 27. What makes someone a follower of Jesus? What makes us one of his sheep? He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Say you go to a dog park and there are dozens of dogs and owners. How do you know who’s dog is who’s? Because when they call their dog, the dog listens and follows. Or say you go to a playground that is full of children with moms and dads everywhere. One mom realizes it’s time to go and yells, “Ok, honey, time to go!” What happens? One kid perks up, looks around, find’s their mom and leaves. Why? They know the voice and they follow it.

Every dog in the park, every kid in the playground heard the same voice, but only certain children respond. A lot of people heard Jesus. Many had seen the same evidence, same miracles, heard the same witness, studied the same scriptures. But only some followed. What sets apart the followers of Jesus is that He so captivates their hearts that they are willing to humble themselves, listen to His voice, and obey what He says.

Maybe you know people like this. Maybe you are someone like this. You all have access to the scriptures. You have all been listening to the same sermons. You all have access to the same Spirit. You’ve felt convictions in your heart about something or other, recognized sins, bad habits, fears, anxieties, and needs. You’ve been reading your Bible and have literally heard, somewhere deep in your soul, something important. You’ve heard the voice of Jesus saying, “Drop that garbage and come to me. Stop doing that thing that’s killing you and come to me. Stop going to that place that is ruining your soul. Let go of that sin, that control, that fear, that worry, and come to me. I’m trustworthy. I’ll take care of you. My way is better. I’ll free you from that if you let me.”

And you’ve been faced with a choice. To listen to the call of Jesus, to repent, to admit you’re wrong, to ask forgiveness, and to do what Jesus is saying. Or to ignore it. To prefer your sin. To embrace your doubts. To argue with Jesus. To fill your eyes and ears with noise so the Holy Spirit can’t break through. You’ve looked at the evidence that Jesus is calling you, but instead, you’ve decided to pick up stones and crush that voice so you can keep on sinning.

Jesus tells you to let go of your control, but you say no. Jesus says to forgive that person, but you prefer your bitterness and fantasies about punishing them. Jesus says stop working so much, to rest, to worship, to be with your family and church, but you say no so you can get more money, more toys, more accolades from your peers because you don’t think Jesus will do enough to compensate or take care of you. Jesus says stop being lazy and get to work, but you prefer your sloth and manipulating people into helping you. Jesus says to stop and pray, journal, trust, study, read, but you say, “No, Jesus. The hours of this day are mine. Back off.”

Each day, each morning, everyone here is presented with a choice: to live in submission to Jesus, trusting His Word and His way as one of His followers – or to “suppress the truth” so we can keep on sinning. God, in His grace, gives us that choice – and then allows the consequence of that choice to affect our lives.

Why Jesus?

But why? Why should we be following Jesus? We see two good reasons in verses 28 and 30. First, Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

For those interested, we see here we see in this passage a lot of the doctrines of Calvinism. We see Total Depravity in the unbelief of the Jews, Unconditional Election in that God the Father gives Jesus the sheep, Limited Atonement in that there are some non-sheep who will not have eternal life, Irresistible Grace in that everyone who is called follows, and the Perseverance of the Saints in that no one is able to snatch the sheep out of Jesus’ or God’s hands. So… do whatever you want with that…

But the point is that one reason that we follow Jesus is that He alone gives the gift of eternal life and eternal security. We talked about this last week when we covered Peter’s question, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”, right?

But the second reason Jesus gives them, and us, is when He says in verse 30, “I and the Father are one…” or further on in verse 38, “…the Father is in me and I am in the Father…”.

What did Jesus mean by that? It’s a big idea that leads us back around to the Apostles Creed and the Heidelberg Catechism. When we are asking, “Who is Jesus?” and “Why should we follow Him?” the Creed is very compressed? Because He’s “Jesus”, the Saviour. Because He’s “The Christ”, the Messiah. And further, because He’s the “only-begotten Son” and “Lord”.

Question 33 of the Heidelberg asks the question,

“Why is he called God’s only-begotten Son, since we also are children of God?”.

In other words, if every human is technically a “child of God”, what makes Jesus special?

In John 3:16, the most famous passage of scripture it says,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That term “only Son” is an important one. The NIV says, “one and only son”, the old King James Version actually adds a more complicated word, “only begotten Son”, trying to explain the concept.

The term doesn’t mean that Jesus was created by God or was born by God, it’s something else. When the Bible presents these big thoughts about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, human language falls short, so the Bible uses a combination of imagery and the best possible words so we can get close. In this case, calling Jesus God’s “only begotten Son” is a title. It’s connected to a lot of other places in John and the rest of scripture, going all the way back to when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac (Gen 22:2, 12). “Begotten” draws a whole bunch of concepts and scriptures together into one word. (John 1:1-18, Heb 1)

So, why is Jesus called the “only begotten Son”? The Heidelberg answers this way,

“Because Christ alone is the eternal, natural Son of God. We, however, are children of God by adoption, through grace, for Christ’s sake.”

Again, this takes a little more explaining, but remember last week’s lesson from Hebrews about Jesus being, “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3)? That’s the idea. In simple language, Jesus being the Son of God means He is “the unique, one of a kind, perfect incarnation of God, the One the Father sent to be the sacrificial offering for sin, the Light of God, the Word of God, the person of God in the flesh.”

It’s a big concept, but an important application. So the first reason we wake up in the morning, listen to His voice, and choose to obey Him is because He is the Son of God! Not only does He offer His children wisdom, knowledge, forgiveness, peace, help and hope – but as God, He deserves our worship, attention, and obedience.

Our Lord

Which leads to question 34 and the next reason we ought to submit to Jesus.

“Why do you call him our Lord?”

And the answer is,

“Because he has ransomed us, body and soul, from all our sins, not with silver or gold but with his precious blood, and has freed us from all the power of the devil to make us his own possession.”

The first reason we submit to Jesus is because of who He is, He is God. The second reason is because of what He’s done. Jesus was often called “Lord” when He was on earth (Lk 7:13; Acts 5:14; 1 Cor 6:14; Jas 5:7; John 13:13, 20:28)  It was another title, one of respect, faith, reverence and worship. In John 13:13 Jesus said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.” When Peter preached the first sermon at Pentecost he said, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Ac 2:36)  In Philippians 2:9-11 Paul says,

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is God. Jesus deserves the worship God gets. It glorifies God when we worship Jesus as Lord because Jesus is God. That’s a fact. At some point, every knee will bow to Him – every knee. If you’ve read the gospels you know how the demons reacted when they met Jesus. They hated Him, but they still reacted with fear and humility. They know.

But God, in His grace, offers us the choice to kneel now and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour or kneel later when His patience has run out.

When John the Baptist was calling people to repentance, telling people to get right with God before the end comes, he said this,

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11–12).

Jesus is Lord whether we acknowledge it or not. The truth is still the truth regardless as to whether we choose to believe it or try to “suppress” it.

Conclusion

Let me close with this. Jesus is God because of who He is. His nature is divine. And Jesus is Lord because of what He’s done. He has conquered. He has ransomed. He has won the battle against sin and death. That is truth whether you like it or not, and now you are presented with a choice.

If you are not a Christian, will you, right now admit yourself to be a sinner in need of a saviour? Will you admit that you need forgiveness from God, to be ransomed from Hell because you cannot pay your own way, asking for it only in the name of Jesus?

And if you are a Christian today, will you finally allow Him to be the Lord of all areas of your life? Of your time, abilities, finances, choices, relationships, body, and mind? Will you look inside yourself, at the things that Jesus has been asking you to do – whatever that is – and say “yes” now? Not because you feel like it. Not because you understand it. Not because you’ve got it all worked out. Not waiting for the right moment. Not trying to negotiate terms with God. Just say “Yes, Lord. I will do that.” because Jesus is your God. Jesus is your Lord. Jesus is your Saviour. And you owe him your obedience and worship.

This is a call to repentance. A call to evaluate your life and turn it completely over to Jesus. Would you bow your heads with me and pray this prayer in your hearts?

“Lord, I admit myself to be a sinner who has loved sinning, but now I see it clearly and I hate it. I want to be free of it and I cannot free myself. I am guilty and ashamed and I need you to save me, clean me up, restore me back to you, and set my feet on the right path. I give it all up, Jesus and I call you my Lord, my Saviour, my God. I do this because there is no one greater to go to except you. You are the one who died on the cross for me, who shed their blood for me, who rose again from death so that sinners could be free. I want to be free.

And so I say, with you as my Lord. This day is yours – every moment. My choices are yours –every one. My money is yours – do whatever you want with it. My work is yours – let it be for you. My children are yours – make them into who you want to be and help me to raise them your way. My marriage is yours – help me love my spouse as I am supposed to according to your Word. My school is yours – use it to prepare me for whatever you want me to do. My reputation is yours – I will proclaim you as Lord even if people think I’m crazy. My entertainment is yours – I will turn my internet, tv, cell phone, books, magazines, music choices, all over to you and only use them for things that honour you. My calendar is yours – I will work when I am to work and rest when I am to rest, according to your will. My body is yours – I will eat, drink, sleep, speak, listen, and serve your way, even if my body is crying out for garbage, I will obey you. My future is yours – I give you permission to decide where I will go to school, how I will be trained, what my job will be, who I will marry, what church I will attend, what friends I will have, what missions I will go on, what home I will live in, how my retirement will go, how long you allow my mother and father to live, how long you allow my friends and family to be with me, how long I will live, and when and where I will die. It’s all yours. It’s yours because you are my Lord and my God. And when this prayer is over I’m going to sing to you because you deserve my song. Help my whole life be lived as a song of praise to you. Amen.”