Jesus Comes as the Lamb of God and Brings a Merciful Covenant:

             Jesus could not have done a more thorough job of fulfilling the prophecies about the future Messiah.  He hit them all on the head, as many as involved His first coming.  Dozens of them.  And there is no doubt in most believing Christian's minds that the prophecies were given so that He could be recognized when He came. 

            But here is a great lesson on the intoxication of power and on looking for what God has never promised:  the Jewish priesthood rejected Him, hated Him, and carried out a successful plot to kill Him because He was so unlike what they had dreamed up that they decided He couldn't be the one they waited for.  They wanted a tall, strong, proud, regal acting, Roman smashing, Levite praising Messiah ready to reign in power over all the world with great might, with them sharing the stage with Him in a position of nearly equal eminence.  They saw His miracles - it's recorded that they watched them closely at times and saw them clearly.  But what good is a humble Messiah to an arrogant and power-hungry priesthood?    

              His coming in the humble and simple manner that He did cast them in a terrible light, as a priesthood gone evil and corrupt.  In the end, vanity and the desire to maintain power caused them to make a disastrous choice - a choice which God had foretold, and Jesus had foreseen, but which both accepted for the sake of the fruit that would come from it.  The young lion of Judah (Jesus was of the tribe of Judah as for Earthly birth parents) was killed and torn open (the Roman spear), but honey (blood and water) came from within the dead lion, to borrow an allegory from Samson in Judges 14.   (The lion Samson killed was literally killed near a town in Judah's allotted territory, and bees did build a honeycomb in its open chest cavity).

              Jesus is spoken of outside of the Bible.  I am aware of a several writings from ancient time which make it clear that Jesus was a known and real person.  Josephus (who spent most of his life as a Jew but who may possibly have converted to Christianity and been a bishop in Israel in his final years) avows to the existence of Jesus and admits that He may really have been the real Messiah.  It seems likely that a Jew from Josephus's time would feel little desire to confirm Jesus as the Messiah, as their rulers in the Jewish Sanhedrin had quite largely rejected Him when he came. 

              And Josephus was an old man when he wrote most of his surviving memoirs and histories, so on the one hand he - dying at around 100AD - would have had many years to hear of Jesus's deeds, which were done in Josephus's own time.  He would have realized as a Levite which scriptural prophecies Jesus's deeds fulfilled.  Yet in 80 to 100AD, in Rome where Josephus generally resided during those years, Christians were not that popular or influential.  There was no reason to pander to them in his writings, since they were somewhat discriminated against really.

              Jesus was a real person in the flesh - that is confirmed.  And Jesus said He was the son of God, His spirit placed in the flesh of man so that He might walk the Earth as a man and teach men, and so that in the end He could be that atoning sacrifice that would allow our forgiveness and pave a way for us to be restored to God as His children, with Jesus as our king.

              Was Jesus who He said He was?  In the scriptures it is recounted how he did miracles so amazing that no man could ever have done them, yet people sitting right there watching chose to disbelieve both His words and their eyes.  Yes, He was who He said He was, but you will only believe if you are desiring to be who you were meant to be.  He will be found by those that are seeking Him.  He will answer those that sincerely call on Him.  He will save those who have chosen Him and follow.  Those who don't want to believe will never be forced to. 

              But here is a great warning, neighbor:  The Jesus in the Bible is not wishy washy and not a liar and not a compromiser.  You may think all sorts of things about Jesus, and sadly could find a church to affirm you in most of anything you might dream up.  But though the various Christian churches offer many interpretations of Jesus, the scriptures offer a very consistent one.  He is the Lord.  He is the only gate to heaven for us.  There are not alternative gods and there are not alternative heavens.  Friends, Jesus thought of Himself as the Son of God, the single and given Redeemer of Man, and the Great and Terrible Judge of those who accepted Him and those who did not.  All judgement of man was placed into His hands by God. His Father.  Jesus is worthy, and wonderful, but he is not one of several good options.  Jesus is the single and only good option.   He is the single and only option period.  Jesus is a person every human will meet and be judged by.  The Christian scriptures are pretty clearly saying that there is no avoiding the judgement of Jesus for any person of any religion, as He will even be heard by the dead who did not know of Him in their lives. 

              All of your life, even the last hour of your life, Jesus will hope to obtain your discipleship because He wants you to live - He wants you to be saved.  But if it does not come to be, if you choose to reject or just put Jesus off and then die before investigating, you chose to reject Jesus, and then your eternal life will be a pit of unquenchable fire, "where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." Mark Chap 9: v. 44, again in 46, again in 48.   

              The age-old questions are 'How can I have faith to believe?', 'How can I be sure?', and 'What proof do I have?'  Friends, Jesus gave many proofs that He wasn't just a man, and I'll soon list some of His humanly impossible deeds.  The integrity of His life attested to His virtue, so He cannot be called a demon - He spoke no evil words, did no evil deeds.  So, from this you can know that He was virtuous and more than just a Man.  Several times in His ministry the voice of God was heard from above attesting that He was God's Son and pleasing to God, heard by even those who were with Him.  So, He was virtuous and more than a man and attested to by the audible voice of God.  Pretty good certification of authenticity, right? 

              There were many scriptural prophecies extant in Jesus's day attesting to what the Messiah would be like - He fulfilled them.  Even the circumstances of His birth and death fulfilled prophesies.  A charlatan or a fraud can contrive to fake many things during his life, but manipulating the circumstances of your actual birth is beyond credibility.  And Joseph and Mary, Jesus's parents, had no reason to proclaim Him the child of a virgin birth, as they would be laughed at and scorned if lying, and if lying they would have no reason to assume their baby Jesus would grow up able to perform miracles and acts which would help support their fraudulent story.  No gain for Joseph and Mary, short term or long term, unless Jesus really was the Messiah.  So, He was virtuous, more than just a man, attested to by the audible voice of God from heaven, and His life fulfilled long existing scriptures, even those portions of His life controlled by others, such as His birth and death.      

              After His death those who believed in Him were able to perform miraculous deeds in His name, such as healings and talking in many languages formerly unfamiliar to them.  And in the centuries between then and now, people in all walks of life and on all inhabited continents have in instances had miraculous healings, rescues, etc., result from calling on the name of Jesus.

So, He was virtuous, more than a man, attested to as God's son by an audible voice from heaven on more than one occasion, His birth, life, and death circumstances and deeds matched prophecies for the coming Messiah, and miracles and unnatural events have accompanied those who spread His teachings ever since - and sometimes miracles happen to those who merely call on His name in crisis.

              So, as far as your believing in Jesus, what more could He have done?  Do you want a miracle in front of your eyes?  Remember that many who watched His miraculous deeds firsthand chose not to believe Jesus's claims, saying that it was a trick, or done by demons, etc.  Acquiring real faith comes most often like this:  you hear of Jesus, consider Jesus, read His teachings and pray to Jesus (and it's OK to ask for some sign of reassurance to help you believe - He'll usually provide one), then you either believe or don't.  It's called free will, and deciding to believe is like a little gift of trust from you to God.  Sending His only son was like a big gift of trust from God to you. 

              Jesus asks you to believe in Him and in the One who sent Him, to repent of your sins, to attest to other men and women that you believe He is the Messiah, to be baptized in His name, and to live as a Christian disciple the rest of your time on this Earth.  If you really believe in Jesus, what less could He ask in return.  So immeasurable a gift on Jesus's part (eternal life in heaven) for so trifling a commitment of loyalty and appreciation on your part - it is hardly to be believed.

              Friends, do you intend to look into Jesus, into following Jesus, into claiming Jesus 'someday'?  Well, you can't.  Check your schedule:  'someday' is the day you are going to die.  'Someday' is already taken.  So, Jesus can only be sought 'before it's too late' or 'after it's too late'.  Sorry, but that's the only two time slots on your schedule that are still open.  Don't miss out on heaven because of a scheduling error, Friend.  It's too important.