NOT MY WILL BUT THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SENT ME
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ” – verse 38 & 39
If Jesus’ mission is (note that I use the word “is” and not “was” because Jesus is still living) to do the will of the Father then our will should be to do the will of Jesus. The hierarchy is simple. There is God the Father, Jesus who is the Son of God, and us who are the children of God. We submit to Jesus and Jesus submits to the Father. The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus. However, it is not clear who the Holy Spirit submits to within the God Head. But it is clear that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and we yield to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus with all his power and glory, saw himself as a servant to God the Father. Jesus’ mission was to lose none that the Father has given him, that being the ones that the Father predestined. Predestination can be a thorny road to travel. Predestination is the concept of what God has already set or “destined” for the future. The question is always if God chose us to come to the Kingdom then how do I have freewill?
The Scripture is clear that God chose use before the foundations of the world. Yet, there is ample evidence in Scripture that we do have a freewill. Hebrews says we must fix our eyes on Jesus, James speaks of faith with action, and Romans tells us we must confess and believe to be saved. And, Jesus said he did not want to lose any that the Father had given him. Jesus would not have said so if none could be lost.
So, we have freewill and God has chosen us. But, the most significant piece in this verse is that Jesus is following the will of the one who sent him. Who has sent us? That of course was Jesus when he told the disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. That is the will of Jesus. And, by stating that it is all the world we must go to, his will is that all the world be saved. Of course, Jesus also said the path to life is narrow and the path that leads to destruction is wide. Seems like a paradox. But, the truth is, not everyone wants to follow Jesus’ will.
And so it is with us, we must reach out to the world which includes those whom we think may never come to be saved. There were unlikely converts in Jesus’ day as well. The Roman centurion, the thief on the cross, the prostitute at the well to name a few. The only requirement was that they listen and learn (verse 45). We cannot judge whom will come to the Kingdom. We can only judge ourselves on how well we follow Jesus’ commands. The father draws us, the Holy Spirit Leads us, and Jesus raises us up in the last day (verse 44).
THE WORLD IS CHANGING
In John 6:48-51, Jesus says this:
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Jesus talks of manna from Heaven which he compares to himself as the bread of life. Bread was very sacred in these times and still is in the Middle East. It is the symbol of the basic need of life. The essence of ones ability to provide a basic need for his family. When we realize the significance of what a loaf of bread represented, it makes sense why Jesus chose to use this analogy. Jesus was referring to salvation and having faith in him which granted eternal life. Yet rather than clarify what he meant, he digs deeper into the analogy to add more confusion by implying that they must actually eat him, even to the point that many of his own disciples could not accept this idea and began to leave him (verse 66, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”). He was in their eyes teaching cannibalism!
Why would Jesus allow them to be confused and not say, “Wait, you have the wrong idea, let me tell you about faith!” But, he did not. I believe this was a sort of weeding out those who were truly committed and those who were not. If you truly have faith in Christ, it will supersede objection of great doubt. Those that left had faith that was week. Maybe they really wanted to believe. But, all along, they had doubts about this guy and his new concept of religion. This was a turning point. The beginning of the end. The cross was coming and Jesus knew that. He had to weed out those with week faith because he knew they would not be there for him when the pressure of persecution came. Jesus was weeding out. And, perhaps some of the these disciples that followed Jesus even joined in the banter at the courtyard mocking Jesus after he was arrested.
Before in Galilee, Jesus was being forced to be king and now most of his disciples leave him. A dramatic change in status. Yet it is Peter in this moment that makes the most profound statement. In John 6:67-69, the Word says, “ ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ ” In a time where Jesus laid out concepts that were not clear, the 12 disciples don’t question him to decide if they want to leave too. Instead they proclaim that Jesus has the words of eternal life. They believe the Holy one of God. Whether than doubt Jesus, Peter and the rest of the disciples affirms their faith in him. We don’t know exactly when each disciple decided. But it is clear that each one made a commitment early on to stay with Jesus no matter what came against their faith. They were truly committed.
Is it in times of doubt that we are able to affirm our faith? When the constant pressures and the barrage of problems that mount up like the crashing of waves on the beach do not let up, do you in these time doubt your faith? To be honest, I think doubting at times is normal. However, do you doubt in your mind or in your heart? The disciples that left Jesus doubted in their heart and mind. They could not come to accept Jesus’ words. The ones that stayed may have doubted in their mind, but never gave up believing in Jesus in their heart. When we doubt in our mind but remain true in our heart, our faith will eventually justify and reason to the point where we continue to accept the Word as truth.
Recent polls have shown that Christianity is dwindling. Many who use to profess faith as a Christian no longer do. I think this is a sort of weeding out. The world is changing. Churches have changed their doctrine to fit the views of the world rather than what the Bible teaches. Now, Christianity is not a social norm and those who professed for lip service now deny it all together.
Jesus sees many leaving and now turns to us to ask if we are leaving too. What is your response? Will you allow your mind to dictate your heart or your heart to dictate your mind? In this world, does Jesus hold the words of eternal life for you? Now is the time to make the decision. Next to salvation, it may be the most important decision you ever make.
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