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Because He is God we can rest assured that He is utterly trustworthy
in all that He said and did. Because He is man we can rest assured
that He knows what life as a person is like, with all of its joys,
trials and temptations. Because He is from eternity to eternity
we can rest assured that He is able to hold us past our death and
even past the destruction of this world. Because He lived in time
as we do we can rest assured that this earthly life is worthwhile.
Because He died we can rest assured that our sins have been forgiven.
Because He has risen from the dead we can rest assured that our
debt has been fully paid. Because He has ascended into Heaven and
is at the right hand of the Father we can rest assured that no other
sacrifice is required, Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient. Because He
said that He would come to take us to be with Him we can rest assured
that death is not for us the end, our lives will continue past the
grave on into eternity in the new Heaven and Earth in the presence
of God without shame or fear.
Wherever He was and whatever He did Jesus showed love. He showed
love to the men, women and children who took up all of His personal
time. He showed love to His followers who all too often just did
not understand the point and tried to fit Him into their own agendas.
He showed love to Zacchaeus in the tree. He showed love to the thief
on the cross. He showed love to the outcast. He showed love to those
who were putting Him to death. And He showed, and is showing love
to you and me. Now, if Jesus is this kind of person, what kind of
person ought we to be? Jesus showed love. Jesus came to us as an
emissary of the Father, showing in human form the Father's perfect
character and His willingness to go to any length to save His lost
creation. Among Jesus' final words to His disciples were these:
John 20:19-22 – 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." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands
and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the
Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He
had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive
the Holy Spirit. 23 "If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained."
In the preceding study we have undertook to examine in some small
way the manner in which the Father sent Jesus to us. Our essential
mandate is therefore not to judge nor condemn:
John 3:17-18 – For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not
condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
It is not to spend time only with those who have been saved:
Mark 2:13-17 – Then He went out
again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught
them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus
sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me."
So he arose and followed Him. 15 Now it happened, as He was
dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners
also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many,
and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees
saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to
His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax
collectors and sinners?" 17 When Jesus heard it, He said
to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but
those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners,
to repentance."
When John the Baptist requested assurance that Jesus is the Messiah
Jesus confirmed Himself to John in the following words:
Matthew 11:2-6 – And when John had
heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we
look for another?" 4 Jesus answered and said to them,
"Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5
"The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and
the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel
preached to them. 6 "And blessed is he who is not offended
because of Me."
Elsewhere we see that Jesus acted as an encourager, one who would
lift up the broken in spirit:
Isaiah 42:1-5 – Behold! My Servant
whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put
My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His
voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will
not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth
justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands
shall wait for His law.
Too often we, as Christians, adopt a code of behaviour that we expect
everyone to follow. Yet how can we expect those who have not been
saved to live any differently than they are? Christian behaviour
cannot be legislated or mandated (though we do well to work to ensure
that the laws of our land serve as a barrier between the individual
and sin). Christian behaviour is possible only as the result of
an inward change of heart. We tend to avoid, ostracize and even
condemn those who do not meet our expectations for how they should
act (how many of us have unjustly boycotted Proctor and Gamble over
the years for fear of supporting Satanism rather than working to
find out the truth and working to change hearts if the truth were
as we suspected). Jesus did not act in this way. Had He done so
there would be no hope for any of us for none of us, no matter how
perfectly we have lived our lives, none of us could ever hope to
have a chance of meeting God's standard. Paul wrote to the Roman
church:
Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.
and thereby shows that every human has fallen short of God's expectation
for him. Paul goes on, however, to show how it is the grace of God
that saves us:
Romans 3:24-28 – Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through
faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance
God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26
to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might
be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No,
but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Jesus accepted those we would never consider. He hung out with people
we would never think to associate with: Traitors, prostitutes, adulterers,
demon possessed and conquerors among them. His mission was to redeem
the lost.
He also was remarkable among men in that He forgave. Anyone. Anytime.
Anything. Those caught in the act of sin found mercy before Him:
John 8:10-11 – When Jesus had raised
Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman,
where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her,
"Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
Those justly punished for their crimes He welcomed into Paradise:
Luke 23:39-43 – Then one of the
criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are
the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40 But the other,
answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God,
seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 "And we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this
Man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said to Jesus,
"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43
And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you
will be with Me in Paradise."
Those who nailed His hands to rugged wood He forgave even as they
crucified Him:
Luke 23:32-37 – There were also
two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33
And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified
Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the
left. 34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments
and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even
the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let
Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God." 36
The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine,
37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save
Yourself."
He cared more that man was alienated from God than He cared for
His own rights. He was as Paul encourages all Christians to be:
1 Corinthians 6:1-8 – Dare any of
you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous,
and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints
will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are
you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know
that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to
this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things
pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed
by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it
so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will
be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes
to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! 7 Now
therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to
law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why
do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves
do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!.
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