Lonnie Witt
Think of the people of your acquaintance who you would deem successful. It is nearly impossible to separate the individual from his or her vocation or mission. We find that especially true when we think of Jesus. From the scriptures we learn who He is and that His whole life was shaped around His mission. Let’s consider three things that defined His mission.
Jesus came to demonstrate God. In John 14:8 Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father. Likely Philip desired a manifestation of God the Father in a dramatic presentation of glory. Jesus’ answer in John 14:9 is interesting and instructive. He asked two questions: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
What had the disciples seen? They had seen Jesus perform many miracles. Bible scholars list 37 miracles which are recorded in the gospels. It is likely He performed many more. Those miracles demonstrate His interest in the human condition which includes sickness, sorrow, pain, and need. His loving acts reflect on the character of the Father, which is concisely stated in this manner: “God is love,” 1 John 4:8. Much of Jesus’ ministry involved human interaction and deep compassion. We cannot separate Jesus from love any more than we separate God from love.
If we just focus on one of Jesus’ miracles, the healing of the demonic daughter which is recorded in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30, we see the depth of Jesus’ compassion. Further, we see how He used the healing as instruction to the disciples, and us, that the ultimate end of His ministry was inclusive of all mankind. His immediate response to the woman’s plea was that He was called to the Jews. It seems that His response was to broaden the thinking of the disciples to include Gentiles. The woman of Canaan said, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Jesus response was ”O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt,” and her daughter was healed.
What do other scriptures say of Jesus’ purpose reflecting God the Father? Colossians 1:19 says, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” While the original text does not use the word Father, it certainly is not misapplied. Christ possessed all the authority and dignity of His Father. Paul writes further in Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” This verse emphasized that Christ in His bodily form was a reflection of God and indeed God. He became one of us so we might see deity among us. He is truly Emmanuel.
Jesus came to declare the truth. Remember the narrative of Jesus before Pilate in John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
Jesus came to reveal the truth about Himself. John said of Jesus that He was the True Light who illuminates every man who comes into the world. Jesus Himself said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus is the source and embodiment of truth.
If then, an individual goes on a quest for truth, he does not find answers within. He does not find truth in secular education. He certainly will not find truth in the theories and philosophies of the anti-God crowd. He must and will go to the Source – God. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are coequal persons of the Godhead, thus when Jesus speaks of Himself as the Truth, He is referencing the Trinity. He then is wise indeed who remembers what Proverbs 9:10 says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
Jesus came to reveal the truth about mankind. He came to articulate what should have already become obvious – man is a sinner, man is doomed to failure, man cannot be good enough or do enough to earn his salvation. Ever since Adam fell in the garden, man has been on a path of failure. Every child born since the fall came into the world as a sinner in need of a savior.
One example of Jesus as one who reveals truth to mankind is found in the narrative of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16. The young man asked: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus answered by affirming that He was one with God, and then said: “Keep the commandments.” Then Jesus summarized the commandments having to do with human relationships, and then added the words “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The young man declared that he had kept those commandments, and Jesus offered no argument, but He told the young man to sell what he had and give to the poor, and then follow Him. Several things are clear in the narrative. Personal goodness will not save. The pride of position and possessions is counter to submission to Christ. Submission and service are essential to godliness.
Jesus came to deliver the sinner. Right on the heels of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus and in answer to the murmuring critics Jesus said in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Later in anticipation of His trial and death, Jesus said in John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”
We remember that prior to Jesus’ birth Mary received the message from Gabriel that the child she was about to conceive should be called Jesus (Savior). Joseph received a similar message from an angelic messenger in a dream. He was told that Mary’s baby should be called Jesus because he shall save His people from their sins.
A striking example of Jesus’ role as Savior comes to mind. It is the narrative of the paralytic man, who was borne by four of his friends and subsequently delivered to Jesus’ presence by the removal of the roof. In that scene, Jesus said emphatically to the paralyzed man: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee (Matthew 9:2).” As would be expected, the words of Jesus brought the criticism of the scribes. In a parallel passage from Mark, we read Jesus’ answer: “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. (Mark 2:9-11).”
Jesus lived in His mission. He came so He could demonstrate God to us. He came so He could deliver the truth about Him and us. He came so He could deliver us.
