“I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS that PLEASE MY FATHER”

Presented by

Tyler Mullins

For the past several months in our Sunday-morning Bible class here at Mill Creek, Blake, Justin, and I have been involved in an in-depth study of the life of Christ. During our investigation into Christ’s teachings and actions, one particular thing has stood out in my mind as being extremely important—both for Christ in His day and for me today. I can best explain to you what that one thing is by sharing with you several incidents and statements from Jesus’ ministry while He was here on Earth.

For example, in John 4:30-34 the story is told of how Christ’s disciples were urging Him to eat something. But instead of satisfying His hunger, Christ turned to them and said, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples were puzzled by Christ’s response, and said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Upon hearing the disciples’ question, Jesus turned to them and said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Many years earlier, King Solomon had written in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone.” Even Jesus, God’s beloved Son, adhered to such a sentiment. In fact, in John 8:29 He said in speaking of His Father, “I always do those things that please Him.”

And truly, Jesus did exactly that! Throughout His public ministry, Christ repeatedly reminded those around Him, “I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has Himself given Me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told Me” (John 12:49-50).

There are three things about such statements that we cannot afford to overlook. First, Jesus was God’s emissary on Earth, and as such He spoke with God’s authority. We know this to be the case because on the Mount of Transfiguration God’s voice boomed down from heaven and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5). When Jesus spoke, it was humanity’s task to hear and obey Him. This is why Jesus could tell us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 13:15). Christ’s commandments to us were, in actuality, God’s commandments to us.

Second, because Christ was here as God’s spokesman, He did not have the freedom to merely “invent” whatever He wanted to say, or think that He could simply say whatever He thought people ought to hear. Rather, as God’s ambassador to the human race, He understood that it was essential for Him to say and do only those things that God had instructed Him to say or do. This is why Jesus said in John 14:24, “The word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent Me.”

Third, the things that Jesus said and did on God’s behalf had an important spiritual purpose behind them—one that was intended to bless us not only in this life, but also in the next life as well. Regarding our lives here and now, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Jesus truly wanted us to have what Philippians 4:7 calls “the peace that surpasses understanding.” And He wanted us to have it now! But that is not all that Jesus wanted for us, as He made clear when He said of His Father’s words, “I know that His commandments are eternal life” (John 12:50). Yes, Jesus wanted us to have the best life we could while on Earth. But more important, He wanted us to go to heaven to spend eternity with Him, His Father, and the Holy Spirit. And He knew that the only way for us to do that was to understand that we ;must obey God’s commandments so that one day we will hear Him say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant…. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).

Yes, I definitely have been impressed by the life that Jesus Christ lived, and by the actions that He carried out on behalf of His heavenly Father. In fact, I have been so impressed that it has caused me to want to be able to say, just as Jesus Himself once did, “I always do those things that please My Father.” My question to you today is this: Don’t you want to say that, too—and mean it with all your heart?