Thursday, July 2, 2015
John 4:34; 1 Timothy 2:4; John 20:21 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." ... God, our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth ... Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS
That day at the well in Samaria, while His disciples were on a mission to secure food for His traveling band, Jesus reached out to a woman with a Savior's loving care. When His men returned with provisions, they urged Jesus, "Rabbi, eat something." But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." Then His disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought Him food?" "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work."
The Son of God was gladly and willingly obedient to His Father. For Jesus, this is what it meant to be really alive. His Father's will was His will and to carry it out was like food -- a source of strength and satisfaction.
Now, what about us?
Our sinful self likes to think it is in control, independent of God, looking to carry out its will alone. But when the Spirit of God brings us to faith in Jesus that is changed. As Martin Luther noted, Jesus has paid a great price (1 Peter 3:18-19) that we might be His very own and live under His rule. Since we belong to Jesus, our sinful will is no longer in charge. What Jesus wants is what we want -- namely, the Father's will. For as the Father sent Jesus, Christ now sends us. And God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
It is now our driving desire to witness to Jesus; to reach out to others as He reached out to them; to do the will of Him who sent us. It was that way already at the well in Samaria where the woman who had been reached by Jesus left her water jar, went back to town, and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:28-29).
