Jesus Knew and Jesus Kept

What Did Jesus Do?

If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him…
John 8.55

If Jesus knew anything, He knew the Father. From eternity past, to before the days of Abraham, to the very moment He was confronted by an irate crowd of Jews who were convinced He was demon possessed, Jesus knew. Knowing the Father was such an incontrovertible part of being the Son that it would have been absurd for Him to deny it, just as it would have been unthinkable for the Son not to keep the Word of the Father. We might even define the Son as “The One who knows the Father and keeps his Word.” It certainly separates Jesus from all the rest of us.

Thankfully, the Father sent Jesus to handle the problem of our separation from him and to make him known to all, and to keep, or fulfill, the Father’s Word for the sake of all. Even Abraham, to whom the Jews looked as the founder of the covenant in which they claimed their connection with God, rejoiced in the day of the Son who whose “knowing” and “keeping” blessed Abraham and his descendants. (John 8.56)

What the Jews could not see, would not see, was that this young man whom they tried to disown as a Samaritan and possessed, had been “I am” before Abraham—before Adam for that matter. “'I am'? Why if this Jesus of Nazareth is ‘I Am’ that means he is the LORD, Yahweh. This is blasphemy!” hence the impulse to stone Him. (John 8.59) If Jesus was who He claimed to be, than to know Him would be to know the Father, to not know Him would mean one did not know the Father. The kind of conviction that comes with hearing this truth will either cause one to rejoice, as Abraham did, or to fly into a guilt inspired rage, as the “sons” of Abraham did when confronted with Jesus’ claims. But, like it or not, that pretty much sums up the life and mission of Jesus: to make the Father known and to keep the Father’s Word.

This means that all who follow Jesus are to be “knowers” and “keepers” too. Jesus said as much, it is all about our keeping His word. And for those who “keep,” Jesus promised eternal life. (John 8.51) And, if we know Jesus, and keep His word, then we will be about the same work as our Lord, inviting others to become “knowers” and “keepers” as well. Lest we despair that knowing and keeping as Jesus did is beyond us, we also have His promise that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will be with us and empower us to “know” God and “keep” his Word, (See John 14.15-26 and 15.26-27), that we should never taste death. Have we made knowing God and making Him known, and keeping His Word and proclaiming it to others our daily task? That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4