Jesus Bound His Works To His Words

What Did Jesus Do?

“...but if I do them [the works of the Father], even though you do not believe me,
believe the works, that you may know...”
John 10.38

Most of us know the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It's a pretty lame excuse for when we admit that we “talk the talk” without “walking the walk.” Well, as Jesus talked, so he walked. The Lord's exhortation was that we should do as he said and did. For, unlike anyone who had ever stood up and spoke in the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus perfectly bound his works, which were the works of the Father, to his words, which were the words of God.

To an audience of people who had all lived lives full of inconsistencies between what they said and what they did, Jesus was simply too much. It wasn't that they took issue with his works (though they disapproved of what they saw as Christ's wanton Sabbath breaking), “It is not for good works that we are going to stone you.” (John 10.34). What sent the crowd scurrying to pick up and hurl rocks at Jesus was his words, specifically the Lord's declaration that he and the Father were one (John 10.30). “Why, that would mean Jesus is making himself out to be God!” But, one can only make oneself out to be something one is not. We are who we are. Jesus didn't make himself out to be God, he was God! If you or I had gone around Jerusalem saying the things Jesus did we would have deserved stoning. What Jesus deserved was to be worshiped and obeyed. But those who talked the talk without walking the walk had only one thing on their mind, to arrest Jesus, and ultimately put him to death (John 10.39).

While it isn't difficult to separate much of what we say from what we do, with Jesus there was a complete and unbreakable joining of word and deed. When someone has a reputation for honesty we say, “He/She is as good as his/her word.” The truth is, the only one who has ever been as good as his word in Jesus. I think that may be why it is still so hard for so many people to accept Christ—he is so totally different from anyone else we've ever known. None of us have ever really known anyone, even the person we look at in the mirror, who has actually been as good as their word. It's tough to believe, to trust, someone who is, well, almost too good to be true. That's the thing about Jesus bonding his works to his word, he was good and true through and through.

What would have been blasphemous, if it had come out of any other mouth, was in fact the absolute and complete truth—Jesus and the Father are one. The works Jesus did were the Father's works. The words Jesus spoke were the Father's words. To some it was blasphemy, to others it was the gospel, the Good News.

Though neither you nor I will ever be able to perfectly bind our works to our words, at least on this side of eternity, we nonetheless have the power to do so within us by virtue of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Our biggest challenge is to rely more on him, and less on ourselves. And the key to evangelism is keep the focus on Jesus, and not ourselves. Even as we confess our lack of perfection, we must point to the Lord and invite/encourage others to walk as he walked, and talk as he talked. For Jesus did much the same, without having to confess any lack of perfection, by saying in effect, “Walk as the Father walks, and talk as the Father talks.” And, so that we should see and hear what that walk and talk looked like, Jesus bound his works to his words.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4