Jesus Transferred Authority and Responsibility to be Incarnational to His Church

What Did Jesus Do?

“All authority in haven and on earth has been given to me. [You] go therefore,
and make disciples of all nations.”
Matthew 28.18-19

We have taken a good long look at how John answered the question “What did Jesus do?” in his Gospel. Now we prepare to consider what the apostle said to the Church about what Jesus would do in her. A flesh and blood Savior, the Lamb of God, had been required to bear away the sins of the world (John 1.29); thus the Incarnation is the focus of the Fourth Gospel. That Savior established and commissioned a flesh a blood Church, his Body, and not some spiritualized, removed-from-the world convocation of saints, to continue his mission; thus the incarnational ministry of the Church is the focus of John’s letters.

It may seem a bit strange to be quoting the Gospel of Matthew to introduce a series of WDJDs which will look at the New Testament letters of John. Nevertheless, Christ’s transfer of his authority and power to his Church is important for us to keep in mind as we transition from our consideration of what the Fourth Gospel tells us about the Incarnation of the Word (i.e. the life of Jesus Christ), to what the author of that Gospel has to say to us by way of his letters to the Church, whose ministry has always been, and will always be, incarnational.

Even as the Word took on flesh and lived among us (John 1.14), so the Word, though ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father’s right hand (Hebrews 12.2), is still present and active in and through the Church in the world. In this dark and fallen world it has never been easy to live according to the Light and the Truth of God. The Word (Jesus) was opposed, persecuted, and, ultimately, crucified because the world wanted nothing to do with light and truth, preferring darkness and lies. In the same way, the Church has always, and will always, face tribulation; yet her Lord has, through his death and resurrection, overcome the world (John 16.33). And so the Church has, and will, endure and overcome the world’s persecution by the authority and power bestowed upon her by the Word.

The Son fully accepted from the Father the responsibility to be Light and Truth in and to the world. The Church, in receiving her Commission, accepted the responsibility to continue to bear the Light and the Truth in and to the world, faithfully to proclaim the Gospel throughout the ages, until the Son himself returns. The Church has no life, no ministry, other than that which is incarnational. Any other life and ministry is false. And this is the very concern which prompted John to write his letters to the Church. It was imperative that the Church know and distinguish between the Incarnation, and the authentically incarnational, and the false proclamation of the Gnostics which would lead the Church away from living in, and proclaiming the Light and the Truth.

As the Apostle John neared the end of his life, he was more concerned than ever that the Church should understand what it means, and what it requires, incarnationally, to represent the Incarnate Word. John’s letters were written to the Church called to live in the in the love of God. For, in the end, to be incarnational means to so love the world as to both live, and be willing to die, so that the Light and Truth of God will never perish, but rather accomplish all that the Father has desired. This is what the Church is called to do, because that’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4