Copyright © 2004 S P Townsend
The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah
4. The Messiah’s Mantle
Reading: John 15
During the month of November we have been considering the topic “The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah.” The question we have been asking is: what is it that God is so passionate about, and that His Messiah pursues with such total commitment and determination?
On the first Sunday we considered the Messiah’s mission. We looked at what the title “Messiah”, or “Anointed One”, means. We saw from the Scripture that a main reason for the coming of the Messiah was to deal decisively and conclusively with evil in general and the Evil One in particular. We saw how he would accomplish this: firstly as the Suffering Servant, but finally as the Conquering King.
On the next Sunday we considered the Messiah’s manifesto. We considered how he claimed the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 61 as his own personal agenda. We saw that this agenda had two distinct phases: the “Year of the Lord’s favour” and the “Day of vengeance of our God”. In both periods there is judgement and salvation. We are, right now, in the Year of the Lord’s favour, when the light of his salvation is being carried to the ends of the earth, and all who turn to him in repentance and faith may receive mercy and grace.
Last week we considered the Messiah’s Methodology. We looked at the way in which he came to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favour, and the methods he used. We saw that even though he is the image of the invisible God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, nonetheless he laid aside his majesty and came as one sent from the Father, obedient in every respect to the Father’s will, depending in every circumstance on the Father’s provision and the Holy Spirit’s anointing. Everything he said and did was what he heard the Father saying or saw the Father doing. As one of us, depending entirely on the Father, he overcame evil and the Evil One.
This week we are considering the Messiah’s mantle. When the prophet Elijah was taken up into heaven his cloak fell to the ground. Elisha picked it up, and striking the river Jordan with it he declared, “where is now the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the waters parted and he crossed the river on dry ground. The mantle of anointing was inherited by Elisha. Jesus too passed on his mantle of anointing to his followers. We are going to consider something of what this means.
But before we start let us deal with one issue. Every new generation of the followers of Jesus pick up the mantle from those of the previous generation who lay it down. Does the mantle diminish in the transition? Is our calling somehow different to those whom Jesus first called? Is our anointing a lesser anointing? I ask this because one of the enemy’s ploys is to sow seeds of doubt. He will do this with us also. He will say so convincingly, “Has God really said? Surely that was for the past; things are different now. Yes, He meant what He said, but He didn’t actually intend this to apply to you.” If we listen to him we will leave the mantle on the ground without picking it up; or we will pick it up but never use it like Elisha did to divide the waters and accomplish God’s purpose.
So we will deal with this issue right from the start. We will do this by looking at part of what Jesus said in that wonderful prayer to His Father, recorded in John 17. How awesome it is to read this prayer, to have the heart of Jesus opened to us, and to be able to share in the intimacy of His relationship to the Father. Read it. Learn it. Believe it. Understand that the Father will move heaven and earth to ensure that all of this prayer is answered.
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn 17:18-23 NIV).
Jesus specifically prays that all who believe in Him through hearing the message of those first disciples will be in complete unity with them and with the Father and the Son, recipients of the same holiness, loved with the same love, anointed with the same glory, united in the same purpose – that the world will know that the Father sent Jesus. If you believe in Jesus then it is His desire and prayer that you receive exactly the same calling and anointing that He passed on to His first disciples.
Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, so we are sent in His name.
Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:21-23 NIV).
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (Jn 17:18 NIV)
These are some of the most breathtaking words of Jesus. The story of how the Father sent Jesus into the world, and all that he came to achieve, is, without doubt, the most wonderful ever told. But Jesus adds to this another challenging truth: He sends us into the world in the same way that the Father sent him!
Now we cannot assume that every aspect of his mission was consequently passed on to his disciples. Indeed we can immediately identify one task that was unique to Him alone; only He, sinless and perfect as He was, could die for the sins of the world. So we need careful understanding, and dependence on the Holy Spirit for illumination, when responding to this commission of Jesus. Nevertheless, when Jesus spoke these words it was without reservation or qualification. Let’s look at some of the other things He said to get a more complete understanding of what He meant.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Lu 4:18).
“Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’” (Mark 16:15).
“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
“You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14).
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work” (1 Jn 3:8).
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” (Lu 10:19).
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me” (Jn 9:4).
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love” (Jn 15:10).
“Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” (Jn 14:10-13).
“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:10,11).
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ - if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom 8:17).
“But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” . . . He said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (Lu 5:24).
“If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (Jn 20:23).
What did Jesus mean?
Look first of all at the example of the paralysed man. The forgiveness of sins brought this man deliverance, not just from guilt, not just from the judgement of God, but from the physical bondage that sin had brought to his life. Now, what would have happened to this man if Jesus had not pronounced his forgiveness and his deliverance? He would have been carried home in the same way he was brought; no change, no difference.
Now Jesus has sent us with the same message and mission. We cannot forgive sins by ourselves, by our own strength or according to our own will. That must be quite clear. Nor, I believe, is it our own forgiveness we are called to pronounce, for wrongs done against us, although there may be a time and place for that. But if we are sent into this world as He was sent, then we too will be listening to his voice and keeping our eyes on the Father to see what works He is doing. And there may be times when He will say to us, “This burdened person needs to hear my word, to release them from the power of sin, and to set them free from Satan’s bondage – speak to them my words of forgiveness; tell them they are set free by the power of my blood.” And maybe with faltering words we will do just that, and the grace of God will be released within them as they hear and believe his words of truth and they will be set free.
I don’t pretend that this fully explains what Jesus meant by these words about forgiveness, but I am sure it is part of it. I have been privileged, once or twice, to pray with someone who has humbly and sincerely poured out their heart to God and confessed their sin to Him as we prayed together. Whenever that has happened I have counted it a wonderful privilege to be able to tell them, with all the authority of the word of God, that they are forgiven by His grace and by the power of His shed blood.
I had this wonderful picture come to my mind of the Bride of Christ walking through this troubled world as she waited for the coming of her Bridegroom, and the long-awaited wedding ceremony. There she was, clothed in radiant garments, beautiful beyond compare, stooping down as she ministered to the wretched and broken lives in the darkness around her. And I heard her say, in a voice so compassionate and loving, “My Lord, the King, has paid the price for your salvation. You are forgiven and made whole.” And everywhere she went the light came, and broken lives were mended. I wish I could paint this picture, but I don’t have skill to do this. I can only share it with you as best I can. I believe this is the Lord’s passion, that the thrill that comes to my heart as I think about this picture is but a faint echo of the love and joy that is in His heart as He gazes now upon His bride ministering in His name in this dark world.
Just as Jesus was submissive to the Father, so we are called to submit to Him in all things.
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (Jn 14:23 NIV).
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love” (Jn 15:10 NIV).
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27).
Jesus said of himself, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (Jn 6:38). He calls us to do no less than this. These verses speak of two ways by which He reveals His will: His commands and His voice. His commands are primarily those things He has revealed to us already. He told his first followers, “Make disciples of all nations … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19,20). His voice, on the other hand, comes to us fresh each day. He speaks with His voice so that His sheep may follow Him. He calls them by name and leads them (Jn 10:3).
If you belong to Him then He knows you by name and calls you to follow Him. And what is the key to following Him? The answer is: listening to His voice. Of course, I know that we read the Bible, listen to sermons, and read Christian books, but there is a difference between hearing what God is saying to us in general and hearing what He is saying to me personally. If you were to announce tonight to all of us in general, “I need somebody to do some washing up, can anyone help?” then it would be easy enough for me not to respond, hoping someone else would do it. But if you were to ask the question directly to me then it would be a different matter. I would be faced with a clear choice – to do what I was being asked to do, or to say no. I couldn’t avoid the issue and tell myself that I will think about it later. Jesus says to us that He knows us individually, that He calls us individually and that He wants each one of us to listen to what He has to say to us individually. At the end of John’s gospel is a beautiful account of how Jesus met with His disciples for breakfast on the shore of the sea of Galilee. Jesus spoke intimately with Peter about how He wanted him to care for the other disciples. Then Peter pointed to John and said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus responded, “What is that to you – you must follow me.” (John 21:21,22). God has prepared for each one of us, in advance, the good works that He want us to accomplish for His glory (Eph 2: 10). It is only by listening to His voice that we will be able to follow the way He wants to lead us.
One day I was thinking about this, having been a Christian for many years, and I realised, to my shame, that I didn’t really have much experience of hearing His voice. I prayed, “Lord please give me ears to hear your voice.” Hardly before I had finished the words came into my mind – “You already have ears to hear; what you need to do is listen.”
Listening means we have to take time to be in His presence. Listening isn’t the same as praying. Many times I have come into God’s presence, and have filled the time with all that I wanted to say to Him. But what about what He wanted to say to me? Listening means being still and focussing on Him. The Scripture says, “Be still and know that I am God,” (Ps 46:10) and again, “Come near to God and He will come near to you” (Jas 4:8). We can be sure that if we draw near to Him desiring to hear His voice then He will speak to us in such a way that we will know that it is Him. We have His promise, you see, “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27).
Just as Jesus was supported by the Father, so we are called to depend entirely upon His grace. Apart from Him we can do nothing. With Him we can do anything He tells us to.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5).
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (Jn 15:7,8).
Jesus did what the Father showed Him and spoke what the Father told Him. We are called to do the same. This picture of the vine tells us that be fully depending on Jesus we will accomplish what He has called us to do; without that dependence we will accomplish nothing. The resources that Jesus used to carry out his earthly ministry are now made fully available to us by his grace. Indeed, incredible as it may seem, Jesus actually tells us that the resources available to us are, if it were possible, even greater.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12,13).
Jesus had two others in Him and with Him – the Father to whose will he submitted, and the Spirit on whose power he depended. We have three, for we also have an advocate who speaks on our behalf before the Father – Jesus himself – and because of this, says Jesus, we will achieve even greater things for his glory.
Does it seem far-fetched to you that one of Jesus’ followers might do greater things than Jesus did? Well, these are His words, not ours, and we ignore them to our great loss. He healed the sick, raised the dead, drove out demons, calmed the storm, walked on water, having first humbled himself to become like us in every respect, and then by being totally at one with his Father’s purpose and by fully depending on the Holy Spirit. Then He taught and expected his disciples to do the same. Time and again He chided them for not learning this lesson.
Waking him when they should have trusted –
As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. (Lu 8:23-25).
This is quite amazing. We always concentrate on the miracle of the storm being calmed. That wasn’t in the forefront of Jesus’ thinking at all! He was concerned because the disciples woke Him up! Why? Why did He rebuke them for turning to Him for help? The only possible answer is that He wanted them to exercise faith themselves to see them safely through the storm. He had said “Let’s go to the other side of the lake”. That should have been enough for them to trust in God.
Doubting instead of believing –
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matt 14:28-31).
This is even more amazing. Here was Peter walking on the water and then being rebuked for sinking and crying out for help! We would have been applauding, and congratulating Peter on his bravery and safe rescue. Jesus was having none of that. He expected Peter to keep walking on the water without doubting.
Having insufficient faith –
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:14-20).
Jesus expected his disciples to heal the boy. When they couldn’t he rebuked them quite strongly. The implication is clear – what He had taught them and demonstrated to them time and again, He expected them to practice themselves, without needing Him to be physically present.
Helpless in the face of need –
As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." (Matt 14:15,16)
Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?" (Matt 16:8,9).
Jesus expected the disciples to feed the crowd. What if instead of saying “We don’t have enough food” they had just started to obey Him? What if they had said, “Ok Lord, just pronounce the blessing on the food and we’ll hand it out”? I have no doubt at all that God would have multiplied the provision in just the same way. And then instead of saying “You of little faith” Jesus might have said “Well done, you of growing faith”
Paul wrote to the Philippians, “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil 2:13). When we are united with Him, hearing His voice and responding obediently, then our wills become united with His. What He wants is what we want. This is how Jesus lived, and when we are in the same place God is free to accomplish through us His good purposes. He might call us to overcome evil by casting it out and restoring the damage in His name, just as Jesus did. He might call us to overcome evil by suffering with perseverance and faith under its tyranny, just as Jesus did. As Hebrews says, “Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.” (Heb 11:35).
God calls us to be nothing more nor less than channels of His grace. He calls this ‘bearing fruit’ – “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16). Remaining totally united with Him in will and purpose, depending on Him for guidance and provision, is the guaranteed way, and the only way, for this to happen.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (Jn 15:4).
Just as Jesus was sustained by the Holy Spirit, so we are called to be sustained by Him, clothed with power from on high.
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8).
“When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:13,14).
Through the Spirit we understand the mind and heart of the Father and Son, and by the power of the Spirit we carry out God’s will. This was the one and the same Holy Spirit that anointed and filled Jesus, and led him in power in his ministry (Luke 4:14).
The simple truth is, without the Holy Spirit we can achieve absolutely nothing of value for God, since without him we depend on our own initiative and our own resources. But with the Holy Spirit we can fully achieve all that God longs to do in us and through us, for the glory of his name and the advancement of his kingdom. (Gal 5:16-18) There are many ways that the Holy Spirit helps us as we are sent into the world. In particular, he enables us to
¨ perceive
the Father’s will
“The Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you” (John 16:15);
¨ proclaim
the Father’s word
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but
with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest
on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4);
¨ perform
the Father’s works
“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8).
Our simple responsibility as disciples, sent by Christ into the world, is to listen, watch and act. We have to hear what the Father is saying, see what the Father is doing, and then act to carry out the Father’s purpose. This is what Jesus did. This is what we must do too, and only by the equipping of the Holy Spirit will we be able to achieve it.
If God has been speaking to you tonight then it is for one purpose – so that you will respond. Have you picked up the mantle? Have you embraced the Messiah’s passion and made it your own?
Maybe as we read those Scriptures of how Jesus has sent us, you heard His voice affirming that to you. And perhaps you felt troubled at how far short your response has been compared to way Jesus responded to the Father’s call. If so, then His desire is to cleanse you, forgive you, and renew that call.
Maybe as we considered our need to be submitted to His will, you heard His voice speaking to you about that. The Scripture says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” (Heb 3:7,8). If you know you have been living in disobedience then bring that to His throne of grace right now in repentance and faith. The reason He has shown it to you is to deal with it, now and for good. Perhaps, like me, you realised that you have gone for a long time without hearing His voice. Maybe you haven’t been listening. Maybe other things have crowded out the time you should spend in His presence, listening and waiting on Him. If so, bring that to Him now. Ask Him to unblock your ears; ask Him to make His voice clear to you, because you long so much to hear Him and follow Him.
Maybe as we read those Scriptures speaking of our need to be supported by His grace and sustained by His Spirit, you realised that for a long time you have been trying to do God’s work in your own strength. Maybe there have been things He has called you to do, and your heart has failed you and you have drawn back. Or maybe for the first time you have realised that He wants to use your weakness as an opportunity to demonstrate His strength. If so, come to Him just now to receive the full riches of His grace. He wants to supply all of your need so that you will bear much fruit to glorify His name.
Copyright © 2004 S P Townsend