“Jesus gave them this answer, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (5:19)
Jesus does only what he sees the Father doing. That’s it. What the Father does, Jesus does. And likewise, we are to do what the Son does.
This is kind of obvious but how often do we think about what Jesus did and is doing? Really think about it?
Oftentimes we have this milquetoast version of Jesus that assumes he is sweet, smiles at everyone and occasionally has a few harsh words for the Pharisees. But Jesus is so much more than this
- He preaches, teaches and heals
- He sees what people are and will become (Peter, Nathaniel…)
- He honors his mother (Cana, at the cross)
- He loves the outcast that he is not even supposed to communicate with (Samaritan woman)
- He loves the man caught in self-pity and victim mindset (man at Bethesda)
- He doesn’t let people push him around (when his brothers come with their mother to stop him)
- He doesn’t let people walk all over him (Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the law)
- He honors the spirit of the law and not its letter (healing on the Sabbath)
- He believes God can do miracles and he relies on them (feeding of the 5000, walking on water)
- All the miracles he sees is to serve someone, never for show (all his miracles)
- He had no tolerance for religious fakeness (Mt 23)
- The kingdom of God is central to his preaching (Book of Matthew)
- He knows plainly who he is and what is his mission (Jn 5:17)
- Nothing is beneath him (washing the feet of the disciples)
- He is still human in his feelings and frustrations (Gethsemane)
- When it came time to suffer and die he did so for the joy set before him (Heb 12:2)
That’s a lot. Am I becoming like him?
- Am I willing to go evangelize even if it’s not “my gift”?
- Am I willing to pray for sick people right then and there to be healed?
- Do I rely on God for the miraculous when needed? Or do I go to anxiety, fear, stress, worry, and faithlessness?
- Am I willing to be kind and gentle to those who are draining, annoying, and miserable to be around?
- Do I have a healthy sense of respecting myself and not letting people just walk over me?
- Am I willing to do the nasty stuff, the mundane, or the not fun or do I delegate that out?
- Do I let myself have the freedom to feel while still moving forward in God without resentment or frustration towards him or others?
The object is not to look at myself and where I’m not, but to look at Jesus and be on the journey to be like him.
