Many good works

John 10:22-42 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; ²³ it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴ The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³¹ The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” ³³ The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹ Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. ⁴¹ Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴² Many believed in Him there.

“I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.”  Jesus understood that what He said would not convince people who He was/is. It was what He did/does which proves He is one with the Father. It was His works which Jesus pointed to as proof He was the Christ. If we then will be followers of Christ, if we will be the proof to the world that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer, it is our works not our words alone which will convince them. Jesus says:  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.  Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14)

What then are these works? What are the works Jesus did and the greater works He calls us to? First and foremost, in Luke 4:17-23 we read about the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry:    And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,  To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”    Jesus described His ministry, His mission, His purpose, the works He was to do with those words from Isaiah.  Would it not make sense then that these too should be the ministry, the mission, the purpose and the works His followers should do?  These prophetic words from Isaiah not only tell us what we are to do, they also hold the keys to how we are to do it.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”  In Luke 24:46-49, after His death and resurrection Jesus commissions His disciples saying: “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”       The disciples, and we as Christ’s followers, should do nothing without the Spirit of God. We should not do any works in our own strength, but should do all things dressed, clothed with power from on high. Even the love we are to have for others is not to be a human love, it should not be a love that we work in our flesh. The love we are to have for others is a gift of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:16-25, Paul says:     But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,  envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.    Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.      Even the love Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, is a spiritual gift not human love.

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,  To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”      Like Jesus, we too have been anointed, empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel. Again in Luke 24, Jesus says:  “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.        In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus commissions His disciples saying:    “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”       Like Jesus, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit we are to preach the gospel, the good news. We are to proclaim release to the captives, the freedom of Christ for those in the bondage of sin. Like Jesus we are to proclaim the recovery of sight to the blind. This is to be recovery from both physical and spiritual blindness. We are to set free those who are oppressed. Jesus said: “ the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10) We are not only supposed to find those who are oppressed, we are not only supposed to love them, we like Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit are to set them free from their oppression. We are to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. From the beginning and throughout His ministry Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”(Matthew 4:17; 10:7) That is the good news, the kingdom of heaven has come, we live in the favorable year of the Lord.

What does the Lord’s favor look like? What are the signs of the Lord’s favor and the works we should do?  In Mark 16, Jesus continues to describe what our mission should look like, what the result of our works should be. He says:  These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;  they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”      These are the same works Jesus used to testify about His identity when He was asked by John’s disciples if He was the Christ. Jesus said:  “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”(Luke 7:22)      These are the works of Christ and the greater works He calls us to. Today’s text says:  Many believed in Him.   May that also be the result of the works we do.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for setting me free from the bondage of sin. Thank You for releasing me from oppression. Thank You that I do live in the year of Your favor. Holy Spirit clothe me, fully cover and fill me with power from on high that I may walk in the Spirit and do the works that Jesus did, that many may believe.    Amen