"Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. As He spake these words, many believed on him." (John 8:28-30.)
Jesus, our Master, sets forth three things in this text. First, He shows us the perfect ideal life. It is a short phrase that comes at the end of the text: "the things that please him," that is, the Father. Second, the Master makes an amazing claim, one of the most astonishing claims to come from the lips of a human being. He says: "I do always the things that please him." Third, He reveals the secret by which He has been able to realize the ideal, to put it on a level that all can understand. He declared in the text's opening lines: "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone.” Let us give some thought to each of these points.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to remove the cup of suffering that He was soon to drink. He prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matt. 26:39.) If God grants us a new day, our will should be to do the things that please the Father. The highest ideal is to be and do the things that please the Father.
Oh, how we strive to live up to this perfect ideal! But man often falls short. In comparing the lives of Jews with the lives of Gentiles, Paul wrote, "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Rom. 3:9-10) We need forgiveness.
Look at the life of Jesus: a man who stood amid His enemies, and looked out upon them, and said, "I do the things that please him" – not "I teach them," not "I dream them," not "I have seen them in a fair vision," but "I do them." There never was a bigger claim from the lips of the Master than that: "I do always the things that please him."
I need not insult your intelligence by attempting to define that statement of Christ. History has vindicated it. We believe it with all our hearts – that He always did the things that pleased his heavenly Father. "But I am not on a level that I can touch now.” The great ideal has come from the air to the earth. The fair vision has become concrete in a Man, Jesus Christ. Now, I want to see that Man; and if I see that Man, I shall see in Him a revelation of what God's purpose is for men, and I shall see, therefore, a revelation of what the highest possibility of life is. Now, this is a tempting theme. It is a temptation to begin to contrast Him with popular ideals of life. I want to see Him; I want, if I can, to catch the notes of the music that make up the perfect harmony which was the dropping of a song out of God's heaven upon man's earth, that man might catch the key-note of it and make music in his own life. What are the things in this Man's life? He says: "I have realized the ideal – I do." There are four things that I want to say about Him, four notes in the music of His life.
First spirituality. This is a word that needs to be redeemed from abuse. Jesus was the embodiment of the spiritual ideal in life. He was spiritual in the high, true, full, broad blest sense of that word. Spirituality in the life of Jesus was not asceticism. Jesus did not abuse Himself. During all the years of His ministry and his teaching, one never finds a single instance in which Jesus made a whip of cords to scourge himself. All that business of scourging oneself – an attempt to elevate the spirit by the ruin of the actual flesh – is absolutely opposed to His view of life.
The fact of His life was that He went into all the relationships of life. He went to the widow. He took up the children, held them in His arms, and looked into their eyes till heaven was poured in as He looked. He did not go and get behind walls somewhere. He did not get away and say: "Now, if I am going to get pure, I shall do it by shutting men out.” Remember what the Pharisees said of Him: "This man receives sinners."
The second thing to note in the life of Jesus is subjection. An individual who says: “I want to please myself" is not denying himself. It has been said, "It is because men have forgotten the covenant of God, the kingship of God, that we have all the wreckage and ruin that blights this poor earth of ours. Jesus never forgot that covenant. Did you notice those wonderful words: "I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak." He neither did nor spoke anything of Himself. It was a wonderful life.
The third consideration in the life of Jesus was sympathy. Now, you have this Man turned toward other men. We have noted something of Him as He faced God: Spirituality, a sense of God; subjection, a perpetual Amen to the divine volition. Now, He faces the crowd. Sympathy! Why? Because He is right with God, He is right with men; because He knows the Father is near, and knows Him, and responds to the divine will; therefore, when He faces men, He is right with men. Every social ill will be settled in man's return to God. When a man returns to God, He will return to men. What is behind it? Sympathy is the power of putting my spirit outside of my personality into the circumstances of another man and feeling as that man feels.
I will mention one incident in the life of Christ, which demonstrates His sympathy. As the Master is approaching the town of Nain, a dead man is being carried out to be buried. The man's mother is walking beside the bier. Look into her eyes. See her face. She is a widow, and her only child, a son, has died. See all the sorrow on her face? You can see it. Now, turn back and look into the eyes of Jesus. Look at His face as He looks at her sorrowful face. He is feeling all the pain that she is feeling. He is feeling the agony that she feels. He is moved with compassion whenever human sorrow crosses His vision, and human need approaches Him. And now we see Him as He moves toward the bier. Do you see Him touch the bier? The boy is raised from the dead. Jesus gives him to his mother. Do you see the dark clouds surrounding you at times, then the sun breaks through, and the clouds of darkness dissipate? Likewise, the woman's agony is gone. The tears are gone. A smile is on her face. He carried her grief and sorrow and turned them into joy.
The fourth and last note is strength. Jesus was no weakling. There never was anyone as strong as He. Read His life in the gospel accounts to see His strength. No man took His life from Him; He gave Himself up voluntarily.
Adapted from G. Campbell Morgan