Perfectly Trained to Serve Like Jesus—with Flawless Character
David W Palmer
We are continuing with Jesus as he journeys towards his destiny. We have already witnessed him as the perfect trainer, delegator, and the ultimate Master of apprentices. He has shown them what he does; trained them in the classroom and on-the-job; he has assessed them, coached them to competence, and is now revealing to them some more layers of understanding so they can be just like him. In today's unveiling, the Holy Spirit brings out some prophetic insights from an Old Testament passage about Jesus that applies to both him and us "in him":
(Matthew 12:15–21 NKJV) … Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. {16} Yet He warned them not to make Him known, {17} that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: {18} "Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. {19} He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. {20} A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; {21} And in His name Gentiles will trust."
In this beautiful Old Testament description of the Messiah, we see the character of Jesus: powerful yet humble; bringing justice, but gentle; inordinately notable, yet not drawing attention to himself. In this picture, we also see who we are in Christ—remembering that the perfectly trained disciple will be like this magnificent Teacher.
"Behold! My Servant"
The first characteristic of Jesus that the Holy Spirit wants us to see is that he is a humble servant. This is what our Master said about himself and his mission:
(Matthew 20:28 NKJV) "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Remember, even if we are perfectly trained by him, we can never be superior to him. If he came to serve; we cannot expect that our role in him is to be served. After all, he said, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21 NKJV). The Holy Spirit reminds us of this through the apostle Paul; he exhorts us to take on Jesus's attitude about being a humble, obedient servant:
(Philippians 2:5–9 NLT) "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. {6} Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. {7} Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, {8} he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. {9} Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names."
We see from this that only after Jesus served humanity—taking the "humble position of a slave"—did God elevate him to the "place of highest honour." This is the attitude that the Holy Spirit says we "must" have. What's more, if this is the path Jesus travelled to reach his destiny, we who are led by him will obviously follow him along this same path.
Jesus knew he was God's Son: "He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to." He simply didn't cling to that status or demand position, title, or to be served. Jesus was absolutely secure in his equality with God as a Son—so secure that serving temporarily as a "slave" didn't threaten his peaceful security in God. We too should live with this understanding; without contradiction, in Jesus we are God's sons and daughters. Yet, with this truth firmly established as the foundation for our identity, we should imitate Jesus's example as the servant of all.
"Whom I have chosen"
This is a powerful revelation—especially when applied to us in Jesus.
(Ephesians 1:4 NLT) "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."
God chose us, but we note the specific wording: "chose us in Christ." I believe the simplest way to explain this is by using the illustration of the Titanic: like the world system, it was destined to sink, but the designers had included some lifeboats. Apparently, they lacked enough space in them to save all the passengers, but it was pre-determined that those who got into the lifeboats would be saved. Yet, the manufacturer did not specifically pre-determine precisely who was to get into the lifeboats.
God's predetermined choice was that those who accept his invitation to be "in Christ" would be saved from the sinking world system. (Unlike the makers of the Titanic, he does have sufficient space for everyone to be saved.) He offers the invitation through the gospel; those "ordained to eternal life" are the ones who respond by repenting of their sin, and by accepting reconciliation in Jesus; and who then follow the Good Shepherd all the way home (See: Acts 13:44–52 KJV).
Obviously, only the passengers who opted to stay in the lifeboats were ultimately saved; if they were to leave the boat—albeit momentarily—they would be lost because even if they were able to get back in, once wet with the freezing water they would have perished. But we note that those saved "in the lifeboat" had to go where it took them; that was their only way to be saved completely.
So yes, we are "chosen." God's goodness brought the gospel to us, and his goodness led us to repentance; but we are saved only by saying "yes" to his offer and receiving Jesus. Only by being "in Christ" (and staying there) can we be saved and reach our mature, eternal destination.
"My beloved."
God loves Jesus, and he loves us in Jesus. This love is not quite as "unconditional" as we may think. Look for the word "because" in the next two statements from Jesus:
(John 10:17 NKJV) "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again."
(John 16:27 NKJV) "For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God."
Without doubt, Jesus fulfilled all that is required to meet the "because" in the first statement. He said that that is why God loves him. Thankfully, "in Christ" we are included in that love—but only if we permanently abide in him. According to Jesus's second statement, we will abide in him if we love him and believe. So abiding in Christ—where we are safe in the lifeboat, so to speak—is only possible by loving Jesus and living by faith—in other words, by walking in the Spirit (See: Gal. 5, Rom. 8).
Today, we have gazed upon Jesus and his flawless character. I encourage you to meditate upon these passages, and to fall in love with his amazing qualities. He served; we should aspire to serve too—if for no other reason than we see it in the one we love, and long to be like him. We long to allow others to see in us what we see in him.
We also see the reason we can enjoy God's overflowing love. It is because Jesus laid down his life. And as we love him, abide in him, and walk in his Spirit of holiness, we are included in that love.
We have also seen that in Jesus, we are in God's Son at his right hand—the most significant place in existence. From that place of ultimate security and privilege, we receive and accept Jesus's commission to serve others like he did. We serve like he did because we love him, want to be like him, and passionately desire to show others who he is:
(Matthew 12:19–21 NLT) "He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. {20} He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. {21} And his name will be the hope of all the world."
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