A Teaching by Jim Denman
What Did Jesus Do?
What Would Jesus Do? This is a phrase that we in the body of Christ have seen and heard more times than we can count over the last few years. It has appeared on everything from bracelets, books, bumper stickers and compact discs. The question that it asks is a good one...What Would Jesus Do in this or that situation? It is a reminder for us as believers, to have the mind of Christ and to act as He would in all aspects of our lives. There is only one problem with the question...it is open for speculation.
It makes it possible for 2 different people, to be in the same situation, to ask the same question,
and to arrive at different conclusions. This is just one reason that perhaps a better question to ask
is What Did Jesus Do?
Usually, we turn to the gospels when we want to know what Jesus did. There is
a lot of information there about His ministry and how He handled some situations. Even so, not everything
that He did is recorded in the gospels. John's gospel tells us, for example, that the whole world could
not contain all the books it would take to give an account of everything the Master did. Wow!!! That's a
lot of stuff!! What if we want to know something about our Lord that is not recorded in the New Testament?
Is there another place in the Bible to look? Can we find another portion of scripture that fills in some gaps
concerning what He did?
Let's say that we want to know more specifics about the faith He practiced, where would we turn? You see; I
am not talking about deciphering what Messiah had to say about end times, or the story of the prodigal son.
These are wonderful lessons for us to learn, but these are examples of what Jesus said. The specific question
that we need to address is this; How does the faith that He practiced compare to ours?
What did He do? Have
you ever asked these kinds of questions: What day of the week did Christ worship? What religious holidays did He
celebrate? What did Jesus Eat? What did Jesus eat???
It may come as a surprise to you that we know what the Master ate, or to be more specific, what He could and
would not eat. We can also be assured of the day He worshipped and the holidays He kept. How can we know these
things? The answer may surprise you. We know what Messiah did in all these things because; He was sinless. You may
say: That's it, that's all I need to know to find out what Jesus did?
Well, almost.
The next piece of the puzzle we must put together is to find out exactly what sin is. Can we find a biblical definition for sin, a verse that says it in no uncertain terms? Actually, we can! Sin is defined very clearly for us in 1 John 3:4. The Apostle John tells us that sin is transgression of the law. If sin by its very definition is breaking the law, we have one more question to answer in our quest to find out what Jesus did- what is the law?
Law is the English translation of the Greek word nomos, which itself is a carry over of the Hebrew word Torah. Torah refers to the 1st five books of the bible. So you see, there is another place to look in the scriptures if we want to know what Christ did in regards to the faith He lived out: We look in the Torah. The Torah was Jesus' standard for living!
In the Torah, God's people are given commandments concerning what they may and may not eat. We are instructed to remember and keep the 7th day Sabbath holy. We are told that the Father has appointed times, holy days, during the year, on which He wants to meet with us. These are just a few examples of what Jesus did! We know that our Savior kept all of God's commandments perfectly. If He had not, He would have sinned and been disqualified to die in our place as a perfect sacrifice. Again, if it were true that He broke any of Gods commandments, our faith in Him as the spotless Lamb of God would be made void- we would still be in our sins!
The majority of Believers in Jesus today have several misconceptions about the Torah. One that is commonly taught is that the Torah has been done away with; that it has no validity for the believer in Messiah. Here the question we must ask is: What Did Jesus Teach?
Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-21 that till heaven and earth pass away not one bit of the law or the prophets will pass
away till all is fulfilled.
Is all fulfilled? Has heaven or earth passed away, yet? He also says in this same
passage: Whoever breaks the least of God's commandments and teaches others to do so, will be called least in the kingdom
.
According to His own words, if Jesus broke any of God's commandments or taught His disciples that it is okay to break them,
that would make it possible for the Son of God to be least in the kingdom! May it never be!! We read about the Master's
encounters with the Pharisees over their practices of following the traditions of men above God's commandments.
We observe His frustration with them in the text, and we think, Man those Pharisees just didn't get it
and yet we fail to
realize the possibility that He could be just as frustrated with some of us.
We are also guilty of sitting aside the commandments of God for the sake of our traditions! For example: The day we worship and the religious holidays that we celebrate are often done according to the reckoning of men, rather than God's word. Many of us today, practice a faith about our Messiah, but not the faith of our Messiah.
In Luke 6:40 the scripture says that a disciple fully trained will be like his master.
The concept of biblical
discipleship has been somewhat lost today in our culture. In the days of the Master, a disciples' job was to mimic his teacher
in every area of life, until he acts, talks and even thinks like him. A disciple's focus then, is more on being like his Master
than just knowing about him. Is this not a primary reason that the Holy Spirit indwells a believer today, to conform us to the
image of the Son?
One of the ways that He does this is most assuredly by empowering us to live a life of obedience to His commandments. Some of you may think that I'm purporting some kind of works righteousness, with all this talk about commandment keeping. I assure you that I am not. Following God's commandments has never been a biblical means for salvation but is an outward expression of it. Jesus did not become the Son of God because He kept the Torah; rather, He followed the Torah because He was the Son of God. In like manner we have not become children of God because we follow God's commandments; rather, we should follow His commandments because we are children of God. Some would explain that love is the fulfillment of the law. This is true, however, love manifests itself through action.
It says in 1st John 5:2 that we know that we have love for our fellow believers when we love God and obey His commandments.
This is the Masters call for each of us, who have been saved by His wonderful grace through faith. In summary let me say this:
If we want to be like Jesus, we must submit our lives through the power of His Spirit, to all of God's commandments just as He did.
Not to earn or keep our salvation, but as an expression of loving obedience. Obedience which flows from a heart of gratitude for
the wonderful salvation that we have in Him, by grace through faith. So, the next time you see a What Would Jesus Do?
coffee mug,
I pray that you'll be reminded that asking What Did Jesus Do‽
is a much more relevant question for those who want to be His disciples,
in the true sense of the word. Blessings!!!
