By Gan Xin
The Lord Jesus said, “How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:12-14). From these words, we can see the Lord Jesus’ love for us mankind. He compared each of us to a sheep. If a sheep is lost, He will do whatever it takes to find it—this is His attitude in saving man. Here, the last sentence says, “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” We all know that the Lord Jesus is the incarnate God Himself, and that His word is God’s word. Why then did the Lord Jesus say the words, “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish”?
Later, I read a passage of God’s words, which solved the confusion in my heart. God’s words say, “On the surface, it looks like it’s the Lord Jesus who is speaking, but His will represents the will of God Himself, which is why He said: ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.’ People at that time only acknowledged the Father in heaven as God, and this person that they saw in front of their eyes was merely sent by Him, and He could not represent the Father in heaven. That’s why the Lord Jesus had to say that as well, so that they could really feel God’s will for mankind, and feel the authenticity and the accuracy of what He said. Even though this was a simple thing to say, it was very caring and it revealed the Lord Jesus’ humility and hiddenness. No matter whether God became flesh or He worked in the spiritual realm, He knew the human heart best, and best understood what people needed, knew what people worried about, and what confused them, so He added this one line. This line highlighted a problem hidden in mankind: People were skeptical of what the Son of man said, which is to say, when the Lord Jesus was speaking He had to add: ‘Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.’ Only on this premise could His words bear fruit, to make people believe their accuracy and improve their credibility. This shows that when God became a regular Son of man, God and mankind had a very awkward relationship, and that the Son of man’s situation was very embarrassing. It also shows how insignificant the Lord Jesus’ status among humans was at that time.”
After seeing this passage of words, I suddenly realized the reason why the Lord Jesus said the words “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” It was because people of that time only admitted the God in heaven, and denied the incarnate Lord Jesus as God Himself. Even in the eyes of those who followed the Lord, He was just the Son of man sent by the Father in heaven, so they were skeptical of the words of the Lord Jesus rather than believing them completely. When the Lord Jesus said the words “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish,” He was telling those who followed Him that every sentence He said represents the will of God the Father, so that they could believe His words without doubt and believe that God’s love, mercy and concern for man are true. Only this way could the Lord Jesus’ working and speaking bear fruit. At this time, I came to understand the Lord Jesus’ good intentions behind His words. No matter how people at that time treated Him, as long as they could listen to God’s words, practice according to God’s teachings, and gain God’s salvation, the Lord’s heart would be comforted. At the same time, I also saw the Lord Jesus’ humility and hiddenness. He didn’t show off Himself or speak relying on His status, nor did He force man to listen to Him. He just taught man to listen to God’s words and break free from Satan’s bondage to obtain God’s salvation. From the words of the Lord Jesus, I appreciated His selfless love for mankind, and that His intentions of saving mankind are real and actual. Besides, I saw that the Lord Jesus sympathized with man’s foolishness and ignorance. Though the people who followed Him at that time didn’t treat Him as God, He didn’t hold it against them, because He examined the innermost heart of man and knew man’s stature and lack. He only spoke to supply and lead people according to their lacking and needs. His doing so is for man to understand His sincerity in saving man and have more faith to follow Him.
Seeing the selfless love of the Lord Jesus for us mankind, I couldn’t help offering my sincere thanks to God and praise God.
No comments:
Post a Comment