Intensity for Mission (John 4:34)
For American poet Robert Frost, the woods were "lovely, dark and deep. . . . But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep."
Jesus lived with the constant awareness of the darkness in the woods around him, always deep, but never lovely. Like the poet, He constantly was aware of having miles to go before He slept, so much to do in so little time. "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day," He said, "the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4, NKJV). We see this mission intensity in His encounter with the woman of Samaria. Suddenly, in the presence of this needy soul, He forgets all hunger and all thirst, totally consumed with the mission at hand.
Meanwhile, the woman, entering into the excitement of the encounter, abandons her water jar and rushes to the village to spread the news of the most focused character she has ever met. The disciples return to find Jesus silent and pensive, praying for the success of this brand-new contact.
When they told Jesus to eat, what did He answer them? (John 4:32-34). How should we understand those words? What message can we take from them for ourselves?
What do the following passages say about the intensity of Jesus' passion for His mission? John 9:1-12, 35-39; 12:27-36.
Jesus' sentiments in that last passage are pregnant with meaning. They came following a request by certain visiting Greeks to meet Him (John 12:20-22), a request that opened up before Him the possibility of personally taking the message of the kingdom beyond His native Palestine to the far corners of the earth. But He knew that to do so would run counter to the most vital aspect of His total mission, to give His life as a ransom for the nations. Hence, He follows with those powerful words about a kernel of wheat falling into the ground (vs. 24), symbolic not just of His own sacrifice but of the principle that all who follow Him must have a full commitment to the will of God, regardless of whatever the personal cost might be.
What has been your own personal experience with what it costs to follow Jesus? Why is the cost cheap enough, no matter how expensive it turns out to be?
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