God's Plan Revealed in Jesus
According to these texts, what did Jesus “need” to do in order to accomplish His mission of salvation? Luke 4:43, 9:22, 17:25, 19:5, 22:37, 24:7, 24:26, 24:44.
In most of those passages we find a verb that could be translated “it is necessary” (Greek, dei). The verb expresses a very important aspect in the life of Jesus. The whole life of Jesus was oriented by what He needed to do in order to accomplish His mission: “ ‘We must [it is necessary for us to] do the work of him who sent me’ ” (John 9:4, NIV). At the beginning of his public ministry He said to the disciples, “ ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose’ ” (Luke 4:43, NASB). The ministry of Jesus clearly was determined by willingness to accomplish God's plan for the salvation of the human race. Every aspect of His life was part of this plan. For instance, He saw Zacchaeus and said to him, “ ‘I must [it is necessary for me] stay at your house today’ ” (Luke 19:5, NIV).
But the real goal of the ministry of Jesus reached beyond the compulsion to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. There was a dark path that He “needed to” tread. He needed to go to Jerusalem. He could have chosen not to go, but He knew that this was indispensable for the divine plan. So He said to His disciples “that he must [it was necessary for him to] go to Jerusalem and suffer many things . . . , and that he must [it was necessary for him to] be killed” (Matt. 16:21, NIV). He was going there because it was necessary for Him to be rejected by the evil generation (Luke 17:25), to be counted with the transgressors (Luke 22:37), and to be lifted up on the cross (John 3:14, 12:34). But dying was not enough to fulfill His mission. It was necessary for Him to be resurrected (Acts 17:3), to be received in glory, and to remain there until all the prophecies were fulfilled (Acts 3:21). He was following the eternal plan put together by the Godhead.
What are the things in your life that you must do, that are necessary, and what things aren’t? How do you make that distinction between them, and why is it so important to be able to?
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