So many choruses are written and sung about Jesus. His name has become so familiar that people use His name in vain. I have wondered if Christians, ministers, Sunday School teachers, etc., don’t inadvertently use His name in vain. Jokingly, Christian speakers have stated that if they ask a rhetorical question, the universal answer most often is Jesus. Indeed, Jesus can do anything when He’s led by the Spirit. However, is it possible His name has become so familiar we lose respect for Him? For example, when we reference the name Jesus, are we referring to His deity or humanity because He was fully both God and man? Has His name become so common we no longer even think seriously about the difference.
What was Jesus really saying when He clearly stated, … “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. John 5:19 (ESV) and, ’I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.’” John 5:30 (ESV) Or, which Jesus was the subject when the Mark wrote, “immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts’?” Mark 2:8 (ESV) Which Jesus was making those statements? … His humanity or deity?
The aging process is clearly a challenge. Someone has said the proverb, “Growing old is not for the faint of heart”. If you don’t understand that, you will if you wait long enough. Not only do you experience physical pain in places you didn’t know existed, but you also have senior moments. I become frustrated when I’m speaking and a word or name I’ve often used refuses to come to mind at that moment. When that happens, my mind goes to Paul’s words, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV) I find it noteworthy He doesn’t say the mind of Jesus, which would open the door to a reference to Jesus’ humanity. This verse has opened up a whole new way of thinking for me. Just how much of His mind is within each of us? How often do we default to our human mind rather than His mind in our daily life? It is interesting Jesus told His disciples, “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say,” Matthew 10:19 (NIV) This at least suggests the “mind of Christ” can be a part of our daily life, especially in times of stress.
The more I have considered this concept, the more I admire the humanity of Jesus. It could be said that He had learned this principle before He even became a teenager. He was exercising “the mind of Christ” while sitting among the teachers, and all who heard Him were astonished. (Luke 2:46-47) Whatever was happening then, at an early age He obviously had learned what He had told the disciples to do when brought in front of governors and kings.
This also offers new meaning to me when I think of the words, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT2) I regret it has taken me decades to literally learn how to do what that verse tells each of us to do. It makes me admire Jesus for learning at an early age what has taken me decades to learn. Have you learned this practice yet? He is teaching me, but I am having to unlearn so much before I can practice leaning on His mind.
I believe what you say is true! The source is Christ! Absolute discernment, trust and obedience!