His Ministry would be Vindicated (John 14:28b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/7/2016 9:01 AM

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  His Ministry would be Vindicated

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 14:28b

            Message of the verses:  “because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

            We mentioned in our last SD that it was the desire of Jesus to return to the Father, for after all that was His home as He had come to earth to do the will of His Father and this involved in His humiliation in the incarnation, something we think more about as Christmas draws near, but should think about every day.  Jesus desired to go back to the right hand of the Father where He had been all eternity and is there today making intercession on our behalf today.

            As I think about the incarnation and the humiliation of Jesus Christ I think about an old song that I wish to quote at this time entitled “Out of the Ivory Palaces.”

1. My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
   And myrrh their texture fills;
   Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine
   With joy my being thrills.
• Refrain:
  Out of the ivory palaces,
  Into a world of woe,
  Only His great eternal love
  Made my Savior go.
2. His life had also its sorrows sore,
   For aloes had a part;
   And when I think of the cross He bore,
   My eyes with teardrops start.
3. His garments, too, were in cassia dipped,
   With healing in a touch;
   In paths of sin had my feet e’er slipped—
   He’s saved me from its clutch.
4. In garments glorious He will come,
   To open wide the door;
   And I shall enter my heav’nly home,
   To dwell forevermore.

John MacArthur writes “In being exalted to the Father’s right hand Christ’s ministry would be eternally vindicated by God—His exaltation being the culmination of the Father’s approval of His earthly life and death.  Because Christ had accomplished the Father’s will perfectly, He eagerly looked forward to His Father’s heavenly presence, where He would return to ful glory.  Though the cross would be excruciating, Jesus knew that the Father ‘[would raise] Him from the dead and [would seat] Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the once to come’ (Eph. 1:20-21; cf. Isa. 53:10). As one scholar writes: 

‘When Jesus’ self-humbling reached the absolute depths in His shameful death, God the Father decisively intervened.  In vindication and approval of the Son’s self-humbling, the Father magnificently exalted Him to the highest place in the universe.  The Father clearly rewarded His Son for His perfectly obedient life and death…In exalting Jesus Christ, God the Father vindicated Him.’ (David J. MacLeod, ‘The Exaltation of Christ:  An Exposition of Philippians 2:9-11’).”

Now we must look at the statement that Jesus spoke “the Father is greater than I.”  This has been taken out of context by those who say that Jesus was not truly the Son of God, not equal with God, but that certainly is not the case.  Let us look at Philippians 2:5-8 “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Hebrews 2:9 says “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”  Philippians 2:9-11 “9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In order to provide salvation for humans, Jesus had to become human, but not giving up His deity as both were needed for to make salvation for man.  As Paul writes to the Philippians that Jesus laid aside His glory, something that was seen by some of His disciples when Jesus went up to the Mount of Transfiguration, and so when Jesus says that the Father is greater than I, He was speaking of when He was in His earthly body to make payment of sin for man. 

One more quote from D. A. Carson who according to John MacArthur “captures the essence of what is meant to Jesus to return to the Father”

            “If Jesus’ disciples truly loved Him, they would be glad that he is returning to His Father, for He is returning to the sphere where He belongs, to the glory He had with the Father before the world began (17:5), to the place where the Father is undiminished in glory, unquestionably greater than the Son in His incarnate state.  To this point the disciples have responded emotionally entirely according to their perception of their own gain or loss.  If they had loved Jesus, they would have perceived that His departure to His own ‘home’ was His gain and rejoiced with Him at the prospect.  As it is, their grief is an index of their self-centeredness.”   

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Although I can understand why the disciples felt the way that they did, I can also understand that it was selfish that they felt the way that they did, and I certainly can relate to this as selfishness is something that I as a believer have to fight against too.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  In reading a book written by Alistair Begg last night he was relating to how to overcome temptations when they first begin in the mind, where all temptations begin.  He equated it to a computer where when you are tempted in your mind you can hit the exit button, or you can make a new file.  When tempted I need to hit the exit button and not make a new file.  He was referring to when David was on his roof one night and saw a woman taking a bath.  David should have hit the exit button, but as we know he opened a new file which caused much disaster in his life.  Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes in a book about dealing with Satan that when one puts on takes up the shield of faith to stop all of the flaming arrows of the evil one that we are not to add fuel to those flaming arrows but to use the shield to extinguish them.  Once again David added fuel to the arrows and fell into that temptation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Made them fear man” (Genesis 9:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “What gift of God was given to the church on the Day of Pentecost?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/7/2016 9:48 AM