Seeing Jesus' Faithfulness (Part 8)

"For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps" (I Peter 2:21). Jesus provides believers with an example in many areas; one of those is His faithfulness through suffering. Jesus' life was marked by hatred and opposition, yet He continued steadfast through it all. Faithfulness is, first of all, a firm religious conviction and a reliance on the certainty of those beliefs. Faithfulness applied is a constancy in those beliefs and persuasions.

Jesus knew very well what He believed. His inner convictions formed the basis for everything He did and said. He was not, nor could He be, swayed from His beliefs. Neither could anything stop Him from faithfully living out the application of His mission and His teachings. In all things, Jesus was faithful.

Jesus was faithful to His followers. He assured them of His unwavering association with them and of the permanence of His presence. Nothing could make Jesus deny or forsake them. "Therefore everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32). "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus was faithful to His Father's house. Jesus was determined that it should be used to draw men closer to God, rather than for human advantage. He acted decisively to protect the temple's purpose. "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer"; but you are making it a robber's den'" (Matthew 21:12-13).

Jesus was faithful in the face of temptation. Matthew 4:3-11 relates the story of Satan's temptation of Jesus. "And the tempter came"; three times he proposed some type of trap for Jesus, endeavoring to make Him fail in His divine perfection. "But He answered and said, 'It is written'" as the answer for each test. Jesus knew God's Word and God's truth. This formed the solid bedrock from which He would not be swayed. After Jesus' unwavering devotion to what was true and right,  "the devil left Him."

Jesus was faithful when His life was threatened. He faced unjust trials, and was in situations where His very words could condemn Him. During one trial the high priest pointedly "said to Him, 'I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.' Jesus said to him, 'You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven'" (Matthew 26:63-64). In a subsequent trial Pilate "questioned Him, saying, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' And Jesus said to him, 'It is as you say'" (Matthew 27:11-12). Though Jesus knew that these unjust men could take His true words and use them as an excuse to execute Him, He did not back away from the truth, but firmly declared it.

Jesus was faithful in His ministry. "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matthew 4:17). He knew that His mission was to draw sinners to God, and He boldly preached repentance. His message did not change and was not silenced when people rejected it nor when those who had seemed to accept it walked away. The gospels are filled with examples of Jesus' teaching and compassionate meeting of people's needs.

The climax of Jesus' faithfulness (which explains all the other aspects) is that Jesus was faithful to follow God's plan for Him. Jesus told His disciples, "I have food to eat that you do not know about. . . . My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work" (John 4:32,34). Jesus was always focused on God's priorities. Over and over again, Jesus declared that He was not on earth to do His own work. His sole purpose was to do the Father's will. "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (John 7:18). "But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges" (John 8:50). "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour" (John 12:27). "So Jesus said to Peter, 'Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?'" (John 18:11).

Jesus remained faithful to His mission even in the darkest hours and at extreme personal pain. When He reached the end of His life, He was able to tell the Father, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. . . . I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world. . . . For the words which You gave Me I have given to them" (John 17:4,6,8). There is no better example of faithfulness; Jesus gave His all to accurately and completely fulfill the work that had been entrusted to Him.

A wise believer will carefully consider these questions: Is my belief in God and His Word so strong that I will continue doing what He says in spite of the obstacles in my path? Will I be unwavering in following His plan? Will I be faithful?

"Continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them." (II Timothy 3:14)