John 4:34 Jesus said to them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. The incident in our Saviour's ministry recorded in this narrative pictures him as possessed and engrossed by the very purest devotion to the great ends of his ministry. He had been thirsty; but he had lost all thought of bodily thirst in his absorbing interest in the living water and in the satisfaction of spiritual aspirations. He was in need of food; yet when his disciples brought him food from the city he was indifferent to it, for he had meat to eat which they knew not of. The work of his Father was the food of his soul. Christ's language here exhibits - I. THE HIGHEST VIEW OF SPIRITUAL AND BENEVOLENT EFFORT. This is all the more striking and wonderful when we remember the dignity, the Divinity of the Speaker. 1. All he did had reference to his Father. The "will" of the Father was for him supreme; the Father had "sent" him into the world for a definite purpose. 2. His mission was one of active service. Jesus, no doubt, came to live; to be himself, to suffer for our sins. But although his mere living among men was an incomparable lesson, though his death was of incomparable value, we must not lose sight of his activity, his ministry of energetic service. 3. His aim was to bring the undertaking committed to him to a conclusion honourable to himself and to the Father. In accomplishing, in finishing, his work, he found a Divine satisfaction. Allowing for the difference between Master and servants, we may recognize in Christ's view of his life work the model for our own. To think thus of our human vocation will add a dignity to our life, an effectiveness to our ministry. II. THE PLACE WHICH A LIFE OF SPIRITUAL AND BENEVOLENT EFFORT HOLDS IN THE AFFECTIONS. 1. Work for God is the necessity of the Master and of the servants alike. As the body cannot live without food, so the higher nature cannot be maintained in health, in life, without work for God. It was so with Christ, who could forget water and bread, though thirsty and hungry, but who could not exist without labouring for the cause of human well being. 2. Work for God affords the servant of God the purest satisfaction and delight. The thirsty and famishing traveller is revived and gladdened when he comes where he can quench his thirst and satisfy his hunger. Greater joy did our Lord find when there opened up before him some opportunity of doing the will of God in securing the enlightenment, the conversion, the consolation, of some poor human soul. 3. Work for God, like food, strengthens for new and larger efforts. Work is its own wages. They who toil eat, and they who eat are the fitter for renewed and happy work. If it was thus with the Master and Lord, shall it not be thus with the disciple, the follower, the servant, the friend? We are encouraged, not only to take a high view of Christian service, but to seek in it our purest satisfaction, and the means of unceasing devotedness and usefulness. - T. Parallel Verses KJV: Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.WEB: Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. |
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