“I have food to eat of which you do not know…My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” John 4:32,34
In the book of Isaiah we find a marvelous picture of Christ, one that embraces and describes His mission. Though the word “redemption” is not used to reveal this mission, the specifics of its outworking make it very evident. Isaiah writes: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” (Is. 61:1) On the day that Jesus met the Samaritan woman by the well, and spoke to her of living water, he also spoke to his disciples of that which was very deep within Himself. In His heart there was something hidden, so resolved and embraced, that would consume Him until it was fulfilled. It was His mission, known by the revelation of the Spirit, but also embraced by the power of the Spirit. Upon seeing the response to the Samaritan woman’s confession of Christ before the town’s people and beholding them coming out to meet Him to hear and see more, the disciples were concerned about his food, as Christ would need physical strength to respond to the people. It is at this point, when the disciples come in all earnestness, encouraging Him to eat, that a glimpse of a fire in Christ’s heart is revealed. It is a fire and zeal which God the Father has given Him, and which lives in Him, especially since the day of His baptism, when the Spirit of God came upon Him in a very real and discernable manner. Jesus was very clear and frank with His disciples, seeking to unveil to them something of the inner workings of the Spirit in His heart, so that they would understand something of His mission. Toward the latter part of Jesus’ ministry, when He had set Himself to go up to Jerusalem, at that point the fire and zeal of God with regard to His mission was revealed in such a manner that the disciples were afraid. The intensity of Christ with regard to finishing His mission of redemption was entering into that final, and most crucial phase, when the whole host of the enemy would stand in opposition to Him, seeking to destroy Him. However, even though His food, being the will of His Father and the work which the Father had given Him, was so clearly before Him, with Him laying hold upon the grace and mercy of the Father’s sufficiency, Christ’s attitude towards the disciples never altered, for He loved them to the end. Just before HIs trial and crucifixion, He would wash their feet, and eat the last supper with them, having no bitterness towards them, even Judas, for He knew that all would forsake Him. The beauty of God in Christ is seen here in that He would not turn aside from the will of the Father, and His mission, yet He would never cease to love those who belonged to Him. So, how did He finish His race, accomplish His mission, then sit down at the right hand of the Father, victorious over all the power of the enemy, having conquered death and the grave?
The work of redemption by the Lord Jesus was accomplished because He first had a clear understanding of His calling from the Father. The “cup” of suffering which He now embraced in the Garden of Gethsemane, would now be accomplished on the cross the anointing power received by the anointing Spirit. The strength of HIs Faithful Father was poured into Him, so that by it the burning fire and resolve in Him would consume all else. The ultimate denial of Himself, and refusal to come down from the cross, revealed not only a food which was not of this world, but a resolve that would conquer all.
Dear Father, Fulfill Christ’s mission in and through us. In Jesus’ Amen.