The Goodness of Jesus (4)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Matthew 11.4-6

Sent with a mission
Jesus’ mission was very specific: His life, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven; His enthronement at the right hand of God; and the pouring out of the Spirit of God into the world. Jesus inaugurated the coming, progress, and ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. Now, all authority in heaven and on earth is His to wield as He pleases. He is exercising that authority to advance His rule into every area of life and all the vast cosmos, filling all things in all things with Himself (Eph. 1.22, 23; 4.8-10).

The Kingdom of God is that realm of divine goodness in which the curse of sin is reversed and the “very good” plan of God is increasingly realized (Gen. 1.31). It is not, as some suppose, merely a New Testament phenomenon. From the first days of creation, through the ages of the patriarchs, kings, and prophets, the Kingdom of God – His rule of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit on earth as in heaven – was pointed to, prototyped, and promised. Throughout the Old Testament, the Kingdom operated at a distance from the affairs of men and nations. Jesus brought that Kingdom near, embodied and announced it, and taught His disciples to seek it as their highest priority (Matt. 6.33).

And when He took His seat at the right hand of the Father, and they together poured out His Spirit into His Church, that Kingdom took root and began to grow and expand and bear fruit (cf. Ps. 110; Is. 9.6, 7). And it has been doing so ever since. It is through the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit power operating within those who believe, that the goodness of God comes into the land of the living.

And it comes in the harmony of good works and good words, just as we see in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Good works
Jesus was well-known for His many good works, which were primarily works of restoration. The good works of Jesus restored a measure of the good order God intended when He created the world and all things, and point forward to a day of complete renewal, of heaven and earth and all things. People, who are the image-bearers of God, were not meant to be deaf or blind, bent or beset by demons, riven with diseases, or at one another’s throats. Indeed, they were not even meant to die. In His many good works, Jesus embodied the power that renews the world according to God’s original plan; and He encouraged us to look forward to more such effects wherever His rule advances on earth.

By His good works Jesus also demonstrated His power over the forces of creation – winds and seas, deluge and drought, demons and the devil, life and death. He Who could calm a raging sea, send a legion of demons packing, or quicken a cold, dead body by a mere wordcertainly has the power to bring God’s goodness to light throughout the entire cosmos of creation.

Not even death can prevent Him from restoring the world to God the Father, since He has defeated death and broken its hold over creation by taking back His own life from the dead and rising into the newness of God’s eternal realm.

Good works were an essential component of Jesus’ plan for restoring the goodness of creation, and He promised His followers that they would do many more good works than He had done, as they seek His Kingdom and live in the power of His Spirit (Jn. 14.12).

Good News
The coming of the Kingdom of God is thus Good News, because it brings the goodness of God to bear on all aspects of life, restoring people and all creation to God’s original very good plan. Jesus did not merely embody this Good News; He proclaimedand taughtit throughout His mission field, and now He has sent us into our world to do the same.

The good words of Jesus harmonize perfectly with the good works He did, providing explanation and elaboration of what those works meant and what they portend. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God, in which the goodness of God abounds, is more valuable and precious, not than anything we might imagine or possess, but than everything we might imagine or possess. He taught those who heard Him to desire this reign of divine goodness above all else. He explained how it takes root and grows, and He described the kind of fruit it yields at maturity. He spoke of the Kingdom as a totally new reality, unlike anything people had seen, where justice, mercy, neighbor-love, and worship of God flourish on every hand. His words complemented His works, providing an amazing and compelling diptych of how the goodness of God comes to light.

And He told His followers to tune up a similar harmony of words and works in their own lives, to follow Him as His witnesses, living and speaking the truth in love. For it is in such harmony, consistently sung into the world by every follower of Christ, that the Kingdom of God and His goodness advances on earth as it is in heaven.

For reflection
1.  Would people have understood about the Kingdom of God by Jesus’ works alone? Would they have been as likely to seek the Kingdom if He had not done Kingdom works for them to see? Explain.

2.  Christians are called to be witnesses to Jesus Christ (Acts 1.8). This involves more than just talking about Him. And it involves more than just doing good to others. Explain.

3.  How can Christians help one another “sing” this harmony of words and works into their Personal Mission Fields?

Next steps – Transformation: Spend some time in prayer reflecting on your life throughout a normal week. Where is the harmony of good works and good words most evident in your life? Where do you need to improve?

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.