FATHER AND SON

There are dozens of verses in the Gospels where Jesus refers to God as His Father (Matt. 26:63-65; Mk. 14:61-64; Jn. 10:24-31; etc.). On most occasions He was speaking to His disciples, but whenever He referred to God as His Father before the religious leaders, as in these examples, they immediately sought to have Him killed. I have observed that there are three distinct groups of people based upon their reaction to the Truth about the Lord's relationship to His Father: one is doubt which seems to be displayed by apathy; another is acceptance and which is evident by repentance, obedience, and worship; the third is anger which is evident from verbal hostility at best, and at worst, assault and even death. For the third group, their anger betrays their conviction that the Gospel it true, and as Shakespeare would say, "Me thinks they protesteth too much."

If Jesus claim to be the Son of God was not validated by His miracles, and all we had to go on was His word, I would also be skeptical. If all there was to prove He rose from the grave was a list of witnesses who are all long dead, I would be doubtful. But we have something that convinces me that His claims and the claims of His "witnesses" are true; we have the spoken word, the voice of God Himself. At the Lord's baptism, John the Baptizer was told by God to watch for One on Whom a dove would light following His baptism (Jn. 1:31-34). All four Gospels record this event, and the three Synoptic Gospels tell us that God spoke saying Jesus was His Beloved Son, and that He was well pleased with Him (Matt. 3:17; Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22).

On another occasion, known as the Mount of Transfiguration, God declared Jesus to be His Son, and told three of His disciples to listen to what Jesus had to say (Matt. 17:5; Mk. 9:7; Lk. 9:35). This event revealed to Peter, James, and John that Jesus is much more than a man because they saw Him in His glorified body. And although they also saw Him at His worst having been beaten, nailed to His cross, and die, God proclaimed His outrage for what we were doing to His Son; darkness at noon, an earthquake, and the veil being torn from the top to the bottom were all declarations of Who we were killing. I say "we" because it was your sin and mine that necessitated His death if He was going to save us.

Jesus is recorded to have spoken seven times while on the cross. Between the third hour and the sixth hour of the day, He was focused upon His enemies, a thief, and His mother. Then the sky turned black at noon (the sixth hour), and for three hours, Jesus was silent. When He finally spoke three hours later, He was focused upon His own needs; He missed the fellowship He had with His Father, and He was thirsty. Finally, in the end, He put His total trust in the Father by declaring "It is finished!" and yielded His Spirit to His Father. For six hours He suffered, but during the seventh, He rested. Today, He sits next to His Father and makes intercession for you and me (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25). On this Father's Day, I pray that all who read this will be able to call the Father of Jesus his or her Father (Jn. 1:12).