JESUS REJOICES IN THE FATHER’S WILL

Reading from Luke Ch. 10 vs 21-24

How often do we rejoice in Gods will and plans? I often don’t exactly know what they might be in the moment and more often than not I’ll be trying to push my own will and plans. I usually rejoice and give thanks when I see the end result or what he was actually trying to do. I know I should do it often if not all the time because knowing who Jesus was/is and how he can control and manipulate anything, he rejoiced in Gods will and submitted to it. This passage highlights that, the seventy two had returned from sharing the good news and came back excited and with cool feedback. Jesus told them what the most important thing should be, that their names were written in heaven, he then follows in this passage by rejoicing in the Holy Spirit.

I wondered what that meant, if it was like a prompting of the Holy Spirit on the way God works or him just feeling joy within the Holy Spirit because of how God sets things up. Regardless he rejoiced and it begun with thanksgiving. He thanked God, his father and lord of heaven that he has hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children and that yes, it is God’s gracious will. I love how he rejoiced with thanksgiving and looking at the previous passage I’ll assume he was speaking about the good news and the power, authority and healing these men had been doing. It’s interesting when you think about how things played out, there were scribes and Pharisees, wealthy, learned and wise men around just as they are today but those seem to be the ones that struggle with faith or the word of God. You’d think they’d be the ones teaching and performing all sorts of things but it was the ones who were the least (little children) and Jesus is rejoicing in that. He is basically happy and in agreement with God that this is how he does things with regards to his kingdom, it’s those you least expect and that’s his gracious will. God doesn’t uplift people how the world often thinks and I appreciate that because he shows that he is concerned and cares even for those who seem like nobodies.

Jesus goes on to speak about how all those things have been handed over to him by the father and that no one knows who the son is except the father and who the father is except the son and anyone who he chooses to reveal him to. I think about spiritual wisdom and power/ authority and him being the one who gives that but most especially the knowledge of him and God. We often take it for granted that we know God and have accepted Jesus and walk with him and all the nitty gritties of the faith but I wonder if we think about how it’s not something that everyone experiences. People read the word and know about Jesus but they aren’t moved, they don’t see him as important, they don’t believe the word and they go about life still blind. It is a privilege and something we need to give thanks to God for revealing to us for we would be lost like the others. We must of course pray for them that God can reveal himself to them that their souls may be saved.

Jesus then speaks privately to the disciples and tells them another thing that they might have been taking for granted and that maybe we also do. He says to them that, “blessed are the eyes that see what you see!...many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it”. This is such a big thing and it relates to the previous things he had talked about, think about our time, how the word has spread, you can google and see miracles happen and we see them in our day to day lives. For them it was the miracles, signs and teachings of Christ, many people had waited for the messiah and didn’t live long enough or were not born in his time but they longed to see the one that God had promised to bring. It’s not something we should take lightly or end up missing, it’s something we should give thanks to God for allowing us to see.

Jesus is rejoicing and at the same time trying to help us not be complacent, in an earlier passage he was giving woes to some cities because they heard the word but didn’t repent. If other nations had heard the word they would have repented. It’s cool to feel good that God has revealed himself to us and that it’s a privilege many don’t experience but it’s also something that should make us be careful. We can get so preoccupied with everything and forget the point of the gospel, God wants us to confess and repent of our sins as he revels himself and as we walk with him day by day. Let’s not make the very thing we should be joyful about become something we regret not paying attention to. All in all Gods will is good even if we don’t really understand it or why he has it happen how it does, just know that it’s always for our benefit and we should rejoice and pray to walk in it daily. Remember God loves you always!