Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19 NAS95)
Jesus carries a perspective on life that challenges one’s thinking. It obviously caused consternation for the Jewish leaders of Jesus day. They had become accustomed to God in a book or contained in a list of rules, but not visible in life. Unlike Jesus they hadn’t understood the book revealed a God who interacts with His creation. Jesus took it for granted that God, His Father, expressed Himself in a variety of ways, involving Himself for the good of His creation. In fact, it appears, at least by the statement He made, that Jesus expected His Father’s presence to be easily visible to anyone who paid attention to Him. And that’s exactly what Jesus did: pay attention to His Father.
Jesus just did what His Father wanted and He got in on the action with the very attitude and heart God expressed. Skilled from His youth by a prayerful understanding of the Bible’s message of God actively redeeming a broken world that He loves, Jesus actively sought and joined His Father’s work. In this case, He healed a lame man on a Sabbath. He did it because He saw His Father doing it. Jesus prayed. He prayed on the way in life and His praying attended to His Father’s business. He could see God and He taught others they could too. Pray and watch. I want to live from Jesus’ perspective. I’m learning how to pray and watch. How about you?
For Reflection:
“Great are the works of the LORD; They are studied by all who delight in them.” (Psalms 111:2 NAS95)
- When you pray, how do you expect to see God’s activity or answers? How do your expectations affect your ability to see?
- What are some practices that would help you grow in your ability to notice or discover God’s actions?
