Imitating Jesus in the Spirit
David W Palmer
(John 20:21 ISV) Jesus told them again, Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
This is our third day of looking at the implications of Jesus’s final statement here: “Just as” (or in the same way as) “the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” After his resurrection, Jesus—the living Word of God—briefed his graduating apprentices; he commissioned them to continue the mission his Father sent him to accomplish. Only now, he has the role with them that his Father had with him. His role with us is the same. So far, we have seen that this means:
Today, we look at another fundamentally important ramification of being sent by Jesus in the same way his Father sent him:
5. DOING WHAT YOU SEE WITH HIM
(John 5:19–20 CEV) Jesus told the people: “I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. {20} The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed.”
What Jesus said in this passage—about the way his Father and he operated when he was modeling his Father’s mission—now applies to him and us. Only now, he takes the role with us that his Father took with him.
The key to how this works is found in verse 20: “The Father loves the Son, and has shown him everything he does.” In other words, God finds loving intimacy irresistible, and discloses his heart. This way, Jesus could see what Father intended and what his Holy Spirit was ready to do—if a human would declare and release it on earth. Because Jesus saw and heard what Father wanted to do, he could say it and do it—declare and imitate it effortlessly by grace.
With us, this could read: “Jesus loves you, and will show you everything he is doing—or wants graciously to do through you.” So, under the current arrangement, we are to do everything we see Jesus do in the spirit. How does this work? In other words, what is our role in this; how do we best cooperate with our Lord Jesus? The key is in the phrase: “The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything.” Father and Jesus were intimately acquainted; they loved each other completely and passionately. Jesus explains how this love and intimacy was fostered and maintained:
(John 10:17 NKJV) “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.”
We are used to hearing that God’s love for us is unconditional. Whether or not that is true, Jesus gives us a wonderful insight into walking in God’s love in this passage. He says that the Father loves him “because …” (That sounds like a condition to me.) What is the condition for continuing in the intimate love that elicits disclosure? “Because I lay down my life.”
Father and Jesus enjoyed the ultimate love and closeness—intimacy in which full disclosure and transparency was nurtured, valued, and released—because he laid his life down in obedience—to the point of death:
(Philippians 2:8 NKJV) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
So how do we walk in the same closeness and intimacy with Jesus that he enjoyed with his Father? Let’s allow Jesus to explain:
(John 15:10 NKJV) “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
Earlier, we saw that the Father loved Jesus because he laid his life down. Here, we see that he remained in that love because he kept his Father’s commandments. He tells us to simply do as he did, and we can abide in his love:
(John 14:21 NET) “The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to h
