Intentionality of Christ

January 4, 2012

When we think of Jesus, as American Christians, what do we think of? I know I think that He was loving, kind, a servant, and the list could go on. But there are some traits that Jesus possesses that we don’t often think about. I want to talk about the intentionality of Christ in His relationship with His father.

 Read Matthew 21:23-46

 In this passage the Pharisees question Jesus about his authority to do the things he has been doing. Now setting aside the fact that Jesus is God and therefore knows all, Jesus was also man. He grew up in a Jewish household; he learned to keep his parents faith just as any Jewish child would. He knew the law; he knew scripture. When His authority was questioned, Jesus didn’t fumble around with His words and have a hard time giving his answer. He was intentional, he knew that he was being tested, and He was prepared for it. Just like when someone questions our faith or, asks us about it, we should be intentional, and prepared and come at it with a deliberateness that lets others know we are striving to be like Christ.

 The argument of Christ being omnipotent and knowing all is irrelevant. If we are to be like Christ, which is what being a Christian is, being a little Christ, then we need to be like Christ not only in loving others and stuff like that, but we need to be deliberate in our faith, not passive and not uninformed. Christ was not simply omnipotent, Christ was dedicated and fully devoted to His Father, therefore He knew His father’s will, He knew that He was going to be questioned, as are we. As Christians we are going to be tested, our faith is going to be questioned. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”. That is what we are supposed to do. Always be prepared even on the tough questions. That is how Christ was. Christ was deliberate and intentional in all that he did. He never randomly said something, or went somewhere. There was a method to his madness. Like it says in 1 Peter we need to be prepared to give an answer to those who question us, and are searching. We need to be constantly searching ourselves to better understand what we believe. Jesus constantly quoted scripture, when he was tempted in the desert, the way he combated those temptations was with scripture. Jesus knew His stuff. I have a friend or two that I go to when I have questions that I don’t know answers to about Christianity, or even other religions because they have been deliberate and intentional in their faith, they have made sure that they know and are prepared to give an answer to all those who come to them, whether it is to test them or to gain information about things. I am amazed and challenged at the same time by these couple of guys and their faith. I want to be someone who others come to, not for the recognition, because that is not what Christ did, but I want to be dutiful and intentional in my faith, I want to be like Christ.

Jesus went off by himself often, to meet with God and pray. We need to do some of the same. When Jesus went off by himself to pray and be with His Father, he did it intentionally. Before He was crucified Jesus went to the garden and prayed, His disciples came with Him but he left them and prayed alone. He did it to ask for strength. When you get alone with God and are doing your quiet time, do it with intentionality. Don’t do the open the Bible and flop thing. Have a plan, have something in mind you want to study. Start by reading all the gospels, or try reading the whole bible in a year. There are tons of different studies that you could do on your own. But when you have your quiet time, and you need to have a quiet time, make sure it is done with deliberateness. Also when we pray we need to be intentional, we shouldn’t beat around the bush. Before His crucifixion Christ prayed for God to not have Him go through with it. He did not tell God anything but what was on His mind. We should be the same way. If we want something ask, if we have done something we shouldn’t, ask for forgiveness. Don’t try and butter God up. Jesus didn’t, He always went straight to the point and we need to do the same. Christ was deliberate and intentional in all He did, we need to be the same way, so our challenge is to be more like Christ – to be deliberate in our faith.