Jesus, Our Righteousness

 

 

“I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in me.” John 14:30.

 

What is Jesus saying? What does He mean? Why should this matter to us? How might this affect our lives today?

 

While there is mystery in what Jesus says, there is also critical revealed reality in what He says, reality that is vital to our everyday lives. Let me also mention that the word “mystery” can mean two opposite things. In the New Testament it usually means something which was once hidden but which is now revealed in the Gospel, but we can still use the word “mystery” to indicate things that remain hidden from our understanding, for there remain things beyond us.

 

For example, in Revelation Chapter 10 John hears a strong angel along with seven peals of thunder speaking, and he says, “I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.’” Later in the chapter the strong angel speaks of “the mystery of God” being finished. So while Revelation is primarily an unveiling and revealing, we still have an element of mystery, of hiddenness.

 

The Crucifixion is also very much a hidden mystery. While we have images upon images of the Atonement in Scripture, the holiness and depth and glory and horror and joy and amazement of what transpired is so utterly Divine that it is beyond us – we may touch the Crucifixion, we may (and ought to!) live in it and display it in our lives (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24), but much of it remains hidden from us. The Crucifixion is both a hidden mystery and a revealed mystery…and we are more likely to experience it than explain it, to describe elements of it than explain it.

 

I’m making a point of this because there are elements of John 14:30 that, I think, are hidden, while there are also elements that are revealed; we ought to rejoice in what we see and acknowledge what is beyond our understanding – after all, God is God and we are not.

 

In Matthew 4 (Mark 1; Luke 4) see that after His baptism that Jesus was driven by the Spirit into “the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” During this intense series of temptations, the ruler of this world was looking to gain a foothold within the Incarnate Son of God. Consider Luke’s statement (Luke 4:13), “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”

 

When considering Jesus as our Kinsman Redeemer and High Priest, the author of Hebrews tells us:

 

“For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18).

 

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).

 

We know that time and again Jesus was pressured, and therefore (I think) tempted, to deny His Father, to deny His relationship with the Father, to deny His own identity – we see this throughout the Gospels, including when He is before the religious leaders and Roman authorities on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We are also pressured to deny God our Father and our relationship and identity in Him through Jesus Christ. Sadly this pressure often comes from within the professing church from well-meaning people who simply do not understand the fulness of the Gospel.

 

When Jesus is before the high priest and religious leaders they “kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any…” (Mark 14:55). When Jesus is before Pilate, Pilate says, “I find no guilt in Him.” (John 18:38). Even one of the men crucified with Jesus says, “…this man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23:4). The centurion supervising Jesus’ execution proclaims, “Certainly this man was righteous.” (Luke 23:47).

 

No matter how many ways the ruler of this world system comes to attack Jesus, the verdict is the same – Jesus is holy and righteous and innocent, the ruler of this age can find nothing in Jesus to accuse Him of before God the Father and the universe. What the devil meant as an attack to destroy Jesus, has been turned into a unanimous testimony of His sinlessness, of His perfect righteousness – He is indeed the holy and unblemished Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:17 – 21; Rev. 5:1 – 14).

 

Why is the righteousness of Jesus Christ critical to us?

 

We’ll explore that, the Lord willing, in our next reflection.