Unless I do the works of the Father, do not believe me.  John 10:37 (NKJV)

For hundreds of years the prophets spoke of the Messiah’s coming. They gave over 300 specific details describing the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled them all in detail!  The angels also gave witness to Jesus’ divinity when they came with a message for the shepherds: “For there is born to you this day … a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11)   Even nature itself testified to the arrival of the Messiah with the star that led the wise men. (Matthew 2:1)

Jesus put the credibility of the prophets, the angels, and nature on the line with one incredible statement.  “Unless I do the works of the Father, do not believe me,” (John 10:37) Wow!   Their ministries would have been in vain without one last ingredient to confirm who He really was. That ingredient was miracles.  Most try to stack the deck in their favor… Jesus did the polar opposite.  Jesus didn’t point to the past and say to His detractors, “Hey, remember those prophecies, angels and star.  They spoke about Me.  Believe in that miracle.”

Jesus gave people the right to disbelieve in Him if there was no current demonstration of power upon His ministry. He in essence was saying, “If you need more credible evidence of My authority, look for power manifestations of the Father in My ministry.”

What if the church made this same type of statement to the world?  “Hey, if we’re not doing the same types of miracles that Jesus did, you don’t have to believe us.”  What would happen?

Jesus’ ministry bore the authentic signature of His Father because He knew the Father’s heart.  Even as a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus knew God’s will for His life.  He called it “My Father’s Business.”   The first and only recorded words of Jesus in His youth were all about His purpose. Obeying the Father was His whole ambition. Later in adulthood He confessed that obeying the Father remained His priority. It actually brought Him nourishment—”My food is to do the will of Him who sent me.”  (John 4:34)

Jesus’ statements such as:

• “I can of Myself do nothing,” (John 5:19)
• “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father,”  (John 5:30) and
• “I always do those things that please Him.”  (John 8:29)

All these statements testify of His utter dependence on the Father, and His one passion to please Him alone.

These same lessons must be learned by all who follow after the Lord.   Jesus was a 12-year-old with priorities that were different from everyone else. If Jesus could have learned the importance of the “Father’s Business” at the age of twelve…SO CAN WE!   The following illustration shows how.

       The year was 1930, and it was the year of the Naval Conference in London. King George was to address the opening session. Radio was in its infancy, but through this media the king’s message was to be carried around the world. Just before the king was to go on the air, Walter Vivian, a young engineer of the Columbia Broadcasting Company, discovered a broken wire in the transmitter. This was tragic! There was no time for repairs, and the world was waiting to hear the message of the king. The young engineer discovered what to do: He took a piece of broken wire in one hand, and a piece of broken wire in the other hand, and for fifteen minutes Walter Vivian took two hundred and fifty volts of electricity through his body so that the king’s message might go through. Wonderful! The world is waiting to hear the message of the King, and the one way for that message to go through is as it is carried to a needy world through us who profess to be His disciples. Can the King’s message be transmitted through you?

I encourage you to seek the Face of the Lord today and value the Presence and Business of the Father above all else.

Blessings,

Pastor