Don’t Miss The Comforting Truth Revealed by Jesus About His Words
My son LOVES Sonic the Hedgehog. If there is anything to know about the Sonic universe – from chaos emeralds to an evil Eggman and a two-tailed fox, he will probably know it, be deeply invested in it – and want me to it know too. I must admit I struggle to share his enthusiasm about a fast, blue, prickly cartoon, but because I love my son, I try to engage with it. I have watched the films and have listened to a LOT of information meticulously explained – although I might have forgotten a thing or two!
However, I’m sorry to say, but the one thing that I do recall clearly is not something he told me! It is that the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog was played by Keanu Reeves. And this has stuck with me because it came as quite a shock. Although having found out, I could hear that it was him, I simply never would have guessed his identity – even though I think Mr Reeves is a very fine actor and have enjoyed many of his films.
And I realised that I have had similar moments of the penny dropping while reading the gospels – when I have suddenly seen again that when Jesus speaks, it is actually God who is speaking. I know it should be obvious, but somehow, sometimes it isn’t. I guess I could comfort myself with the fact that I’m not the only one – we see it happening with Jesus’ first listeners. Many of those He spoke to did not recognise that His voice was in fact the voice of God. And so perhaps I’m not alone in this now either, and that there are others amongst us who somehow, sometimes miss that the words of Jesus are from the Father – but it can be such a glorious penny-drop when you see it afresh!
Please come with me on this: have you ever thought of Jesus and the Father as having rather different personalities – maybe it’s not something you actively contemplate but somewhere subconsciously there is a distance between them? You wouldn’t be the first if you have visualised Jesus as the kind, merciful one, who has come to appease the more demanding, holy and righteous Father, who is actually quite angry at us and the mess we have all gotten ourselves into.
Having been taught that Jesus and the Father are one God, we might readily say that they share the same heart and merciful nature, with the Father desiring reconciliation as much as the Son. However, probably for a lot of different reasons, sometimes our thinking and emotional responses do not reflect this truth.
Well, God knew that man would have a problem understanding Him – and that was one of the reasons that Jesus came into the world. Jesus came not only to make the way possible for people to come before God, but also to be a light – to reveal that way, our need for Him and who the Father really is. And this was much needed, because man for the most part, had misunderstood God.
At the time of Jesus, the people were walking in darkness – they weren’t living in the light of God. (Isaiah 9:2) To be fair, they had been trying to live by the commands and regulations which God Himself had given, but they had added in a whole load more of their own. Perhaps with good intentions they had wanted a helpful framework to live by, but in relying primarily upon a regulated structure, they were often missing the heart behind it, and therefore misunderstanding God. (John 7:21-24)
But then, when Jesus came to reveal the truth, the people didn’t always recognise His words as coming from the Father because they didn’t sound how they thought the Father would. Indeed, Jesus said in John 15:21:
“They do not know the one who sent me.”
They were probably thrown off not just by their fixation with rules and regulations, but also by the worldviews around them. The thinking of other people groups, coupled with their own circumstances and experiences of oppressive Roman occupation would also have influenced their expectations of what a Messiah would say and do.
Understanding how hard it would be for man to truly know Him in a world that has a lot else to say, God performed healings, signs and wonders as evidence of His identity. In so doing He was also revealing His heart for restoration, forgiveness and life because the Son was the perfect representation of the Father (eg Heb 1:3). When Jesus spoke, He spoke the words the Father gave Him – He emphasised that point on several occasions, “So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (Jn 12: 50) and His actions reflected what the Father was doing “the Son…can only do what He sees His Father doing” (John 5:19).
God wanted to undo their faulty thinking and offer something even more tangible than their rule-focussed framework, upon which they could base their faith and understanding. He showed them what He was like by living amongst and speaking with them.
I find it illuminating that the very people of God could mistake how God would sound. The chosen people – the ones who had received prophets and experienced miraculous provision and rescue as a part of their heritage – many of them missed the heart of God. And I’m not saying that I would have been any different – in fact that’s exactly my point. If the ones who had such a rich formative history with God could misunderstand His heart, then maybe I could too. After all, we all have our tendencies to see things from skewed perspectives, and to be influenced by experiences and other voices.
So, maybe they’re not the only ones who have gotten God wrong and need to take a closer look at who He reveals Himself to be in Jesus! He wanted us to see and to know Him in His Son. This was the heart He was desperately trying to convey – desperate enough to go to the cross to get the message through to us.
Look again at the gospels. Read them with fresh eyes and remind yourself that the words that Jesus speaks, are also being spoken by the Father.
“My peace I give you.” (John 14:27)
Peace of and from the Father. Wow. That’s what He wants to give you. If He wants us to know His peace – peace in the fullest sense, peace with Almighty God, surely we can trust Him in all else.
What about Jesus’ tender words of reinstatement to Peter when he restored him after his denial:
“Simon son of John, do you love me?… Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)
The Father also wants to lift us up and restore us, even when we have royally messed up. He gives us another chance.
Maybe you have never dissociated Jesus and the Father, and maybe your understanding of the Father has never become skewed over time – but if it does happen, it’s unsettling and leaves us on shaky ground.
Why not try it, read Jesus’ words afresh. Even if your understanding of the Father is on sturdy ground there’s always room for more revelation of the wonder of God – ask Him to show you something new.
My inability to recognise Shadow’s voice as Keanu Reeves would have had no lasting negative impact on my life – apart from missing the fun ‘Oh yeah!’ moment of recognition. And I’m quite confident that asides from the voice, the actor isn’t much like the hedgehog, but God the Father is very much like the Son. We do very well to remind ourselves of that and to read His words in that glorious light.
