Jesus was Entrusted

Jesus was entrusted by the Father to bear the sin of the whole world, not just for the people in the world at that time, but for all people for all time

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Have you ever been entrusted to look after or deliver anything? money, a key, a child, the school pet!  It’s a great responsibility.  I`ve never been asked to look after a school pet but I have been asked to look after my grandmother. When mom and dad went on holiday I was asked to look after my nan. She was very anxious and it was my job to provide calm reassurance all was well. And all was well until I accidentally put the wrong key in her front door, twisted briskly and promptly broke the key in the lock.  I couldn’t get in, she couldn’t get out, she was so distraught!  I will never forget the way she put her trembling fingers through the letter box to touch my hand, I will never forget the awful sense of fear and failure I had, that I had let her down and caused so much distress.  Eventually we did get her out with the aid of a nice council locksmith; but I still had to face my dad and tell him I had broken his trust in me and instead of keeping nan calm I had caused massive stress.

This story came back to me this week when the Holy Spirit highlighted a single sentence in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew was recording Jesus` prayer of thanksgiving to the Father, and then says to those around him “My Father has entrusted everything to me” Matthew 11:27 (NLT).  It got me thinking about what Jesus was entrusted with…

Firstly, back in Genesis we learn that man sinned, and the sin separated him from God. Not wanting to be separated from his best creation God provided a way to temporarily cover over the sin, transfer it to something else, a sacrifice. The high priest was therefore entrusted to sacrifice for the sins of all the people.  What a responsibility for the priest; he had to keep himself as pure as he could, to fulfil all the rituals in the right way or else he would be struck down and the weight of the people’s sin would remain on them. The people knew this and  such was the  fear and awareness of what he was entrusted with, that when he went into the Holy Place to sacrifice on their behalf, they tied a cord around his ankles to pull him out, should the Lord reject his sacrifice and strike him dead. However, Hebrews 10:1 (NLT) tells us "the sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide cleansing for those who came to worship".  Then came Jesus. The perfect Lamb of God the perfect sacrifice and the perfect priest. 

Jesus was entrusted by the Father to bear the sin of the whole world, not just for the people in the world at that time, but for all people for all time. What a huge responsibility. So how did he react to such a responsibility?  He fulfilled all the requirements made on him, all the time and in every way.

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So much so that he asked John to baptise him even though he was the Son of God and didn’t need to be baptised, and when John challenged him, Jesus said “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires” Matthew 3:15 (NLT). In Matthew 4 we read the account of how Jesus defeated the Devil in the wilderness by effectively using the Word of God to destroy every temptation hurled at him.  Jesus was entrusted with delivering the good news of God's love for the world, how we should live and treat each other, and he challenged hypocrisy whenever he saw it. During his ministry he delivered a clear blueprint of how to seek and search for God (in spirit and truth and not ritual and sacrifice), he taught us that by following him, and observing his teachings and way of life we would be able to truly have a relationship with God. And finally, he was entrusted with delivering the only acceptable means of salvation; giving up his own life to seal the freedom from sin and separation for every person who puts their trust in Him and what he has done. 

Jesus was entrusted with all of this and did not run away from anything he had been given to do.  Jesus fulfilled everything God required as described in Isaiah 53. “He was a man of sorrows and aquatinted with deepest grief” (v3 NLT) “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (v5 NLT) "He was oppressed and treated harshly yet he never said a word" (v7 NLT) "Unjustly condemned he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream" (v8 NLT) "He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone.” (v9 NLT) And he did it because he was trustworthy and was carrying out what his father had entrusted him with “It was the Lord's good plan to crush him and cause him grief" (v10 NLT)   

His father had indeed entrusted him with everything.

• His whole salvation plan for the world
• With defeating Satan and his plan to kill steal and destroy Gods creation
• For living a perfect life of faith on the Earth, and delivering the Good news for us all 
• For surrendering his own will to God's will in the garden of gethsemane, and allowing sinful and wicked men to crucify him
• For tasting total separation from his Father so we could live in relationship with God
• and for defeating Satan once and for all time; "Don`t be afraid! I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I died, but look-I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave" Revelation 1:17-18 NLT.

It is true what Jesus said about himself “My Father has entrusted everything to me”

We can now live in glorious hope because Jesus proved to be a trustworthy prophet, priest and King. The daily outworking of the statement Jesus made is, no matter where we are or what we are facing today, Jesus is a safe pair of hands into which to place our lives and everything that concerns us. After all if God entrusted Jesus with everything why should we not do the same?!

Do we need power, strength and peace to live every day? Jesus says “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” John 16v33 NLT.  

Can we come to Jesus with anything? Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT) says “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”.

Lord Jesus thank you that God entrusted my redemption to you and you did not fail, and that every day I can entrust my life to you because I know you will never fail to keep me.

Author: Jan Pearson

May God bless and enrich your life

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