19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
John 5:19 is a familiar piece of scripture, but tonight I got a revelation of what this might mean.
I used to think that Jesus could somehow see the Father (either physically, or in a way that He could watch Him, similar to how we see with physical eyes). Maybe He could, but the thought hit me tonight – what if “seeing” the Father is actually observing HOW He deals with situations?
Could this be the one of the reasons for trials? (Jesus went through many trials). We already know that our trials make us perfect (James 1:2-4), but perhaps it’s our trials that also SHOW us the Father. HOW He responds to situations SHOWS us His character.
So recently, I have been going through some trials. I understand the Word of God better than anyone else (of course 🙂 – detect note of sarcasm here) so when I heard something come from the pulpit recently that I knew was not biblical, how did I react? First, I just had to tell at least 1 or 2 people: “Look – that’s wrong! I can show you at least 3 scriptures that prove it!”. So I judged that person in my heart, and got all upset about it. I was right, and they were wrong! I mean, how many people are they leading astray with that! If I were Father, I would have judged that person immediately!
But do you know HOW Father dealt with the situation? By striking down that person? No. Instead, He dealt with the attitude of MY HEART! He rebuked ME – and not the wrong teaching!
Wow! I was amazed. He is more concerned about the attitude of my heart, than agreeing with me on judging someone else. *** Revelation: He really does love us A LOT! Why? God’s mercy is incredible! He is giving everyone the maximum amount of time to repent, including me and including that person too (2 Peter 3:9).
Who am I to judge another man’s servant? Maybe I needed to get the log out of my own eye before getting the spec out of the other persons eye! (Mat 7:5).
So that day I “saw” the Father. I saw how He dealt with the situation. Even though I may have been 100% right, I was actually 100% wrong. Why? Because I was judging someone – someone I had no authority to judge. And even if I did have authority over that person, where was Love? (which bears all things 1 Cor: 13:7, and covers a multitude of sins 1 Pet 4:8). No – that day, I saw my Father in Heaven – and His Mercy absolutely blows me away!
Life by the Spirit 