Take Him at His Word
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Daily Reading: John 4:43 – 54
Focus Passage:
"Unless you people see signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
"Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (Jn. 4:49 – 50)
The official with the sick son “took Jesus at his word.” What does it mean to “take Jesus at his word”?
Some contemporary expressions of Christianity reduce faith to a system of assertions and propositions we are to believe intellectually. They suggest that we agree with certain statements about God and Jesus. If we agree with those statements, especially in public, we believe.
Many Christians think that such belief in and of itself is the extent of Christian faith, reducing life with God to mental assent. I can speak about this mindset, because I’ve spent a good part of my life with this notion of belief. In truth, I watered down the Gospel when I reduced it to a simple, mental agreement with the words Jesus spoke.
“Do you believe in Jesus?”
“Yes, I agree with what he said.”
That kind of agreement makes little difference in our lives and little impact on the world.
To take Jesus at his word means to adjust your life, so that your reality is shaped by the words and life of Jesus. It is not merely hearing and agreeing with Jesus, but rather intentionally allows Jesus to shape your framework for life. You are willing to put down your own structure for thinking and living, taking up for yourself Jesus’ structure instead.
So the official who approached Jesus on behalf of his son adjusted his approach to life as a result of his encounter with Jesus. Taking Jesus at his word meant giving his life without reserve to what Jesus said to him.
This work of adjusting our life’s framework is the core of Christian spirituality. Over time, we give up our frameworks, the ways that we ordinarily see and approach life, in order to adopt a framework embodied by Jesus. This does not happen quickly or easily. Spirituality is the work of a lifetime.
“Taking Jesus at his word” is not a throw-away statement, but represents the center of the spiritual life. You and I are invited to adjust our lives God-ward, so that our actual lives are being transformed by the life of Christ. We take Jesus at his word, not by mental agreement, but by intentionally giving ourselves to his transforming presence.
For Reflection:
Spend some time reflecting on the words “take him at his word.” Explore them. Put them in your own words.
What do they mean to you? To what do they invite you?
Daily Reading: John 4:43 – 54
Focus Passage:
"Unless you people see signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
"Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (Jn. 4:49 – 50)
The official with the sick son “took Jesus at his word.” What does it mean to “take Jesus at his word”?
Some contemporary expressions of Christianity reduce faith to a system of assertions and propositions we are to believe intellectually. They suggest that we agree with certain statements about God and Jesus. If we agree with those statements, especially in public, we believe.
Many Christians think that such belief in and of itself is the extent of Christian faith, reducing life with God to mental assent. I can speak about this mindset, because I’ve spent a good part of my life with this notion of belief. In truth, I watered down the Gospel when I reduced it to a simple, mental agreement with the words Jesus spoke.
“Do you believe in Jesus?”
“Yes, I agree with what he said.”
That kind of agreement makes little difference in our lives and little impact on the world.
To take Jesus at his word means to adjust your life, so that your reality is shaped by the words and life of Jesus. It is not merely hearing and agreeing with Jesus, but rather intentionally allows Jesus to shape your framework for life. You are willing to put down your own structure for thinking and living, taking up for yourself Jesus’ structure instead.
So the official who approached Jesus on behalf of his son adjusted his approach to life as a result of his encounter with Jesus. Taking Jesus at his word meant giving his life without reserve to what Jesus said to him.
This work of adjusting our life’s framework is the core of Christian spirituality. Over time, we give up our frameworks, the ways that we ordinarily see and approach life, in order to adopt a framework embodied by Jesus. This does not happen quickly or easily. Spirituality is the work of a lifetime.
“Taking Jesus at his word” is not a throw-away statement, but represents the center of the spiritual life. You and I are invited to adjust our lives God-ward, so that our actual lives are being transformed by the life of Christ. We take Jesus at his word, not by mental agreement, but by intentionally giving ourselves to his transforming presence.
For Reflection:
Spend some time reflecting on the words “take him at his word.” Explore them. Put them in your own words.
What do they mean to you? To what do they invite you?
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