by Gail Gritts
Jesus said, “All power is given unto me.” I saw a church sign the other day that read, “All means All.” When we consider the depth of that little three letter word, all, it is fathomless. All truly means all, and with such great power comes great responsibility.
I had just began reading a book entitled, Jesus and Ourselves, by Leslie D. Weatherhead and was stopped at the very first chapter to consider the depth of the power of Christ. All power is given unto Him and the author took that concept to show four ways Jesus controls His power in order to respect our personage. There are things well within Jesus’ power that He could use to cause us to respond to Him but because He has all power, He uses restraint.
1. Physical Power – the author states, “Yet, the striking thing is that, out of respect for men’s personality, Jesus will not try to win even a righteous cause by force.” (p 28) He uses the example of Peter cutting off the ear of the soldier in the garden. Even though Jesus was innocent, He did not use His immense power to win the day. He could have called ten thousand angels, but He chose to submit His power and His will to the will of the Father. In the time of His temptation, one word from Him would have totally annihilated Satan, but He refused to let His physical power override His personal, spiritual restraint in the face of temptation.
2. Psychic Force – Jesus calls us to follow, then, “Lest the tremendous impact of His personality should throw them (us) off balance. He wants their (our) decision to be their (our) own…There happens with Jesus what always happens where you have a powerful personality. There were few neutrals. Men were for or against. And they were swayed, not by examining the issue in all its bearings and making a personal choice which recognized all the implications, but were swept into one or other camp by those almost electrical currents of psychic energy which streamed from Him. So crowds surged around Him, and would have died for Him. Others withdrew to weave their corporate suspicion, hate, and fear into a net strong enough to drag Him to death. Jesus knew this would happen. As He said, He came not to bring the peace of smug, self-satisfied, complacency, but the sword of division that severs sometimes the most closest-knit intimacies of life.” (p 30-31)
I don’t know about you, but I love Him more because He does not force me to love Him. He calls me to follow and I know I have made that choice. “We love him because He first loved us.”(1 John 4:19) There is no coercion, no forcing of the will, no demand. Only an invitation.
3. Mental Superiority - “Jesus never crushed men’s minds by the sheer weight of argument, which they had no trained faculty to disentangle or co-ordinate with the rest of their mental background. He led them gently step by step, so that the mind could always look back and see the steps it had taken. It is the difference between being whirled into a new experience by an escalator and walking quietly upstairs. Jesus could not override perplexity or accept a loyal heart at the expense of a disabled mind.” (p 31)
It reminds me so much of the many verses telling us that allknowledge is in him. Allwisdom is in him. and there is that word, all, again. We begin to think we are so smart, so advanced, so tech-smart, but our miniscule brains are nothing when compared to our Creator. Yet, He never uses His mental superiority to crush us or leave us confused. He shines the light of understanding into our hearts and brings us to understanding according to our capabilities.
4. Emotional Appeal – “Jesus sent that impulsive disciple home to think about his decision to follow and that is why it seems to me a mistake, if when men’s emotions are roused, they are swept into some inquiry room and required, then and there, to make some great decision…He never pressed for decision while emotion was at its height, nor coerced a submission by an appeal to admiration, or pity, or fear.”
(p 33)
As you read Jesus encounters with the emotional moments, the woman caught in adultery, Mary washing His feet with her hair, or even when His mother came back to find Him, in every instance Jesus acknowledged the emotion, but left the scene calmed and with a direct result that never forced the person to greater emotional reaction. He always led them to a peaceful decision that recognized their humanity.
Jesus could have used any or all of these in dealing with man, but, “If He lifted so much as a little finger, our paltry defences would go down in ruins, but, because of this tremendous respect for our personality, which reveals the eternal restraint of God, this great Lover of the soul will never be its burglar, but will wait on the threshold until we ourselves rise and let Him in. ‘Behold,’ He says, ‘I stand at the door and knock.’ What a respect for personality! What a divine restraint! What a majestic love! I listen down the corridor of the years for any sound of the dread trumpet of an angel summoning men to repentance. I only hear the voice of a Baby crying in a manger, and a whisper from lips tortured by pain, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ (p 35)
AMEN! How beautiful! If we lift Him up, He will draw men to see His love, sacrifice, and beauty. How can the eye turn away? How can the heart not be moved? How can the intellect fail to comprehend?
All power is given unto Him….and He directs that power in love toward us.