“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 ESV
Reflection: do you envision having to work in heaven? Why or why not?
Yesterday we looked at how we as God’s people are His hands and feet in this world, carrying out His will. He works through us, because He Himself cannot be in a fallen world. We have to remember that He is a Holy God, and this world, with all its evil, including those who are not clothed in Christ, would cease to exist in His presence, “for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 ESV. So, He has created for us, a way to Himself, Holy and acceptable, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. And for those who have been called and have received, ““He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”Colossians 1:13-14 ESV.
Now, many Christians act as if the work then is done. Christ said, “it is finished”, so there is nothing more to do. But, in our focus verse today, Jesus says something we need to reflect on. The first point to consider is, what “work”is he referring to here? Now, the story begins with a blind man, leading up to the focus verse. Let’s read for context. “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3 ESV. The “work” Jesus was referring to here was “the works of God”; in this case, healing the man’s blindness, leading to ultimately his conversion. John dedicated the entire chapter 9 of the gospel to this story of the blind man, which means it has a huge impact. More than just the physical healing of blindness.
Famous Bible commentator MacLaren wrote “Jesus Christ looked at the man, and He did not think about theological cobwebs. What was suggested to Him was to fight against the evil and abolish it. It is sometimes necessary to discuss the origin of an evil thing, of a sorrow or a sin, in order to understand how to deal with and get rid of it. But unless that is the case, our first business is not to say, ‘How comes this about?’ but our business is to take steps to make it cease to come about. Cure the man first and then argue to your heart’s content about what made him blind, but cure him first. And so Jesus Christ taught us that the meaning of the day of life was that we should set ourselves to abolish the works of the devil, and that the work of God was that we should fight against sin and sorrow, and in so far as it was in our power, abolish these, in all the variety of their forms, in all the vigour of their abundant growth. Sorrow and sin are God’s call to every one of His sons and daughters to set themselves to cast them out of His fair creation; and ‘the day’ is the opportunity for doing that.”
As Christians, we have a calling, like Jesus, to do the works of our Heavenly Father while here in the world. All the time. Jesus continued, saying “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”” John 9:5 ESV. He realized fully that His time in the world was very short, so every minute had to be utilized and not wasted. He was not here to “rest” per se, and He said of us ““You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14a ESV, transferring that responsibility. And Paul wrote “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” Ephesians 5:8 ESV. So our “work”, as Jesus’ disciples, is not done here in the world until we take our last breath. So do we get to rest then?
Jesus talked in context here of “day” being equivalent to life in the world. That it is very limited. But let’s think of another reference to day and night, used by Paul to the Romans, where he said “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”Romans 13:12 ESV. It seems to be the opposite of what Jesus said, right? That this life in the world is like the night. But Paul was talking here about our spiritual life and existence. That the world is in darkness, but someday soon the dawn of eternity is coming.
If we again follow the example of our Lord Jesus, is He resting now? No, He is very active as a great High Priest for us. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV. MacLaren wrote “But when He died He passed not into the night of inactivity, but into the day of greater service. And that higher and heavenly form of His work continues, and not until ‘the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ,’ and the whole benefit and effect of His earthly life are imparted to the whole race of man, will it be said, ‘It is done,’ and the angels of heaven proclaim the completion of His work for man.”
Perhaps the question we should wrestle with, is rest actually good? Some rest is necessary, but not all the time. God worked six days, and rested one. And since He never changes, we can probably conclude that He doesn’t just rest all the time even still. In fact, all rest is not good for anyone. MacLaren looked at this life as practicing for heaven. “It is not enough either for our hearts or our minds that we should say ‘the night cometh when no man can work.’ Life is day, but it is night also. Death is night but it is dawning as well. We cannot understand either the present or the future unless we link them together. That death which is the cessation of activity in one aspect, is, for Christ’s servants, as truly as for Christ, the beginning of an activity in a higher and nobler form. I do not believe in a heaven of rest, meaning by that, inaction; I still less believe in a death which puts an end to the activity of the human spirit. I believe that this world is our school, our apprenticeship, the place where we learn our trade and exercise our faculties, where we paint the picture, as it were, which we offer when we desire to be admitted to the great guild of artists, and according to the result of which, in the eye of the Judge, is our place hereafter.”