Like father, like son. - 3rd April 2008

‘ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” John 6:37.

Have you ever known a couple where you find it much easier to get on with one of the partners? It may be that one is just more talkative, has your sense of humour, you have more in common. They are just easier to relate to. I sometimes find myself hoping it will be the “right” partner that answers the phone when I call!

For some of us, we find ourselves thinking of God and Jesus in that way too. We find it easier to relate to Jesus than to his father. We know that Jesus is loving and kind and merciful, but how do we view his father? We can sometimes feel that is in contrast to what we know about God. It can seem that there is a big difference between the mighty God of the Old Testament and the God revealed in the New Testament.

But Jesus repeatedly affirms that he and the father are one. He does the will of his father perfectly and he wants us to have exactly what the father wants for us. God longs to save us through Jesus and everybody who receives that message will come to him.

The great news in this bit of the story is that whatever state we are in when we receive the message of Jesus, we will find a welcome from both the father and his son, Jesus. You may have people around you who are fragile and you have to tread carefully. I certainly do. We don’t have to be fearful of God when we respond to his gracious invitation. When we want to understand God we just have to look into the face of Jesus.