Jesus Was Very Focused. Are You?
“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” (George Lucas) 1
Jesus was remarkably different from other rabbis in His teaching and lifestyle. He had a steadfast focus on doing His Father’s will. Nothing deterred Him from doing what He believed was required of Him, and He was focused on prioritizing God’s will above all else.
Let’s take a moment to define the term focus for our time together:
Focus deals with a main purpose or interest, and your focus is something or someone you pay particular attention to.
We must establish from the start that focus determines future outcomes. Your focus channels your energy into a specific task, and ultimately, that focused action produces a precise and desired result!
Jesus had definite desired outcomes in mind as He ministered for about 3.5 years on earth. He always held His ultimate destination in mind, namely His death and resurrection for the sins of the world. The Gospel of Luke shows a resolute Jesus shortly before His final trial in Jerusalem:
“When the time came for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51 NIV)
In the Vulgate translation, it is written that “He set His face like a flint,” instead of “resolutely set out.” That shows that He put His determination in clear relief on His countenance for all to see as He turned toward Jerusalem. Jesus acquired His target, and He found the road to get Him there. He walked like a man on a mission, and nothing was going to stop that kind of focus!
Isaiah the prophet was right when he prophesied about the intense focus of Jesus on the way to Jerusalem:
“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7 NIV)
Jesus’ ministry was all about focus and simplicity. When people tried to make pleasing God complicated, Jesus found a way to cut through all the religious clutter and rhetoric to arrive at something everyone could understand. His focus made Him remarkable in a context where religious teachers thrived in the ambiguity of hundreds of spiritual laws that confused the general population. It made them seem learned, forcing the people to be accountable to them as they tried to please God.
Jesus was considered a rabbi, or a teacher of the Scriptures. Each rabbi had a yoke of teaching in the Jewish culture, and Jesus’ yoke was His instructions, content, and message. Jesus made His yoke (or teaching) very focused and simplified.
Many of the rabbis put yokes of teaching on the people that were impossible to live up to, and they were very strict and legalistic in their applications. These heavy yokes pushed people away from the grace of God instead of toward it. These yokes burned people out and turned people off to the things of God.
Jesus stepped onto the scene and made a powerful statement to a crowd gathered:
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30 NIV)
Jesus said His yoke was easy and His burden light. His way of teaching was in stark contrast to the religious rabbis of the day. He was not offering a long, complicated set of rules, rituals, and regulations; He was offering grace. He was offering a simple relationship with God.
Jesus had a fantastic ability to focus on all the details and emerge with the essentials. He brought substance from a great deal of religious static.
People loved His parables and teachings regarding the Kingdom of God because all that Pharisaic noise, the static, and the clutter of manufactured religion got in the way of people trying to find God, their Heavenly Father.
This week, focus on the simplicity of loving God and your neighbor as yourself. Don’t allow religious clutter to complicate the simplicity of the singular focus of a relationship with God!
Thank you for reading and sharing with others. Until next time…
