Jesus needs you and me

JESUS NEEDS YOU AND ME

Mt. 3:13-17

We are all conscious of the fact that we need Jesus, but has it ever occurred to you that He also needs us?  He needs each one of us if we are to build up the Kingdom of God on this earth.

This is clearly indicated all through the New Testament.  The Baptism of Jesus is a very sacred moment in the life of our Lord.  Matthew says, "He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him."  Then a voice from Heaven saying, "This is My Son, the Beloved; My favour rests on Him."  Jesus' Baptism was crowned with divine approval.  We should not overlook the fact that it was accomplished by human hands.  Jesus was baptized by a man, an extraordinary man, but a man nonetheless.  John, at first, was reluctant to do this incredible thing.  He said to Jesus, "It is I who need baptism from You and You come to me."  Jesus replied, "Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should in this way, do all that righteousness demands."  That sentence strongly suggests that neither man could do the will of God without the cooperation of the other.  John needed Jesus, and Jesus needed John.

How often the Son of God needed the help of people.  He entered this world as a newborn infant.  Like all little babies, He needed someone to take care of Him.  He grew from babyhood to manhood, and, like all growing boys, He needed someone to feed, guide and teach Him.  He gathered around Him twelve men and  He needed them to help Him with His work.

He needed a woman of Samaria to give Him a drink of water; a peasant boy to help Him feed five thousand hungry people; Peter, James and John to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane; a man from Cyrene to help Him carry His cross; Joseph of Arimathea to provide Him with a place of burial and after His resurrection, He needed His friends to share the good news with the world.

John the Baptist clearly understood his need for Christ, but it was hard for him to see that Christ also needed him.  We have the same difficulty.  It seems almost irreverent to speak of His need for us.  Yet, it is no less true today than it was that day when He was baptised in the Jordan River.  All good relationships involve mutual need, and that includes our relationship with Christ.

Consider, for a moment, how something inside of us responds to those who need us.  Picture yourself in bed at night, sound asleep.  Then suddenly the silence is shattered by a voice crying for help.  I doubt that anything would awaken us more quickly and more completely than that.  However selfish we may be, there is something within us that is deeply touched by a cry for help.  When we are needed and know it, most of us respond.  We have an example of this in the life of Chuck Yeager, one of the best, and probably the most famous, test pilot in the world.  He wrote an autobiography in which he shared some of his experiences.  He was testing a plane over the desert.  A friend was in another plane, and each was pushing his plane to its limit and beyond.  The engineers who designed the planes had calculated their capacity.  The test pilot's job is to go beyond that and try to determine the precise endurance.

As Yeager was flying, he realized that his friend in the other plane was in trouble.  He appeared to be on the verge of passing out.  Apparently, something had gone wrong with his oxygen system.  Yeager tried to rouse him, but without success, and time was running out.  Then he decided on another tactic.  He pretended to be in trouble himself.  Over his radio, he said, "I can't make it", and put his plane into a steep dive.  His friend heard the message and began to follow him, trying to help.  Soon they were both at a lower altitude where the oxygen supply was adequate.  When Yeager tried to wake his friend, it did no good, but when the friend thought Yeager was in trouble, he pulled himself together and was ready to help.  There is something within us that responds to those who need us.

Often we go through life and are not aware how someone close to us can help us.  You have probably had an experience like that in your family.  You have a family gathering and everyone has a wonderful time.  Then people begin to drift away.  Just two of you are left in the room.  You begin to talk about the things that are really in your heart - the problems you haven't solved, the hurts that haven't been healed.  When the evening finally ends, you feel closer to that person than ever before.  You have shared your mutual needs.

None of us will ever get very close to another person who is always strong, always able, always helping and never needing help.  That is like a mother's relationship with a small child.  The need is all one-sided.  If the child grows up and discovers that his mother has needs too, then the two of them have a chance to become real friends.  If that never happens, they may never really be close.

That same concept can also apply to our relationship with Christ?  There is no doubt that He is the Master and we are the servants.  We need Him, but the need is not one-sided.  He also needs us.  By His own admission, without the help of John the Baptist, He could not have fulfilled all of God's demands.  He could not baptise Himself.  He needed John.  Once we realise that Jesus needs us to spread His love and work, it can make our relationship with Him stronger.  There are some things today that He cannot do without our help.  I remember a little poem that goes something like this.

"He has no hands but your hands to do his work today.

He has no feet but your feet to guide folk in His way.

He has no lips but your lips to tell them how He died.

He has no love but your love to bring them to His side."

He is the Christ who needs us.

Lord Jesus, we are so conscious that we need You, but thank You for assuring us of the tremendous privilege of knowing that You also need us to spread Your kingdom on this earth.

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