January 6, 2011

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Maybe this phrase has almost fallen out of use completely, but occasionally I still hear a waitress or a barkeep ask, "what's your pleasure?" Spiritually speaking, if we carefully considered it, our answer to the question "what's your pleasure?" would be the old safe Sunday School default answer to any religious question - "Jesus." And boy would we be right! Offer anything in the world and put it next to Jesus and you can "Take the world, but give me Jesus." Jesus, the one whom God is well pleased with, is also our pleasure. Jesus is our greatest and purest pleasure.

"Hence, all earthly treasure! Jesus is my pleasure; Jesus is my choice.
Hence, all empty glory! Naught to me thy story, told with tempting voice.
Pain or loss or shame or cross, shall not from my Savior move me, since he deigns to love me." (CW 349:4)

The very reason Jesus is our purest pleasure, is because the only reason God the Father can be well pleased with us, is because of Jesus and what Jesus did for us. When we have faith in what Jesus has done for us, we are pleasing to God, but "without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6) Without Jesus we have nothing to have faith in. With Jesus and through faith in Jesus - who accomplished well the will and purpose of God the Father, which was to make us holy - we are pleasing in the Father's sight. What God's will was, and what God was pleased with was the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all. "[Jesus] said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you [God the Father] did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then [Jesus] said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:8-10)

God the Father was pleased that Jesus would accomplish His will, His good pleasure, which was to make us holy through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. "And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ," (Ephesians 1:9) God the Father was also well pleased with Jesus and His execution of His will and execution of His plan for our salvation. Right before Jesus began his public ministry leg of winning for us Salvation, the Father expressed His vote of confidence in Jesus to carry out the plan - at Jesus' baptism: "And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Right before Jesus began his Passion leg of winning for us Salvation the Father again expressed His vote of confidence in Jesus to carry out the plan - at the Transfiguration: While [Peter] was still speaking [to Jesus], a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5) Because God was well pleased with Jesus' substitutionary life and because God was well pleased with Jesus sacrificial death, we are now pleasing to God. And because we are now pleasing to God, we are well pleased with Jesus and the work He did for us. Jesus is our greatest pleasure.

“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” God the Father knew what had to be done to save us, and God the Son did well what had to be done to save us. And with this God was well pleased. "What's our pleasure?" Our answer will agree with the words of the hymnist - "what pleases God, that pleases me!" Jesus is God's pleasure, and because God is also well pleased with us who have faith in Jesus, Jesus is our pleasure too!

"God knows what must be done to save me;
His love for me will never cease.
Upon His hands He did engrave me,
With purest gold of loving grace.
His will supreme must ever be;
What pleases God, that pleases me." (CW 414:2)