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2. The Melody of the Christ-Song: Father-Son Intimacy

2. The Melody of the Christ-Song: Father-Son Intimacy

2. The Melody of the Christ-Song: Father-Son Intimacy.

“The Lord is the Song!”  (Genesis 15:2; Psalm 118:14; Isaiah 12:2).

The Song with a Body. There are a few ways to understand this recurring biblical passage… The Lord is the reason I sing. The Lord is Who I love to sing about. The Lord is the object of my singing. The Lord is Who we sing to. The Lord is the one Who inspires our singing. I sing because of the Lord, in honor of the Lord, in obedience to the Lord. Many translations put this verse as saying, “The Lord is my song.” But biblical scholars say that this passage could just as correctly be translated as, “The Lord is The song,” or even, “The Lord is the song of God.”

Jesus is The Song. So this important piece of Scripture captures the imagination as it makes clear that… Jesus Himself IS the Song. Christ is the divine song with flesh on. He embodies the Song of the universe. Jesus is God’s Song to the world. The life of Christ is itself a Song. The Christ-Song is a perfectly constructed piece of eternal music in the flesh. Just as a song is the composer’s method of self-expression, Jesus is God’s perfect and ultimate form of Self-expression. As our Savior, Jesus is the Song of Salvation. As the Redeemer, He is the Song of Redemption. As the Deliverer, He is the Song of Deliverance. As the Wonderful Counselor, He is the Song of Wisdom. As the Prince of Peace, He is the Song of Shalom.

Another I AM? Might we be so bold as to add another I AM to John’s gospel list? I AM the Song. The Lord is my song, He is The Song. This idea makes it practically sacramental. Christ’s claim, I Am the Bread of Life, for example, was fulfilled in the Eucharist when we literally welcome the Bread of Life, the broken body of Jesus, into our very being. Likewise, when we sing the Song of Jesus, when we participate in Jesus as the Song, He becomes a part of us, body, soul and mind. The Christ-Song is the spiritual music in our lives.

The Infinity of the Song. Just as music, God’s greatest gift to mankind and the very language of heaven, has an infinite number of possibilities, the Christ-Song has an infinite number of styles, applications, qualities, moods. So it makes sense that the life and mission of Jesus can be explored by taking a careful look at the elements of a song. To study the aspects of the Christ-Song in the Gospels begs us to explore the elements of a song, any song. Hopefully, this study of the elements of the Christ-Song will make Him unforgettable, much like When words are put to music, they become unforgettable. When the living Word becomes the lyrics to a song, much the same happens. Hopefully, embracing Jesus Christ as the Song will make Him unforgettable as well. The elements of the Christ-Song can be explored through the ten elements of any song, including its melody:

“The secret of the whole world of humanity is the love between the Father and the Son. This is at the root of it all. Upon the love between the Son and the Father hangs the whole universe.” (George MacDonald, Knowing the Risen Lord).

The Melody of the Christ-Song. If Christ is a Song, what would the melody be? Jesus made it abundantly clear that there was one consistent pattern of divine notes in His life… His intimacy with the Father. His intimate love with the Father formed His self-identity and  determined His mission. The profound relationship between Father and Son was the melody that defined the overall character of His life. Jesus made sure to arrange His ministry’s music to the wishes of the Composer of His Song. Their love for each other was the driving force of Christ’s earthly ministry.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19); “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His will. (John 4:34).

Boundless Depth. Their intimate communion is such that they are somehow inside each other. They are so closely knit that when you know the Son, you know the Father. And when you see the Son, you have seen the Father (John 14:7). Father and Son have enjoyed an intimate oneness, with the Spirit being their bond of love, since before the foundation of the world. The Spirit of love shared between them is eternal, and their spiritual union is boundless. There is nothing in the universe that is as tightly knit together as the Father and Son, and their union formed the melody of the Christ-Song.

“So that the world may know [without any doubt] that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me [and act in full agreement with Him].” (John 14:31, AMP)

The intimacy between the Father and the Son defined the sound of Christ’s life, and it was explored throughout the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of John:

Major Events:

1. Jesus calls the Father “Abba,” an affectionate term of honor and familiarity (Mark 14:36);

2. The Son would rather do the  Father’s will than His own (Mark 14:36);

3. The Father gave His blessing over the Son at His baptism, saying “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” (Luke 3:22);

4. The Father basically repeated His blessing over Jesus at His Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5);

5. In speaking of His death, the Son asked the Father. “Put your glory on display and bring glory to Your name.” The Father responded by speaking audibly out of heaven and saying that He has and He will. (John 12:28).

6. After praying to the Father, Jesus shares these truths about the Father and Himself. “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27).

In John 5:

  1. The Son is limited to doing whatever He sees the Father doing, and whatever the Father does, the Son does. (5:19);
  2. The Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing. The Father is totally transparent to the Son. (5:20);
  3. Just as the Father gives life to those He raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone He wants. (5:21);
  4. The Father is not the judge. He has given full authority to the Son to judge (5:22);
  5. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent Him (5:23);
  6. The Father has life in Himself, and He has granted that same life-giving power to His Son (5:26);
  7. The Son can do nothing on His own as judge. He judges as the Father tells Him (5:30);
  8. The Son has come in the Father’s Name (5:43).

In John 14:

  1. The Father will love those who love the Son, and they both will make a home within them all (14:23);
  2. The words of the Son are not His own. His words are the Father’s words (14:24);
  3. The Son humbly nods to the Father as the greater of the two (14:28);
  4. The Son will do whatever the Father requires of Him, so that the world will know that the Son loves the Father. (14:31);
  5. The Son is the only way to the Father (14:6);
  6. When you know the Son, you know the Father. When you see the Son, you have seen the Father (14:7);

In John 15:

  1. The Son is the True Vine, and the Father is the Gardener who prunes the branches. (15:1);
  2. The Father is glorified when the disciples bear much fruit. (15:8);
  3. The Son has loved the disciples the way that the Father has loved the Son. (15:9);
  4. The Son has obeyed the Father’s commands and remains in His love. (15:10);
  5. Everything the Son has heard from the Father has been told to the disciples by the Son. (15:15);
  6. Whoever hates the Son hates the Father (15:23);
  7. The Son sends the Spirit from the Father (15:26).

In John 17:

  1. When the Son gets glorified, He gives the glory back to the Father (17:1);
  2. The Father is the only true God, and the Son is the One whom He sent to the earth (17:3);
  3. The Son brought glory to the Father on earth by completing the work He was sent to do (17:4);
  4. The Father and the Son shared glory before the world began (17:4);
  5. All who belong to the Son also belong to the Father (17:10);
  6. The Son protected the disciples by the power the Father gave Him (17:10);
  7. Just as the Father sent the Son into the world, the Son is sending the disciples into the  world (17:18);
  8. The Father and the Son are essentially One… The Father in the Son, the Son in the Father (17:21);
  9. The Father loves the disciples as much as He loves the Son (17:23);
  10. The Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world, before the beginning of time (17:24);
  11. Only the Son truly knows the Father (17:25);
  12. The Father’s love for the Son will be in the disciples (17:26).

The beautiful melody of the Christ-Song could very well be the profound intimacy between the Father and the Son which formed the very identity of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth.

 

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