FOLLOW THE LEADERunplanned erratic events on the part of others around Him, Jesus always
had a plan that He was following through life. When it came to sending
out the Twelve, and the Seventy-Two, Jesus gave both evangelistic teams
very specific plans to follow (Lk. 9:1-6; 10:1-12). They were not sent out
to just “wing it” after being entrusted with a message of such eternal
consequence. No. Jesus gave them a very specific plan to follow.
When we look at the introductory verses for this chapter, Jesus is preparing
for the culmination point of His brief three years of ministry. He is about
to go to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. Jesus is totally confident
in God’s redemptive plan that is about to be consummated in Jerusalem.
Even though this salvation event had been planned in the council of the
Godhead before the creation of the world, Jesus still carefully planned
as He approached Jerusalem. He did not take a passive fatalistic attitude
toward these divinely ordained plans – even though He was “...the Lamb
that was slain from the creation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). As a member
of the triune Godhead, Jesus had been a part of the planning of man’s
salvation from eternity past. But now in the “fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4),
Jesus still planned as He prepared to enter Jerusalem for His last week of life
before His crucifixion. We read that “Jesus...sent messengers on ahead...
to get things ready for Him.” One of the first things that Jesus made plans
for was the celebration of the Passover Feast. He said to Peter and John,
“Go and make preparation for us to eat the Passover” (Lk. 22:8). Jesus
made human plans within the context of the divine plans laid out before
the world began. As Bible commentator Sir George Smith wrote: “It is a
great truth that the Almighty and All-merciful is the All-Methodical too.”^1
If Jesus planned, we must plan. Every mature Christian leader knows that
there is never a contradiction between wise planning and a life of faith.
The book of James clearly teaches us that: “Faith without works is
dead” (Ja. 2:17, 26). Also, works without faith is dead. To impart life, faith
and works must go together. The Bible has married faith and works in an
indissoluble spiritual union. In the well-balanced Christian life, faith and
works...planning and preparation...prayer and “doing diligence” must
go together. Without these two working together, plans are doomed to
failure. “Doing diligence” is part of the work side of the life of faith for
effective Christian leaders.