What Was Jesus' Objective?

We have started looking at Jesus as a leader. Last week we asked if He is our leader. Are you a follower of Jesus? But we can also ask what we can learn about leadership from Jesus’ example.

I suggested a very simplistic definition of leadership: Leadership is helping people get from A to B. So, what was Jesus’ B? What was His objective? What was He trying to achieve? What was His vision? What was the better future that He wanted to lead people towards? What was Jesus’ dream?

Jesus’ vision was the Kingdom of God. Jesus could foresee this future state when God would reign as the righteous King, His Kingship would be honoured and there would be shalom. John described it in…

Revelation 21:3-5

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Jesus’ preaching is often summarised as being about the Kingdom of God.

Mark 1:14-15

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

The good news is the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught us to pray ‘Your Kingdom come’. After His resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples teaching about the Kingdom of God.

Maybe you can think of an exception, but I think that absolutely everything that Jesus did – every single thing – was aimed at bringing about that vision. If the Kingdom of God was going to become a reality, what did Jesus need to do? What were the stepping stones to that vision?

He would have to die on the Cross and rise again. Without forgiveness of sin, no one can enter the Kingdom. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again”. (John 3:3)

Jesus Himself said that He had come to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28).

Luke 9:51

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

I love that verse. It tells me that, at that point in His ministry, Jesus said, “Ok, here we go”. He would go to Jerusalem knowing what would happen there. Resolutely. With determination. He would not be dissuaded. If the Kingdom of God was to become a reality, He must die. Jesus would go to the Cross…

• Despite Peter telling Him He must not

• Despite really not wanting to and praying that He might not have to

• Despite being able to call down 12 legions of angels to rescue Him.

• Despite being innocent and able to prove He was innocent

His big objective was the Kingdom of God and that required that He die on the Cross.

But what else did Jesus do so that the Kingdom of God would become a reality?

He kept painting a picture of the Kingdom. He helped people see it.

Think of all the parables that start ‘the Kingdom of God is like…’. He talked about the Kingdom being like a wedding banquet (but also that some people prioritised other things over attending the wedding). He talked about the Kingdom growing imperceptibly like yeast within dough or a tiny seed becoming a great tree. He talked about those who had served God being welcomed: “Well done, good and faithful servant” and being invited to “share your master’s happiness”. Imagine being in God’s presence and enjoying God’s happiness!

Let’s read two very short parables. READ Matthew 13:44-46.

I am not going to say a lot about those parables. Just keep them in mind. Note that they speak about the great value of the Kingdom – a treasure, a pearl of great price. The Kingdom is of supreme value. Those who are wise will give up everything else for the sake of obtaining the Kingdom. But not everybody is wise. As in the parable of the wedding banquet, some prioritise other things.

Jesus knew there was a better future. He wanted others to also be able to see that future, so he painted pictures for them of the Kingdom. In leadership terms, that is often called vision-casting – sharing the vision so that other people also are captured by it.

But Jesus did not just talk about it; He also revealed it so that people could actually see it and experience it. Jesus regularly said, “The Kingdom is among you”. It wasn’t just some vague future possibility. They got a foretaste of the reality of God reigning. Every time someone was healed, that was a demonstration of God’s sovereignty. Every time Jesus befriended someone or showed mercy to an outcast, people saw the reality of the Kingdom where people are valued and loved by God.

Jesus enabled people to see the vision by both talking about it – painting word pictures – and by demonstrating it. Jesus also modelled it in His own character and actions. In Jesus, people saw what the Kingdom would be like. They saw compassion and mercy and forgiveness and love and truth and holiness and obedience to God and every other aspect of the Kingdom.

The vision was the Kingdom of God but to get there there were certain goals, certain stepping stones. One goal was to die and make it possible for people to enter the Kingdom. Another goal was to capture people with this Kingdom vision. Tell them about it; show them what it is like. Model it. Vision-casting is perhaps the most important function of a leader – not the only function but perhaps the most important.

Jesus did not just give people a picture of the Kingdom; He invited them to be part of it. One of Jesus’ goals was to recruit citizens of the Kingdom. Jesus regularly talked about entering the Kingdom:

• You are not far from the Kingdom

• How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God

• Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God

• You must receive the Kingdom like a child to enter it.

We know that masses of people followed Him. Not all of them were willing to pay the price of following Jesus. Periodically Jesus challenged them with that cost and filtered out those who were serious. Jesus wanted people but He actually wanted committed people.

How successful was He? It almost seems like He was more successful at persuading people not to follow Him than He was at persuading people to follow Him. Several times we are told that, faced with the challenge, people turned away. We know that there were about 120 believers gathered on the Day of Pentecost. They were in Jerusalem and I guess lots had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost but is it possible that there were many more up north in Galilee where Jesus had spent most of this time, and maybe more again in towns and villages all over the place? We simply don’t know, but, again, Jesus’ focus had not been numbers but commitment.

Right at the centre of those recruits were the twelve apostles. Identifying and training some key people who would spearhead the movement was a massive part of Jesus’ strategy – people who would continue talking about and revealing the Kingdom of God, and inviting people to follow Jesus,. A huge amount of His time and effort went into those twelve men. Jesus had a goal of leaving behind a team of trained, committed followers who had caught that vision of the Kingdom and who were dedicated to Jesus and dedicated to preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

We saw last week that Jesus got to the Last Supper, just before He was due to die, and He prayed, “Father, I have done it! I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do.” In John 17, Jesus prayed about what He had done in the lives of those men. They had become children of God. They believed in Jesus and knew that He was sent by God. They trusted what God said in His word. They had brought Jesus glory and they had been commissioned to go out as ambassadors of Jesus into the world. Clearly, forming those men was a major goal. If He hadn’t succeeded with those 12 (well, actually, 11) men, His vision of people dwelling in the Kingdom of God would have died. It depended on having a highly trained – not just highly trained in terms of skills but highly trained in terms of character – utterly transformed team who understood the mission and were committed to it.

To get to that point was a major success.

That was one goal, tick. “I’ve done it!” On the Cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” Another goal, tick!

What can we learn from Jesus’ leadership?

1. The importance of a compelling vision

Jesus had one focus. I suggested that everything He did was intended to get closer to that vision. Do you think that is true? Was the Kingdom of God the motivation for everything Jesus did?

2.     The importance of breaking down that big vision into smaller goals

For the Kingdom to become a reality, there were certain things that had to be done. Jesus had objectives that were stepping stones towards the vision. Things such as…

3.     The importance of sharing that vision, and sharing it in multiple ways

By words and actions and character, Jesus showed people what the Kingdom was like. And people loved it. Thousands upon thousands of people loved what they saw and what they heard. For Jesus, the vision was compelling. It was worthy giving His life to. But it also proved compelling for others.

4.     The importance of invitation

The vision is one thing, but the key is inviting people to commit to that vision. “Follow me.”

5.     The importance of setting high standards

Thousands upon thousands loved what they saw but they were not all willing to pay the price. Jesus wanted people to follow Him but He did not lower the requirements. He set the bar very high. He wanted quality, not quantity. Quality would lead to quantity later.

6.     The importance of building a team

A great vision can outlast the leader. The disciples understood the vision. They continued to share the good news of the Kingdom of God even after Jesus had gone. As a consequence, Jesus’ Kingdom vision continues in the hearts of millions today.

When we consider Jesus as a leader, we need to look through two lenses. Firstly, what Jesus is calling us to as our leader. Secondly, how we also can lead in a Christ-like way. Jesus models leadership. How can we lead like Him?

1659