John 4:32–34: “But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ So the disciples began to say to one another, ‘No one brought Him anything to eat, did they?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to complete His work.’”
Jesus is running on a different timetable here. He is running on a different fuel. He is existing on a different plane, and He is saying, “I exist to do the will of the Father. That’s My drive. That is what is fueling Me.”
What is fueling you? Are you similarly fueled by the need to do the will of God? Are you similarly delighted by executing on the divine mandate over your life? Are you similarly focused on the work that God wants you to do?
Look at the language of Jesus here: “to complete His work.” “I have a target. I am not just working anyhow; I have a target.” Look at the word Paul used: “I have completed my course, I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7). “I have a target. I have been given a target.”
Are we living our lives as people who have a divine target to meet—and a specific frame of time to meet that target? Because if the target does not have a time frame, is it really a target? It is probably just a good idea.
There is a divine target over your life. Paul is aware of this. Moses also, in Psalm 90, said, “Teach us to number our days carefully, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12)—meaning we want to maximize our time in the direction of the will of God. That is what Jesus is saying.
“I have food to eat that you know nothing about”—meaning we are not the same here. “You are existing on a different plane from Mine.” Of course, the whole point of being a disciple is to be like the Master. So the point of this conversation with the apostles is not, “I am forever in this plane, and you are forever in that plane.” It is a challenge to you to be like the Master—just as Peter, when he saw Jesus walking on water, said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28). That is the whole point of being a disciple.
The whole point of being a disciple is also to be fueled by the will of God, to be fueled by the work that God has for you to do. That becomes your driver—that fuel. That is what gives you satisfaction, what gives you delight. That is your mode of enjoyment: what keeps you going, what drives you, what fuels your pursuit, is the will of God and the work God has given you to accomplish in this world, to execute for His name.
And that is different for you and for me.
He is saying there is a completion point. “To complete His work.” “I am not just doing whatever feels good. I have a timetable that is different from what other human beings are driven by. I have a different sense of valuation. I am in connection with the Father, I am aware of the tasks He wants Me to do, and I am doing them. That is what keeps Me going.”
What about you? Are you also like this? Are you fueled by the need to do the will of God—the work God has for you to do, the task He has put in front of you, the work He wants you to execute for His name?
His concern is “to do the will.” “My food is to do the will…” What are you doing? This is specifically about the divine assignment He has—the work He has to do. He is fueled by the will of the Father. He is pursuing something that may not be reasonable to a casual observer.
God bless you. See you later.