Why Are We Doing This?

Before he was born an angel announced to Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” [Matthew 1:21]

As he was commissioning his disciples, he foretold, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Matthew 10:40]

During his final ministry in Galileehe said, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him.” [Matthew 17:22,23]

In his final months, he said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death. [Matthew 20:18]

In his final week, he explained, “As you know, the Passover is two days away – and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” [Matthew 26:2] “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” [Matthew 26:39]

Thirty-three years after the angel spoke to Joseph, Jesus is agonizing, “Why are we doing this?”  Yet, he knew his Father’s answer: Because we said we would.

The father of my friend, Michael Carli, owned a restaurant, which sometimes needed help by his four sons. Preparing for a huge catering job – way bigger than they were able to do – the family worked day and night to meet the impossible deadline. Near the end of the prep time, Michael – totally exhausted along with the rest of the family – asked his father, “Why are we doing this?” His father’s simple reply was memorable, “Because we said we would.”

Every Lord’s Day we partake in the Lord’s Supper – week after week, year after year. It may have crossed your mind, “Why are we doing this?”

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we also accepted him as our Lord – our ruler. Our boss, who said, “Do this.” In obedient faith we said we would. Following the example and instructions of Christ, we do what we promise.