WWJD
Sunday 25th May 2025
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared …
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NIV)
WWJD
It seems a while now since everyone was asking ‘WWJD?’, which stands for ‘What would Jesus do?’ (although the initials are harder to say than the full question!). It was a handy way of getting Christians to think about what Jesus himself would do in a given situation, and to follow him. It was an encouragement to try and live to please Jesus, which seems to be a good thing.
So, what would Jesus do … If another driver cut in front of you in traffic? … If you suddenly and surprisingly inherited a large sum of money?… If you were offered a new job? … How does asking ‘What would Jesus do’ help you decide where to live, what to study, what job to do, and so on?
It’s a good question, but it’s not without its problems. One is that we often don’t know exactly what Jesus would have done in many situations. We know what he did do in the situations he did face, and we can piece together an answer from what we do know, but it’s not always easy to get a clear or certain answer.
Another problem is that we’re simply not able do so some of the things Jesus did, for the simple reason that he was God’s Son and we’re not. Most obviously, we cannot die for anyone’s sins, and nor can we rise from the dead or ascend to heaven.
Less obviously, it’s just not clear in many cases whether we’re meant to emulate Jesus or not. For example, can we expect to heal those who are sick, or to multiply food, or to raise the dead, or to walk on water? We tend to think those things might be possible in answer to prayer, but we’re not really expecting them to happen on a regular basis.
Peter Jensen suggests there’s a more helpful and more reliable question we can ask: ‘The Christian question is not so much “What would Jesus do?” as though we could work out whether Jesus would have accepted this job offer or enrolled on this university course. The Christian question is “What did Jesus do?” He laid down his life for the salvation of sinners. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die’ (Peter Jensen, The Life of Faith).
It’s a better question for two reasons. One, we know what the answer is! We know what Jesus did. Here’s something solid we can build our lives on with confidence. Two, it puts the focus back on Jesus and what he has done rather than on ourselves and what we’re to do. It seems we human beings need reminding regularly that the good news of the gospel is about what Jesus has done for us rather than what we will do for him. Of course, as Bonhoeffer makes plain, once we’ve truly grasped what Jesus has done for us it will inevitably lead us to give ourselves to and for him.
Prayer
Lord, help me to build my life on what you have done for me in dying for my sins and rising from the dead. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)