What Shall I Do With Jesus?

“Lord, is it I?”
“Could you not watch with me one hour?”
“Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?”
“Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
“Who do you want me to release, Jesus or Barabbas?”
“My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

As you can probably tell by the questions above, “questions” and Passion week seem to have a lot in common.  Each of the questions above remind us of important scenes the last week of Jesus’ life.  I don’t know about you, but Passion week and Resurrection Sunday tend to be filled with lots of questions for me as well.  Although the Gospels contain lots of important details about that week, as I read the passages of Scripture, I tend to have certain questions about the events and the reaction of various people that week.

This Passion Week I want to highlight some questions found in song that I hope will cause all of us to do a little thinking.  I hope these old hymns with questions in their titles don’t cause us to question our faith, but do cause us to do a little introspection of our faith.

The first song I want to highlight this week is a song I came across on a Bluegrass album I have at home.  It is based upon Pilate’s words found in Matthew 27:22 which reads “Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.”

What shall I do with Jesus?
What shall my answer be?
Question with question I answer,
What will He do with me?

Like In the days of ole Pilate,
Man of the world is today.
Jesus your Saviour is waiting,
What does your answer say?

Chorus:
What shall I do with Jesus?
What shall my answer be?
Question with question I answer,
What will He do with me?

Now the decision is yours friend,
Save your soul or be lost.
If you decide you will lose it,
Think of the awful cost.

You are the judge and the jury,
Satan’s the lawyer for sin.
Christ is on trial before you,
Needing your soul to win.

What I find interesting about this particular question, is that it is still the most important question a person will ever ask of themselves.   Pilate’s question, although posed at a different place for a different reason, is exactly what each person has to decide before they die or before the Lord comes back.  “What will you do with Jesus?”  It is a hard question.  It is a challenging question.  But, it is a simple question with but only two simple answers – Accept Him and Believe on Him, or Reject Him and be condemned.  I am afraid the world today is not asking this important question.  I am afraid the Church, too often, is not asking this critical question.  I am afraid that because we have not asked this hard question, too many people will answer incorrectly on the Great Day of Judgment.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Now the decision is yours friend” – I was reminded of what Joshua told the Hebrew children in Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”  People have a decision to make.  Time is of the essence.  We must decide what we will do with Jesus.  But, I like the last word of this phrase – the word “friend.”  It connotes a close relationship.  A relationship that is not casual, but one where you are concerned about someone’s eternal destiny.  Being concerned about someone’s eternal destiny is true friendship.

• “Think of the awful cost” – Often times in life, the cost of indecision is not that great.  I am sure there are great stories of people that decided to do, or decided not to do certain things, and those choices meant everything.  But there are also many times when there aren’t severe consequences to indecision.  However, the author of this song reminds us that the cost of rejecting Christ is awful.  It is eternal separation from God.  It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.  It is a place of unquenchable fire.  Although sermons on Hell are not heard from many of the pulpits today, I think it is imperative that we, as Christians, have an urgency in our voices and speak with an intensity like John the Baptist had – “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

For those of you on my “Hymn of the week” list, I trust that you have settled the question of who Jesus is, and what you will do with Him in regard to your salvation.  But I wonder, if this question is still appropriate for believers too.  What will we do with Jesus?  Will we follow Him wherever He calls us to go?  Will we obey Him when His requests take us out of our comfort zone?  Will we worship Him with our whole heart?  Will we take His name to a lost and dying world no matter the cost?

So I ask you to think about this question today, and for the rest of the week as you focus on Christ’s suffering and sacrifice – What will you do with Jesus?