⁴ “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”

⁴ I must work the works of Him who sent Me

The Father had a predesigned wok for Jesus to do on earth. He predetermined a time and place for Him to do what He did.

The word “must” connotes divine urgency and necessity. It was imperative that Jesus make the most of the divinely appointed opportunity the Father gave Him. It was not simply advisable or expedient that He do it.

Some translations use the plural “we” instead of “I” for those who must work the works. If this is correct, then Jesus included His disciples in urgently doing the Father’s works.

while it is day;

The word “day” refers to the time allotted that the Father gave Jesus to do His work on earth. The idea involves a sense of urgency because of the brevity of time. “While it is day” refers to “as long as I am in the world” (Jn 9:5).

the night is coming when no one can work.

The “night” indicates the limit of the Father’s work through Christ on earth; that is, His death on the cross. Night was when Jesus would no longer be there.

PRINCIPLE:

Like our Lord, believers should seize every opportunity to do the will of God.

APPLICATION:

We used to quote a familiar saying about seizing the opportunities before us:

“Only one life twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.”

A pithy passage makes this point:

Eph 5: ¹⁴ Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” . . . ¹⁶ redeeming the time [buying up opportunities], because the days are evil.

We need to make the most of opportunities presented to us. God crowds our time for what He wants us to do into a specific and narrow occasion. When that time passes, then there is no more opportunity with that period.