So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:32–35
There are certain sayings that you just ever forget. You may always remember certain lines from a powerful speech or something witty that your grandfather used to say, but even the great lines of Confucius and Plato are not as memorable as the words of Jesus.
His words are worth remembering because they are unlike anyone else’s. Matthew recalls that He taught “as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29). People often crowded together to hear Him speak. Mark tells of an occasion when a crowd gathered in Capernaum “so that there was no longer room to receive them” (Mark 2:2). So powerful were Jesus’ words that it became widely known that it only took a word from Him to heal the sick (Matt. 8:8) and to cast out demons (Matthew 8:16). His are also the words by which we will be judged one day (John 12:47–48), and Jesus Himself said that they are the source of eternal life (John 5:24; 6:63). Who else’s words have such power? Who else’s words are more worthy of remembering than the words of Jesus?
One thing we learn about Jesus’ words is that they mean even more with the passing of time. Mary did not understand everything Jesus said as He grew up in her home, but she kept His words in her heart and pondered them often (Luke 2:49–51). The disciples did not understand when He said that He would rebuild the temple in three days, but they remembered His words after His resurrection (John 2:22). The same still holds true. I may read something that Jesus said hundreds of times and miss its greater meaning until some new learning or experience opens my eyes to it. For this reason they are worthy not only of remembering, but also of reading again and again.
At times Jesus’ words are very comforting, like the words about His resurrection that the women recalled when they found His tomb empty (Luke 24:8). Sometimes they are hard to accept, like the words that He spoke to the rich young ruler (Mark 10:22) or the things that He said about divorce (Matthew 19:10). Sometimes they are painful to remember, like the words that Peter remembered after he denied Him the third time (Luke 22:61–62). Sometimes they cause offense and strife, like the statement that He made about the Pharisees and their worthless traditions (Matthew 15:12). Jesus’ words are not always what we want, but they are always what we need.
How should we respond to His words? Like Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet (Luke 10:39), we should be eager to hear them and hang on every word. We should then “let these words sink down into our ears” (Luke 9:44) and allow them to do their beautiful work in our hearts (Psalms 119:11). We should make them the creed for our lives, like the wise man of Jesus’ parable who built His house on the solid rock (Matthew 7:24–27). We should never be ashamed of them, lest He be ashamed of us (Mark 8:38). We may choose to ignore them now if we wish, but no matter what we do with Jesus’ words, they will abide to the end (Matthew 24:35), and one day we will hear Him say, “Depart” (Matthew 25:41), or “Come” (v 34). Either way, they are words we will never forget!