Must is a strange verb with no past or future tenses, always in the present. I musted or I shall must don’t exist. The word is always in the present tense.
The above is a strange way to introduce a devotional, but Jesus used the word numerous times. The first was in response to Joseph and Mary as a 12-year-old. The Lord stayed behind as the caravan started home. They were returning after observing the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Each parent thought Jesus was with the other until evening. Their realization that Jesus wasn’t in the caravan caused them to return to Jerusalem the next day, only to find Jesus in the temple questioning the elders.
Mary asked, “Son, why have You done this to us? (Luke 2:48). Jesus replied, “I must be about My Father’s business” (v-49). The word “must” struck an imperative meaning to me, encouraging me to search some of the “must things” that Jesus came here to do?
Luke records, “I must preach the kingdom of God” (4:43 NKJV). Those words describe the Lord’s earthly mission. That’s what He did for groups and individuals.
In John 3, Nicodemus heard the message, “You must be born again” (v. 7). Later, as Jesus and the disciples were going to Jerusalem, Jesus said, He “must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4 KJV). There was a woman at the well and people in Sychar who must hear the gospel.
But if Jesus was to end the sacrificial system of worship as the Old Testament records, He must accomplish one more thing. “The Son of Man must be lifted up” (John 12:34), signifying His death on the cross of Calvary. The hill outside Jerusalem is where our Lord took our sins upon Himself; Golgotha was its name in Hebrew. There, Jesus paid our sin debt forever!
The last “must” in this episode that I’ll mention is found in John 20:9: “He must rise again from the dead” (KJV). Without the resurrection, our Savior would still be in the grave. Jesus is alive forevermore, sitting beside His heavenly Father, making intercession for all believers (Hebrews 7:25).
