I love listening to Jesus. 

He always knew what to say and how to say it. 

He was able to challenge. But he was also able to comfort. And wow, was he able to comfort. 

I wonder if you ever asked yourself, where did he learn to speak like that? 

That’s actually an important question. In Isaiah 50:4 he says, “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” From that we learn three things. One, his ability to speak so well was a gift of God. And two, he spoke as one of God’s followers should speak. And three, nothing characterizes the speech of one of God’s followers more than their ability to provide comfort to those who are suffering. 

I know I want to be like Jesus.

But how?

If Jesus’ speech was a model of how a disciple should speak, how did he learn to speak like that? More specifically, what can we learn from him about how we can come to speak the way God wants us to speak?

Of course, first and foremost, as followers of God, like Jesus we must look to God to give us the ability to communicate in a God-glorifying way. 

But, is there anything else he tells us? 

Yes! 

His mouth was filled with just the right words for encouraging others because his ear was filled with the Word of God and his heart was submissive to the authority of God. 

This is key.

The mouth follows the ear.

Jesus explains in the rest of Isaiah 50:4.

“He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened My ear, and I was not disobedient, Nor did I turn back.”

This is what a disciple looks like!

Alec Motyer writes, 

“The Servant comes before us as the disciple par excellence. He was not endowed with an instant gift, an unstructured tongue, but was subjected to the training procedures appropriate to all discipleship-concentration on the Word of the Lord.”

In other words, his ability to speak flowed out of his relationship with God, as morning after morning, He came to meet with God, where God enabled Him to listen, and He chose to obey. 

And as his followers, we have a great mission.

We have been given words to challenge, and to comfort. There are weary people who need divine comforting. In and of itself, this mission is too great for us. How can we speak the words people need?

We must be like Jesus.

Our mouths will only be filled with the right words, when our ears are filled with the Word of God, and our hearts are submissive to its authority in our lives.