Hillsong Young & Free's worship albums have been highly anticipated since their first release, We are Young & Free, which included the hit songs "Alive," "Sinking Deep" and "Wake," which features Hillsong worship leader Taya Smith. The group, led by Laura Toggs, followed that up with more songs for the church, including “Real Love,” “Where You Are," "Falling into You” and "This is Living." 

III is the third full-length worship album by Hillsong Young & Free and it is one of my top worship albums of the year, including the standout songs “Let Go," "Love Won’t Let Me Down" and "Highs and Lows." "III is a collection of personal songs, written and sung from profound devotions and life wrestles over the last three years," says Young & Free’s Laura Toggs. "Life presents us all with many highs and lows... each track represents personal revelation with truthful words to commit out way to Him and inspire faith, hope, and the greatest of these—love." I had the chance to speak with Benjamin Hastings about "Just Jesus."
 
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

For me, when we were writing this song, I was thinking about a few friends, but I was also thinking about my own personal journey with God. I moved from Ireland to Australia, and left everything to go and pursue God. It made me think of Matthew 4, about when Jesus said He’d make His disciples “fishers of men.” They didn’t ask questions, but they dropped everything and followed Jesus and left. This song is kind of written for those types of people. When I left everything I knew in Ireland and moved to Australia.
 
Also, Peter went back to being a fisherman after Jesus was resurrected in John 21. The song is also for people in that situation and stage of life. Maybe through circumstances, they have been tempted to look to the left or the right or have gone back to what they did before ministry and it’s a bit of a checkpoint on the marathon race we are running and to keep true to the fact that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. What more could you want?

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

John 14:5-7 (NIV): "Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him."

Luke 9:23 (VOICE): "If any of you want to walk My path, you're going to have to deny yourself. You'll have to take up your cross every day and follow Me."

John 15:5 (NKJV): "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Philippians 3:8 (NKJV): "Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV): "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
 
1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV): "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

What is the takeaway message?

There’s a lot I could say about this song. I like looking at this song through the lens of the “four soils” passage. Regarding being choked by the cares of the world, one of the things I was thinking about in my own life was how, at first, I wrote pop songs and indie songs. I moved to Australia to attend Bible College to pursue writing worship music because that’s what God put on my heart. I had this moment and prophecy in my life where it changed my perspective in more ways than one. It was the most defining moment of my life where a lady stopped me and spoke to me about writing worship music. From there, I made a conscious decision to stop pursuing the cares of this world and to just write songs for Jesus. For me, I knew I had to put my focus on worship. It was then that I started writing songs for the church. One of those songs was “Captain" for the Hillsong United album, Empires. We hear about “the Way, the Truth and the Life" and if you break that down, Jesus is our direction and our path, He is truth to counter the lies and mistruths in our world, and He is life in abundance and He is our best life. It’s pretty attractive when you break it all down.

Lyrics:
I wasted so much life, felt on my own
If You're the Way, Truth, the Life
What more could I want
What more could I want

'Cause, I laid it all on the line
'Cause I find out that I need to find
That I got no plan left beside
Just Jesus
I don't need eyes in the fire
I don't need rules of the dice
I got no fallback in mind

Just Jesus
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the Life

I've held my heart in halves, options open
One foot still on the sand, one in ocean
Now I'm all in

'Cause, I laid it all on the line
'Cause I find out that I need to find
That I got no plan left beside
Just Jesus
I don't need eyes in the fire
I don't need rules of the dice
I got no fallback in mind

Just Jesus
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the Life

Nothing more, nothing less
Just Jesus
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the life

I love You more than I love anything
I need You, I need You
So let Your love reign over everything
Take the world of content
Just Jesus
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the Life
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the Life

Nothing more
No one else
Just Jesus
Just Jesus
The Way, the Truth, the Life 

Closing Thoughts

"Just Jesus" is an upbeat and modern worship anthem inspired by the timeless passage John 14:6. One of the things I love about Scripture-based songs is that rather than singing about us and how we are feeling about life, they are focused on "Just Jesus," as He is who we are singing these songs about. God is worthy of all of our praise and adoration. That is cause to lift up our hearts and our voices and proclaim: "I love You more than I love anything, I need You, I need You, So let Your love reign over everything." Jesus is still walking with us now, even in the midst of our troubles and suffering. Take heart and stand amazed. We should have amazement at the Presence of God and that His Holy Spirit is indwelling in each of us who are followers of Jesus.
 
I really enjoyed reading David Platt's best-selling books Radical and Follow Me. Quoting Platt: "What did Jesus really mean when he said, 'follow Me?' Scores of men, women and children have been told that becoming a follower of Jesus simply involves believing certain truths or saying certain words. We want to be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts, and even our religion. The call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it is a summons to lose your life and to find new life in Him."
 
I love singing about how Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him as He declared in John 14:6. That's the Way Jesus makes for us to be saved and be with Him in Heaven for eternity. Once you adopt the words of this song into your heart, then you will remember the Truth that Jesus has always been, He is today and He always will be the One who makes a way for us, even when it seems impossible. That's something to remember and rest upon.
 
When I listen to this song, I'm more committed to taking up the cross of Jesus and dying to myself, so I can be a better follower of Him as He instructs us in His Word in Luke 9:23: "If any of you want to walk My path, you're going to have to deny yourself. You'll have to take up your cross every day and follow Me." As believers, we need to not only show our witness of God not only in our times of hardship, but also show our witness by leaning into Him and show our joy in terms of celebrating God. That, in some ways, is just as powerful and inspirational as a witness. Joy isn't just a happy emotion. It is also a deep peace and understanding of knowing that we are loved without a shadow of a doubt. We should not be ashamed to sing of our dependence on God and show Him reverence. This is a great new worship song for the Church and I love to sing to Him: “Nothing more, nothing less, Just Jesus, Just Jesus, The Way, the Truth, the life.” Amen to that.