Wasn’t He pleased with what they had done? Yes, I think He was. It was their first venture, and many wonderful things had been accomplished. Jesus wasn’t negating that in any way. But He recognized that they were attempting to derive their identity from what they had done, so He moved to address that issue. He indicated that their identity came not from what they had done, but from the fact that their names were written in heaven. Or put more simply, their identity should come from who they were (children of God), and not from what they had done.
