Jesus was perfect in his obedience to the Father's will, and he serves as a model for us. It is not only important to know that he was obedient, it is also important to know how he obeyed.

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" was not just a prayer on the lips of Jesus: it was a statement of his life. Jesus was obedient to the Father from beginning to end. He obeyed the commands he liked and those he dreaded. Jesus was consistent in his obedience.

Obedience starts with a listening ear, and Jesus had one. Throughout his life, he stressed the fact that he was sent by the Father (34 times in the gospel of John). Jesus said, "I can do nothing on my own initiative, as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just; because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me" (John 5:30). Jesus came with a mission and with a listening ear for the Father's will.

Obedience demands a voluntary submission in humility. Jesus humbled himself in obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-8). Obedient persons are to have his mind and his attitude. Jesus was not presumptuous before the Father, even though he existed in the form of God. He became a servant. Speak, Master, thy servant heareth. Such is the heart of an obedient person. The prideful man may be forced, but only a humble man voluntarily obeys. Jesus willfully obeyed; he did not take clenched teeth to the cross.

Obedience further required a sacrifice of one’s self. Jesus prayed, "My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39). Jesus loved the Father so much that he sacrificed his own desire for life to do his Father’s will. It is not obedience to do only what we desire to do anyway. Jesus did not desire death, but his desire to do the Father’s will caused him to set aside his own desire for this life. Jesus knew that he must die, regardless of what he wanted (Matt. 16:21; John 3:14; 12:32,33).

Obedience however, required a finished work. Jesus could say, "I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do" (John 17:4). Good intentions is not obedience. Quitting before the job is done is not obedience. Jesus was a finisher.

Jesus left no half-built towers behind. He accomplished all his work, everything which the prophets had written about him (Luke 18:31). He did not pick and choose what he preferred. He did not leave undone what was distasteful. Jesus obeyed it all. And he expects us to heed all of his commandments (Matt. 28:20).

As a listening, humble, sacrificing servant, Jesus did not take the liberty to innovate. He stuck with the plan of God. "I do nothing on my own initiative" was the manner of his life. Jesus followed his Father without grumbling without substituting, without adding and without subtracting any aspect of the will of God.

"My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work" (John 4:34).

"Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, unless it is something he see the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:19).

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38).

"When you lift up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I am he, and I speak these things as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him" (John 8:28-29).

"For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me commandment, what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak as the Father has told me" (John 12:49-50).

"The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works" (John 14:10).

"But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do" (John 14:31).

Jesus did not presume to do anything that the Father had not commanded. He did all that the Father said do, but he did not go beyond. He never entertained the notion that the Father’s silence gave him the freedom to do as he pleased. To Jesus, God’s silence was neither permissive nor just silence.

It is inconceivable to me to think of Jesus with clenched fist, demanding that his Father let him use the instrument. I cannot imagine Jesus saying, "I will never give up my freedom!" Jesus was not a libertine in regard to the will of God. He was not so presumptuous as to second-guess and amend his Father’s will, even though he had that right.

To regard silence as permissive is to mock the example of Jesus in his obedience to the Father. Do we allow ourselves greater freedom than our Master? God forbid!

Jesus was no legalist. His obedience sprang from the deepest and purest love. Love moves a man to obey, and such obedience is pure religion before God and honorable in the sight of the world (John 14:31).

God, help our divided brotherhood to seek more to serve thee in deep love, and to sacrifice our own desires. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Firm Foundation – November 10, 1987

Vol. 104 No. 21