Totally Submitted & Utterly Dependent (Part 2)
As a man Jesus submitted totally and completely to the Father
In John 4:34 Jesus says:
"My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."and again in John 5:19:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise." (italics added)We do so much for ourselves. We are most focused on ourselves, which is seen in our passion for what we are doing. We tend to be most passionate about the things we thought of or which we have stock in. Jesus' food is to do the will of His Father. Totally submitted, not focused on His needs or Himself, but on the Father. It is a fearful thing when you think about the Judgement day which is coming because we will not be compared to those around us or even to our old ways but to Jesus, the perfect man and our example. It would appear from the outside that American Christians, especially, do so much without seeking God (for a number of reasons), but Jesus said He could do nothing of His own accord(John 5:19). Why do we presume that we can?
In John 5:30 (NASB) Jesus said, "I can do nothing of my own initiative." How much do we do on our own initiative? We have been taught to take matters into our own hands in our culture. If you need money, go to the bank or get another job... instead of going to the Father and asking for help. Jesus was perfectly submitted to the will of the Father and completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit.
As a man Jesus completely depended on the working of the Holy Spirit
In Matthew 4:1 the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted, and Luke 4:1 tells us that the Spirit led Him around in the wilderness while He was there. To ignore the leading of the Spirit would be foolishness. There are two extremes which this might be misconstrued as, though it is not, and they are: there are men who have no knowledge of the word and claim the Spirit leads them but they are led contrary to the word, and there are men who despise the latter and for them everything is exegesis and propositions to be figured out and that is all. We must be in the word, grounded in the word, but we must also cry out for His Spirit to lead us.
Not only did Jesus go into the wilderness led by the Spirit, was led throughout by the Spirit, but in Luke 4:14 we see that Jesus returned from the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit. So much so, that when Jesus goes directly to the synagogue to teach He deliberately chooses the scroll with the passage that reads, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me..." (Luke 4:18). A prophetic quotation from Isaiah 61:1-2 to show what the Holy Spirit was about to do through Him(preaching the gospel, sight to the blind, liberty to the oppressed). We should not receive the commands of the New Testament and respond as if they were the Law. As Jesus ministry was Spirit empowered, how much more ought ours to be? The constant cry of the believer should be, Fill me [with the Spirit]!! Will not the Father give the Spirit to those who ask it of Him (Luke 11:13). Meaning, we should desire greater manifestations of the Spirit in our life to fulfill the things God asks of us.
In Luke 5:17 it says that the power of the Lord (the Spirit) was with Him to heal, and He does in Luke 5:24-25. He was dependent on the power of the Spirit for Healing. How much greater is our need for dependence on the Spirit? Luke wrote in Luke 6:19, power was coming out from Him and healing them all. Note that Jesus, in Luke 6, had just come down from a whole night of prayer on the mountain, and now, dependent on the Spirit, He heals all who come.
Prayer was essential to Him. Jesus commends secret prayer to us by His example(Matthew 6:6). This is sobering because Jesus needed to pray less than we do. He had no need of confessing, no pardon to beg, no need for grace for sanctification etc...
Here's an example of these things from Jesus life (during an exhausting time):
[29] And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. [31] And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
[32] That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. [33] And the whole city was gathered together at the door. [34] And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
[35] And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. [36] And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, [37] and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” [38] And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:29-38)
Now there's not a lot of time between evening healing, by the hundreds (since people would swarm Him like one who had no other hope), and going to pray. He probably had to make His way through a sleeping crowd, with little or no sleep, so that He might pray. If there was ever a man, who had done all he could, who had an excuse to not go to pray, it was Jesus. If there was ever a man, who could say, "Lord there is so much ministry to be doing and people that need healing, I cannot pray now," it would have been Jesus, but He does the opposite. Jesus priority was to be in presence of His God and Father.
For His Glory & Your Joy,
-David
Sermon transcribed and adapted from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFKQaxcR9XU
No comments:
Post a Comment