Walking in the Footsteps of the Obedient Jesus

A few weeks ago I preached on Jesus being the Faithful and True.

So says: Revelation 19:11 (NASB95) And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

Because Jesus was

I mentioned that Jesus was Faithful to be obedient to His Father.

May the Holy Spirit enable US to be obedient to God.

Logos AI:

Jesus demonstrated obedience to the Father throughout His life, from His pre-incarnate state to His earthly ministry and crucifixion. Before His birth, Jesus willingly entered humanity as an infant in obedience to the Father's plan[1]. As a child and young man, He was devoted to His "Father's business," even staying behind at the temple at age 12[1]. Throughout His ministry, Jesus consistently sought to do the Father's will rather than His own, stating that His "food" was to accomplish the Father's work[2]. He taught and acted according to the Father's commands, always doing what was pleasing to Him[2]. Jesus' ultimate act of obedience was submitting to death on the cross, despite His own desire to avoid it, as seen in His prayer in Gethsemane[3]. This lifelong obedience involved Jesus, as a full human, submitting His own will to the Father's in all things, even learning obedience through suffering[3]. He lived in dependence on the Father, praying constantly and accepting human limitations, only using His divine knowledge as the Father directed[4].

[1] Tomlinson, C. (2010). Crave: Wanting So Much More of God. Harvest House Publishers.

Crave: Wanting So Much More of God Chapter 10

10. Soldier:

How to Find Your

Purpose in Combat Boots

How would you feel if you got shot for not obeying your boss?

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t like it one bit. I don’t even like getting a bad review from my boss or not getting a raise I was expecting. If my boss were to actually shove me, I would probably report him to Human Resources. And if he were to hit me, I might even report him to the police. But if he shot me, I would be pretty upset, although I suppose I couldn’t do much about it unless of course he just winged me.

[2] Vickers, B. (2013). Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair (R. A. Peterson, Ed.; p. 43). P&R Publishing.

Justification by Grace through Faith: Finding Freedom from Legalism, Lawlessness, Pride, and Despair Covenantal Obedience of the Son

No text in John witnesses to the active and passive nature of obedience more than 10:18: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (NIV). That text shows the cross to be the ultimate act of obedience, and it is not merely passive.

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His obedience to the Father consisted also in teaching in accordance with the Father’s commands: “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak” (12:49)

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. Near the end of his earthly life, facing the onslaught of “the ruler of this world,” Jesus says, “He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me” (14:30–31).

[3] Boyd, G. A. (2017). The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting the Old Testament’s Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross (Vols. 1 & 2, p. 1209). Fortress Press.

The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting the Old Testament’s Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross, Volumes 1 & 2 The Necessity of Jesus’s Obedience

Given that the cross is the thematic center of everything Jesus was about, it should not surprise us that the obedience that Jesus most powerfully displayed by submitting to crucifixion was also displayed throughout his life.

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Throughout the Gospels, but especially in John, we find, in a variety of ways, Jesus declaring he had “come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (

[4] Fleming, D. (1990). Jesus Christ. In AMG Concise Bible Dictionary (p. 216). AMG Publishers.

AMG Concise Bible Dictionary The Obedient Servant

The obedient servant

In becoming man Jesus accepted the limitations that his humanity required. If, for example, he wanted to go from one place to another, he travelled the same as others and put up with the weariness of the journey. He did not use his divine powers to avoid the trials of human existence (

Obedient to God the Father.

Ps 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Subject to His parents.

Luke 2:51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.