Jesus Followed the Father's Lead

What Did Jesus Do?


“...the Son can do only what he sees the Father doing.”
John 5.19

Considering that he was King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus was incredibly submissive. Typically we think of kings and lords as being rather independent, able to do pretty much whatever they please. But then, the kingship and lordship of Jesus must be understood in the context of his Sonship. The kingdom of which Jesus was Lord was the Father's kingdom. The Son reigns only in the name of, and perfectly following the lead of, the Father.

That Jesus was on earth, and in particular in Jerusalem, was not at all his own doing, not of his own accord. As a discerning Roman Centurion would observe, Jesus operated under authority (see Matthew 8.9), and not at all independently. Jesus could give orders which would be instantly obeyed; though the centurion could not see the troops that Jesus commanded, he recognized one in a position similar to his own. Under the authority of Rome the centurion had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever Caesar commanded of him. So too, the centurion saw in Jesus one who had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever God commanded of him. Jesus, of course, was no centurion, but the Son. And he followed no Caesar, but the Father.

And Jesus was eminently aware of all that the Father did. The Son never took his eyes from the Father, never listened to any voice but that of the Father, so that whatever the Father did, whatever the Father said, the Son did and said likewise. Because of the Father's incomparable love for the Son, he showed the Son everything he did. What Jerusalem saw Jesus do, and what Jerusalem heard Jesus say were the very deeds and words of the Father. And Jerusalem would behold far more marvelous deeds of the Father and the Son (John 5.20).

Now, if the Son did not do “his own thing” but rather acted in perfect and complete submission to the Father in all things, how much independence do you think we should have as disciples? What work should we do, what mission should we undertake, according to our own counsel? What words should we speak on our own, as if we held some authority of our own? This is why it is so important for us to continually ask the question, “What did Jesus do?” As the Son closely watched and listened to the Father, so that he could do what the Father did, so we must keep our eyes on Christ, must strain our ears to hear his voice, that we may do what Jesus did.

To speculate on what Jesus would do is ultimately to decide to act on our own accord, “Well, I think Jesus would...” But ours is not a speculative faith. We do not have wonder, we do not have to act upon a hunch or best guess, we have the Bible and the very clear example of the life of our Savior, and we have the ongoing instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit to inform our every thought, direct our every step, inspire our every word. All we need to do is to follow Jesus, even as the Son followed the Father's lead.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4