“Walking With Jesus”

Lesson Commentary

013 - JESUS IS OBEDIENT TO HIS FATHER
How to Gain the Father’s Approval

When a man (or woman) goes into the military, the first order of boot camp is to teach them to obey orders without thinking, talking back or arguing. They must be able to send that soldier into a battle situation knowing that he will obey! In the corporate world, if subordinates do not obey their superiors, they are promptly given permission and freedom to seek employment somewhere else (actually, they are usually instructed, i.e. fired). Do your job or someone else will do it and you will be unemployed.

As I look back at my years as a parent, I recall that I had to discipline my children for disobedience more than for anything else. One of the most important things for us to learn is to obey those who are in authority over us. Jesus had the same obligation. He had to obey His Father. In return, He received His Father’s Approval. You can also gain your Father’s approval by learning to obey Him as Jesus did. Our lesson from Matthew3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-23 show us how you do it.

Seek God’s Will – Matthew 3:13; Mark 1:9

In the previous lesson, John gave us a brief introduction to Jesus. Whether Jesus was present at this time or not is unknown. However, immediately or soon thereafter, Jesus arrives from some thirty plus miles from Nazareth to the Jordan River to where John is immersing other Jews who are proclaiming repentance from their sins. Nazareth is never mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud or even by Josephus. The town is located east of the south end of the Sea of Galilee.

John has known Jesus from childhood through his mother and father. He knows of Jesus’ origin and who He is supposed to be. Therefore, he balks at immersing Jesus and declares that Jesus should immerse him.

Both John and Jesus knew the importance of obeying their earthly fathers. They also understood the importance of obeying their heavenly Father. Likewise, you and I must obey God if we want to receive His approval (forgiveness of sin and eternal life with Him and Jesus in Heaven.

Don’t be Detoured From Obedience – Matthew 3:14-15

Jesus replies to John’s resistance to baptizing Him that it is "…proper…to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus knew that God desired for Him to be immersed as a sign of identifying with sinful man. He’s one of us (yet without sin)!This will help us identify with Him when He goes to the cross. Second, being baptized is also a way of Jesus recognizing John as a prophet. Third, Jesus' baptism inaugurates His Kingdom in an act of self-dedication and submission to the mission at hand. Fourth, most of all is the fact that, Jesus' immersion was an act of obedience to His Father. Because He loved His father, He wanted to do what the Father willed. This allowed God to be able to train Jesus for the task at hand and know that Jesus would carry it out. It also assured that when the Father sent Jesus to the cross ("suicide mission"), He knew that His obedient Son would obey.

Because Jesus was totally obedient to His Father, even in such an apparent small thing as being immersed, He was able to pay the price for our sins so that we can have eternal life with God by simply believing and being obedient to Jesus. In similar manner, our being immersed in Jesus’ name shows that we claim God as our Father, Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is the only ordinance for covenant entry and is recognized by every church. We should not let anyone or anything keep us from simple trusting obedience.

Receive God’s Approval! – Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:21-23

God responded to Jesus’ obedience by appearing in the form of a dove and declaring His pleasure with His SON. Immediately, God responds to the obedience of His Son! Mark says the heavens were “torn” open (a display of power!).Dove is often used in the Old Testament as symbol of purity. The Trinity is illustrated as the Father glorifies the Son via a symbol of the Holy Spirit! When God speaks, everybody listens! “You are My Son whom I love very much and I am very proud of you!” Luke gives us a reference line for Jesus’ life and ministry – 30 years old.

In my years as a Christian and in ministry, I have participated in more arguments over the subject of immersion than I want to admit. I have observed how baptism has been a divisive issue among some denominations from their beginning. It is sad when we withhold fellowship from our brothers merely because they look at immersion for the remission of sins differently than we do. Every denomination will agree that immersion is what baptism really means and will accept anyone who has been immersed in obedience to God’s command.

The only point that really matters is this: If Jesus says it, we are to obey it, not argue over man-made technicalities. Obedience in being immersed parallels obedience in repenting and refraining from sin. Obedience is extremely important in saying no to future temptation. Obeying Jesus is an extension of how much we love Him and truly want to follow Him.

We will simply leave it at this – how much do you love Jesus? If you love Him, you will want to obey Him in all things. Being immersed is only a minor act on the outside, but major detail in the symbolism of declaring that you love and obey God’s SON. Which side of the baptistery you are saved on is immaterial when you focus on obedience to Jesus as the key issue!

CONCLUSION

Jesus is the key issue. We quickly recognize how much it meant or means to us to have our earthly father’s approval. Your attitudes, success, self-confidence as an adult are largely centered on whether you had your father’s love and approval. Likewise, our peace as Christians in our struggles against temptation, are strongly influenced by what we need to do to get our Heavenly Father’s approval.

NEXT WEEK: Jesus is going to have a faceoff with Satan himself. I wonder how that is going to turn out!