Before He sweats blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading for release from His assignment, Jesus foretells His obedience as He prepares His disciples for what lies in the immediate future. He knows what they do not, what is coming, and He is struggling with it even as He prepares them. He is conflicted and at the same time resolved as He stands alone at the gateway to His greatest trial and victory. And it is in this moment that He declares His obedience to the cross, before the agony begins.
”... but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.” John 14:31 (NASB 95)
Jesus’ statement is a declaration of triumph, purpose, and love, and a model for our own lives.
The Human Condition: We Struggle to Choose
As we work through the difficult choices we encounter in life, we are often conflicted over the right path, even when the choices are all good ones. Why are we conflicted? Because we want to do the right thing, but we also want control of the situation. Obedience is a choice, often a hard one. The harder it is the more we strive to contain, control, and manage the circumstance. We want clarity before deciding and committing. In this we march with all of human history, including Jesus’ disciples. Thomas wanted a map to show the way,1 and Philip would have been satisfied if only Jesus would show them the Father. 2
So, we come to realize that our condition is not new, it is the common test of a life. Will we surrender control and follow in obedience to God’s will, no matter the assignment? Will we kneel before Him and empty ourselves, so that He may fill us with His will, His purpose, His way?
The Divine Provision: We Do Not Walk Alone
In response to the disciple’s alarm, Jesus reveals the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will be with them in His absence.3 As Jesus teaches, He moves on to focus on something all believers today can take to heart, that we enjoy Oneness with the Holy. This oneness exists through our relationship with the Son, who is One with the Father.4
This is not abstract theology, it is the hallmark of a deep, personal, and intimate connection and the obedience that flows from it, allowing God to walk out His great plan through us. Sometimes we see it coming, and sometimes it is suddenly upon us, a surprise opportunity to speak or act as God moves within our spirit. I recall once being asked a very pointed question about facing a difficult moment, responding instantly with a statement I did not see coming.
“Whenever I encounter something that is too big or too terrible for me to deal with, I turn inside my spirit and step into the Lord and let Him face the world for me.”
That is something that I knew, but there was no thought process to bring it out of me. It was instantaneous, focused, and carried a depth that I alone do not possess. And that is the point. We are never alone. When choices come, obedience is found in obeying with God who lives within us.
The Model: What Jesus Actually Does
As Jesus is speaking to His disciples, He tells them how He will respond in His moment of confliction, why, and ends with an exclamation point of urgency. His “so the world will know that I love the Father,” heralds the motivation behind His obedience to the cross. In making this declaration, He is putting the world on notice that His life has been one of trial and temptation, all of which He has overcome through His devotion to the love He holds for His Father.
Next, Jesus defines the depth of His obedience when He says, “I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” Yes, there will be agony in the garden as Jesus wrestles with what He must do, but even now, beforehand, He knows the answer, “I do exactly”, and communicates it to His disciples. There is no partial commitment, no obfuscation, no delay, no compromise. He knows His assignment, He knows the standard, He knows the cost. And He knows the reward; a path to redemption and salvation for all of mankind.
Then He closes with “Get up, let us go from here.” In saying this, He imparts the urgency of the moment and its purpose to those who will follow Him. Obedience puts us in motion, it does not linger, frozen in a state of intention. Obedience requires action, and it is we who must move.
The Mirror: What This Means for Us
Sometimes we are like Moses, who essentially said, “Who, me?” when God called him. Other times we are like the rich man who chose his possessions over relationship with the Holy, or the one who wanted to delay obedience so he could say farewell to loved ones. We too easily fall into the false assumption that we can negotiate with God. We lean into our circumstances to validate to ourselves the necessity of changing His ways to make them more agreeable to our peculiar condition.
Try as we might, though, we cannot escape the bottom line: are we about His business or our own?
“Exactly,” He said.
Shalom
Where in your life is God calling you to move, not just intend?
14:5
14:8
14:16
14:20; 17:20-23