submit to God and His authority, even though you don’t always understand what He is doing. John told Jesus, in effect, “I cannot baptize You. You should baptize me.” He didn’t fully understand his authority at first, which is the case with many people today. Your authority is found in what God has prepared for you to do. If anyone needs what God has gifted you to provide for them, then there are no substitutes; they have to come to you. Some people might not like that fact, but God has sent them to you. We may sometimes feel uncomfortable with our own authority, as John was, but we need to obey God in it to fulfill the purposes only He fully knows.
Since John was operating under the authority of God, he understood when Jesus appealed to authority, and he then agreed to baptize Him.
The result of Jesus’ submission to the established authority is striking:
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
A voice from heaven spoke. When? “As soon as” Jesus submitted to authority. “As soon as” means immediately.
We should consider whether our ability to hear from God regarding His purposes for our lives is directly related to our response to His authority. If you are not receiving guidance from God, perhaps it is because you keep violating some authority He has established in your life.
What pleased God the Father so much that He spoke audibly? He witnessed Jesus, God the Son, submitting to a human in obedience! He confirmed that this obedience was pleasing. Of course, Jesus didn’t submit to a human being alone but to the authority from God that had been given to that human being. We see Jesus’ submission to other earthly authorities in various instances in His life, as well, as He was led by God the Father, for the sake of order, peace, and purpose. A few examples are:
Submission to His parents’ authority. (See Luke 2:40–52.)
Submission to the requirement of the temple tax and to taxation by the Roman emperor Caesar. (See
Matthew 17:24–27.)
Submission to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. (See John 19:10–11.)
Submission to Authority Leads to True Greatness
The vital thing to understand is that Jesus could not begin or accomplish His work until John “released” Him. The fact that many of us haven’t understood or had good experiences with authority, prompting our avoidance of it, may be causing us to miss out on the full release of our own authority. We may not have had the opportunity to exercise our authority to its full potential because it is authority that releases our authority. We submit first to the authority of our Creator and then to the authority He has given other human beings in various realms and aspects of life. In a later chapter, I describe how you can respond to “authority” that is not in line with God’s purposes and still receive His blessing and benefit from it.
There is ample evidence that no one understood authority more than the Authority of Life Himself, who established authority on the earth. Jesus had the power to change the world, but that power depended first on His submission to John. John held the authority in his hand to release Jesus. If Jesus Himself needed to submit to God the Father and to John as an earthly authority, why do we often think we don’t need to submit to anyone?
No one had a greater impact on the world than Jesus, yet He didn’t seek a “ministry” or followers for Himself independently. He knew and lived in the authority He had been given and which had been confirmed in various ways at His birth. (See, for example, Luke 2:25–32.) At age twelve, He was discussing deep questions about God and the Scriptures with the teachers in the temple. (See Luke 2:42–47.) When He felt God prompting Him to be baptized
Since John was operating under the authority of God, he understood when Jesus appealed to authority, and he then agreed to baptize Him.
The result of Jesus’ submission to the established authority is striking:
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
A voice from heaven spoke. When? “As soon as” Jesus submitted to authority. “As soon as” means immediately.
We should consider whether our ability to hear from God regarding His purposes for our lives is directly related to our response to His authority. If you are not receiving guidance from God, perhaps it is because you keep violating some authority He has established in your life.
What pleased God the Father so much that He spoke audibly? He witnessed Jesus, God the Son, submitting to a human in obedience! He confirmed that this obedience was pleasing. Of course, Jesus didn’t submit to a human being alone but to the authority from God that had been given to that human being. We see Jesus’ submission to other earthly authorities in various instances in His life, as well, as He was led by God the Father, for the sake of order, peace, and purpose. A few examples are:
Submission to His parents’ authority. (See Luke 2:40–52.)
Submission to the requirement of the temple tax and to taxation by the Roman emperor Caesar. (See
Matthew 17:24–27.)
Submission to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. (See John 19:10–11.)
Submission to Authority Leads to True Greatness
The vital thing to understand is that Jesus could not begin or accomplish His work until John “released” Him. The fact that many of us haven’t understood or had good experiences with authority, prompting our avoidance of it, may be causing us to miss out on the full release of our own authority. We may not have had the opportunity to exercise our authority to its full potential because it is authority that releases our authority. We submit first to the authority of our Creator and then to the authority He has given other human beings in various realms and aspects of life. In a later chapter, I describe how you can respond to “authority” that is not in line with God’s purposes and still receive His blessing and benefit from it.
There is ample evidence that no one understood authority more than the Authority of Life Himself, who established authority on the earth. Jesus had the power to change the world, but that power depended first on His submission to John. John held the authority in his hand to release Jesus. If Jesus Himself needed to submit to God the Father and to John as an earthly authority, why do we often think we don’t need to submit to anyone?
No one had a greater impact on the world than Jesus, yet He didn’t seek a “ministry” or followers for Himself independently. He knew and lived in the authority He had been given and which had been confirmed in various ways at His birth. (See, for example, Luke 2:25–32.) At age twelve, He was discussing deep questions about God and the Scriptures with the teachers in the temple. (See Luke 2:42–47.) When He felt God prompting Him to be baptized
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