by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
November, 1932
THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
Our desire is to contemplate here, by the help of the Holy Spirit, that lovely perfection of the Lord Jesus which was the very life and beauty of His mediatorial holiness. His obedience was the absolute conformity of His entire spirit and soul to the will and mind of His Father; His ready and cheerful performance of every duty and everything which God commanded Him. This obedience He performed perfectly, amid the greatest and sorest trials, with infinite respect unto Him whose “Servant” (Isa. 42:1) He had become. The laws which He obeyed were, first, those to which He was subject considered simply as man (Gal. 4:4), namely, the Ten Commandments or moral law. Second, those to which He was subject considered as Son of David (Matt. 1:1), namely, the ceremonial law of Israel. Third, those to which He was subject as Mediator, namely, fulfilling the commandments which He had received from the Father to preach the Gospel, perform miracles, call disciples, and die upon the Cross.
The closer the four Gospels be read in the light of our present subject, the more will it be seen that obedience to the Father was Christ's supreme mission on earth. As He Himself declared, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me” (John 4:34); and again, “For I came down from Heaven not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). Familiar as are these verses to many Christians, few have seen the fullness of His obedience, or perceived that every act of Christ during the thirty-three years He tabernacled among men was distinctly and designedly an act of submission unto God. Limited space will not allow us to attempt much more than an outline of this blessed fact and truth as it was realized in the life of Him who always did those things which pleased the Father (John 8:29).
Christ's birth was an act of obedience. This will be the more evident if we recognize that every prophecy of God concerning His Son was for Christ a command and the fulfillment of each prophecy was a designed act of obedience on His part. Hence, in Matthew 1:20-23 we find an angel announcing to Joseph, “Thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son.” Thus, in subjection to His Father's decree the Lord of glory condescended to be made of a woman. Compare Hebrews 10:5-9.
“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:13-15). Here it is distinctly said that Christ's baptism had to do with the fulfilling of “righteousness” or right doing, measuring up to the required standard. His words to John signified, “Neither you or I can do the will of the Father except I submit to baptism, and you baptize Me.”
The perfect obedience of Christ appears next in His resistance to Satan's temptations. There we see the great Enemy seeking to turn aside the Saviour from the path of complete surrender to God's will; but in vain. Christ unhesitatingly refused to perform the Devil's bidding, meeting each assault with an “It is written,” which was the same as though He had said, “I decline to go contrary to the Divine precepts, I refuse to disobey My Father.” Possibly Matthew 4:1-10 will appear in a newer or clearer light if the reader turns to and sees in its contents a studied effort on the part of the Serpent to induce the last Adam unto an act of disobedience, and His steadfast refusal to take one step contrary to the revealed will of God.
The perfect servant of God chose His place of labour in obedience to God's revealed will. “Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtali: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet” (Matt. 4:12-14). It was not the force of circumstances which drove the Lord Jesus to select Capernaum as His ministerial headquarters, nor was it of personal inclination; that town had been singled out by God long before His Son came to earth, and it was in subordination to the Divine will that He went there. How this shows us that Christ made obedience unto God the one great business of His life!
His miracles of mercy were wrought in obedience to the Father's revealed will. “When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses” (Matt. 8:16, 17). How striking is the particular aspect of truth here made known to us! Christ was tender, sympathetic, and full of compassion, yet the first and deepest motive which moved Him to heal the sick was that the will of God might be done. Beautifully does this come out in John 11. Though Martha and Mary had sent a message unto Christ that their brother was sick, He responded not to their appeal till the Father's hour arrived: see verses 4-6.
His saving of sinners was in order to render obedience unto God. “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out; for I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” What a view does this present to us of the redemptive work of Christ! How it magnifies His blessed submission unto the One who had sent Him into this world!
The Redeemer's preservation of His people is in obedience to the Father. “And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39). Thus, the security of the saint depends not only upon the Saviour's love unto His own, or His all-mighty power, but is as well His act of subjection to God.
His very death was itself an act of submission to the Father, for He “became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:8). As He Himself declared concerning His life, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of My Father” (John 10:18). Thus, there were no limits to His obedience, no reserve in His subjection to the Father's will, but complete and perfect compliance with the same throughout the whole of His earthly life. How blessed it is to perceive that through and by His Son's obedience God has been more honoured upon earth than He has been dishonoured by all the disobedience of all the sons of Adam!
In seeking to make an application of that which has been before us, let us point out, first, that this perfect obedience of Christ is reckoned to the account of all and each of His people, being that “righteousness” which is imputed by God to them; as it is written, “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made (legally constituted) righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Second, Christ has left us an example that we should follow His steps: “he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Third, obedience is to be the one aim and mission of the Christian. To us Christ says, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15); and again, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love” (John 15:10). A.W.P.
N.B. For much of the above we are indebted to an article by J.W. Gillon, which appeared in the “Western Recorder” of November 15, 1917.
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