What comes to mind when you hear the word “submission?”  For most of us, it’s not a word that excites us.  It conjures images of giving up, giving in, losing or being overpowered.  But Jesus was unlike any leader the religious establishment had ever seen.  His was an upside down kingdom.  “The first will be last, and the last will be first.”  “He who loses his life will gain it.”  What kind of a leader speaks like this?

Jesus was a rabbi, but he wasn’t discipled by a rabbi (John 7:14-15).  This confounded the Jewish leaders.  Jesus makes many powerful statements to the Jewish leaders that reverberate with his claims of deity.  And for us who believe He is God made in human likeness, He also reminds us of his humanity.

“I didn’t come on my own initiative but was sent by God.”

“The Father who sent me is reliable. I say nothing but what I have heard from Him.”

“I do nothing on my own and speak only those things the Father has taught me.”

“I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM.”

Jesus, though equal with the Father, submitted to the Father in everything.  He listened to the Father, learned from the Father, obeyed the Father.  He didn’t depend on his deity to make obedience easier.  Hebrews 5:8 tells us Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered.”

God’s power is unleashed when we submit.  When we take  control, we depend on our own power.  How sad is that!  Oh, but when we submit to the will of the Father as Jesus did, we access the power of God’s Spirit.  Only then do “all things become possible!”

Father, teach me to listen, learn and obey you just like Jesus did.   I’m raising the white flag of surrender.  I submit.