Jesus loved God by obeying Him
Over the next few weeks, we’re digging into to the two Great Commandments–
Matthew 22:37-40 | Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
To understand how to love God and love others, there’s no better place to look than to Jesus’ own example as He was a human here on Earth. After all, Jesus tells his followers we should follow His example [John 13:15]; that’s really what following Jesus as Lord is all about.
So then, how did Jesus love God? He tells us!
John 8:29b | “For I always do what pleases him.”
John 14:31 | But I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father.
Jesus explains that we can see his love for God the Father through His obedience to God the Father. You see, the Bible teaches that love shouldn’t just be something we say, but something we show through our actions (1st John 3:18). Jesus’ desire to please the Father through obedience, no matter what, shows He loves God and wants to honor Him because of that love.
Jesus took obedience seriously. He said often to the disciples and even the Pharisees–
John 5:19 | So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
Jesus fully desired to please and honor the Father, so He was fully committed to fully obeying Him. We see this desire while Jesus is still just a young boy. In Luke two, Jesus and his family attend the Passover festival in Jerusalem when he is just 12 years old. When his parents head home, Jesus stays behind. When his parents realize he’s missing, they go back to Jerusalem and it says–
Luke 2:46-47 | Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents asked Jesus why He stayed behind, Jesus asked them –
Luke 2:49b | “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
This verse is Jesus asking – “Didn’t you realize I should be involved with my Father’s affairs?” or doing the same work God the Father is doing?
As just a young boy, Jesus showed through His actions and obedience to the Father’s instructions that He truly loved God. His obedience to God continued as he grew older (Luke 2:52) and remained his whole life, until ultimately, He was obedient to the point of death-
Philippians 2:8 | He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Even when obedience to God wasn’t easy, Jesus obeyed the Father because He loved Him. For example, in the garden of Gethsemane, we see that even though Jesus didn’t want to suffer, He was committed to doing God’s will, or obeying the Father.
Mark 14:35-36 | He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
As followers of God, we bear the name “Christian” or “Little Christs.” We should aim to live just like Jesus did, loving God through our obedience–
1st John 5:3 | Loving God means keeping his commandments [obeying], and his commandments are not burdensome.
Our timeless truth today is: We love God when we obey. In other words, obedience– following God’s commands His way, right away, all the way, shows that our souls and our hearts are fully committed to Him. It is a means of loving “the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (Matthew 22:37b). We love God when we obey.
What is something that stood out to you about how Jesus loved God the Father through obedience?
What is obedience (or what does it mean to obey)?
How is obedience an outward thing (action) AND an inward thing (heart)?
How are you doing with loving God through obedience?
How are you doing with outward obedience?
How are you doing with inward obedience?
What needs to change?