Matthew 26:36-44 (NIV)
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
In our Gospel today, Jesus as the Son of Man was in great sorrow and was deeply troubled regarding the suffering He will face as the Sacrificial Lamb of GOD, offered to redeem all sinners and reconcile them back to GOD. Three times He prayed to avoid it. But at the end of each prayer, He had not tarnished His submission to GOD.
All His life since He was a child He always submitted to His Father, our Father GOD in Heaven. In Luke 2:49-51, the 12 year old Christ Jesus knew that He should be at His Father’s house at Jerusalem, GOD’s temple (v.49). But He went down to Nazareth with His human parents and was obedient to them (v.51). He even obeyed and honored His mother Mary to turn water into a not inferior but a good wine even though His time has not come yet. Because He was here on earth to fulfill all the Law of Moses and everything written about the Messiah. Jesus said in John 4:34, “My food is to do what the One who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that HE gave me to do.” His submission to His parents is not to them alone but more to His Father GOD (Exodus 20:12).
Submission to GOD is not only submission to parents, but the Holy Scripture tells us and requires us many ways to submit to GOD. These are as follows:
1. Submission to Husband is Submission to GOD.
Ephesians 5:24 says; “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” Christian wives must know that they have to submit and honor their husbands to show they honor Christ.
2. Submission to Co-worshippers in Church is Submission to GOD.
Ephesians 5:19-21 says; “19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
In such cases, husbands also have to submit to his wife as his co-worshipper, because husbands must remember that Jesus Christ is present in the life of his wife.
3. Submission to Government is Submission to GOD.
1 Peter 2:13 -17 says; “13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ submitted to the Roman government at His time. He even acknowledged that Pilate’s authority over Him was given from above (John 19:11). The government today and the government during Pilate’s time were both instituted by GOD even though to some points that they were opposing GOD.
In the Old Testament, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was allowed by GOD to defeat and govern Israel for 70 years. Jews like Daniel and his 3 friends for example have served the Babylon Empire as officials. They only resisted if they knew that the rule/s they received were clearly against the Written Law. And that should also be our basis. Otherwise, we have to follow every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake (1 Peter 2:13). Please refer also to Romans 13:1-7.
4. Submission to Masters is Submission to GOD.
1 Peter 2:18-21 says; “18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”
5.Submission to Your Leaders is Submission to GOD.
Hebrews 13:17 says; “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”
To those 5 ways of submission including the submission to parents, there are also some exceptions. To make it simple, Submission To GOD is Submission to His Written Words. Those 6 ways are required because they are clearly written. But Submission to Everyone ends when what they are telling us is against the Written Words of GOD.
For example, Daniel’s friends did not bow to the idols of King Nebuchadnezzar because it is written in the Decalogue (Exodus 20). If anyone we are required to submit to, imposed anything against the Words of Christ, then that is the sign that we need to submit to GOD’s instructions and not to men. It is said in Act 5:29, “ We ought to obey God rather than men.”
There were so many instructions of GOD in the Bible. But so that we may not be confused, GOD has instructions for us to submit to Jesus Christ as He was put in charge of everything.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28 says; “27 For He (GOD) has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
Matthew 28:18 also says; “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.””
Therefore, submission to Jesus Christ is direct submission to GOD, and submission to Jesus is submission to all His teachings. AMEN
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