Jesus Sought the Father’s Will Daily
- Michael E.B. Maher
- Aug 10
- 6 min read
Hebrews 10:5 “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.”
In this section we will look at examples in scripture of those who have chosen to walk in God’s perfect will for their lives. Our first example which we will discuss is the Lord Jesus, for He is the ultimate example of one who sought God’s perfect will for His life and then walked in it. Someone will say that we can’t look at Jesus as an example because He was the Son of God, and so He always knew what God’s perfect will was for His life. By saying that however, these people imply that Jesus had God’s blueprint for His life right from the start, even before He came to the earth as a baby, and He just acted out what He already knew. But that is not the case at all. As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, Jesus knew God’s overall plan for His life, for He knew that He was sent by the Father to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus also knew that the scriptures were written about Him, and so we have numerous accounts in the gospels, of our Lord performing various acts so that the scriptures could be fulfilled (John 19:28). Nevertheless in our Lord’s daily walk on the earth, He had to seek the Father’s will for His life just as we are required to do.
John 2:3-11 “And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." (4) Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." (5) His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." … (11) This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
Scripture teaches us that from childhood Jesus had learnt how to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 71:17). The above quoted passage of scripture is the incident when our Lord Jesus attended the wedding at Canna in Galilee. The evidence is very strong that this particular wedding was for one of Jesus’ younger sisters. They had run out of wine, and Mary’s daughter and new son in law were about to be embarrassed because of this. And so what does Mary do? She goes to her oldest Son Jesus, and tells Him about their predicament. We pick up the account when Mary is speaking to Jesus. We all know the account of how Jesus performed His first miracle by turning the water into wine. But I want to concentrate on what Jesus and specifically Mary said during this encounter. When Jesus replied to Mary, He told her that His time had not yet come. If you study scripture you will see that Jesus only began His public ministry in Jerusalem at the feast of Passover, which took place a short while after this incident, for that was when His hour would have come as predestined by God the Father. Mary didn’t grasp what Jesus had said to her however because it was hidden from her, but nevertheless she knew her Son. And so she told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Some have thought that Mary said what she said; because she had witnessed miracles performed by Jesus before that time and thus expected Him to perform a miracle for His sister’s wedding. But the Holy Spirit does not lie, and we have read in this account that this miracle was the beginning of signs that Jesus did. In other words, prior to this incident Jesus had not once performed a miracle during His time on the earth. And so rather, the reason that Mary was so confident was because she knew her Son. All through Jesus life as He was growing up in Joseph and Mary’s home He had been led by the Holy Spirit, for although Jesus had not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit He still had the Holy Spirit living on the inside of Him. And so consequently Jesus always knew what to do in every situation faced by the family. Mary had learnt that whatever crisis arose in their home, that she could go to her oldest Son and ask His advice. Jesus could always advise them what to do, because He was constantly being led by the Holy Spirit. And that included the affairs of life that affected His earthly family. And so that is why Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. She was not expecting Jesus to perform a miracle. She was expecting Jesus to know just where they could get more wine at that time of night, because Jesus had always known in the past just what to do when the family had a crisis.
Luke 4:1-2 “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) being tempted for forty days by the devil.”
In the above account in scripture Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to go into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Obviously the Holy Spirit led Jesus according to the will of God the Father. And so if Jesus already knew exactly what the will of the Father was for His life every moment of His life, then there would have been no need for the Holy Spirit to lead Him into the wilderness, for Jesus would have just gone into the wilderness on His own accord. But because Jesus did not know the will of the Father for His life every moment of His life, He had to be led by the Holy Spirit, just as you and I do.
Mark 1:35-38 “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. (36) And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. (37) When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." (38) But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”
In the above quoted account our Lord Jesus had been preaching the gospel in the town of Capernaum for a couple of days and healing many in that town. We pick up the account when we see Jesus going off on His own to pray to the Father. It was during His time of prayer that the Holy Spirit revealed to Jesus that it was time to leave that town and go on to other towns to preach the gospel. In Luke’s account of this incident he tells us that the people tried to persuade Jesus to stay, but Jesus had heard the will of the Father and so He obeyed.
John 5:19-20 “Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (20) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
In the next account that we will look at, Jesus had healed the man at the pool at Bethesda and the Jews were persecuting Him because He had healed the man on the Sabbath. We pick up the account quoted above as Jesus is responding to them. In this account, Jesus told the Jews that all that He did was as a result of the leading of the Holy Spirit. He then went on to say that God had not yet shown Him all the things that He wanted Jesus to do, for He said, “and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel”. Clearly Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit in His daily walk on this earth, just as God our Father expects us to be led.
Michael E.B. Maher
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