The Reluctant Messiah

Nadine Rippelmeyer
Gethsemane to Golgotha

    Where in the scriptures do we read about Jesus learning obedience? Certainly in Gethsemane Jesus suffered and became obedient, "even unto death"(Phil.2:8). In Hebrews the author unpacks for us what that looked like. Jesus became obedient through the things he suffered (Heb.5:7-9).  A Son becoming obedient to His Father's will.

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered; 

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; "

     The scriptures tell us that he was a Son and there are many places in the Bible that show this about Christ.  The places where He, like any son, had to learn to obey are not as easy to find. In Hebrews 5: 7-9 we get a window into the process of learning to be perfect. The word for perfection in the Greek is teleiow. It is the same word where we get 'telos' or 'teleology'.  The aspect in Greek colors the translation to mean finished, completed, perfect product. This process of perfection, completion or maturation, whatever word you want to use, in the Christian walk can be difficult. Because it can be so difficult, it is nice to have an example for us to follow. Christ was our earthly example. I personally believe the perfection continued to the cross. To the final, completed act of God's will for Christ. In John 19:30 Christ used this same word as the last word he spoke on the cross, "It is finished" tete√lestai. Was He finishing or  completing the will of His Father?
       The Gospel of John seeks to prove Christ Deity. To most of us this is accomplished, it is clear. But in my life I need to see his humanity, too. If we magnify his Deity above His humanity, we have mostly God, some man.  Our Nicene heritage tells us that Jesus was fully God, fully man. What about His humanity?
      Most pictures of Christ are rendered to show his divine nature not His humanity. It's hard to find a picture of Gethsemane with Jesus sweating blood. Most pictures show him in perfect repose. Some have angels attending Him. Others have a divine light shinning on him. Few if any have sweat drops of blood running down his face.  I always thought sweat of any kind was, well earthy. A picture of a sweaty, bloody praying Jesus, I can't find.  We might not want to see that it was hard for Him to do the Father's will. We might want to make excuses for him, after all it was his death he was trying to avoid. But avoidance was HIS prayer. This picture of Jesus can be problematic for us, but it may contain connections for our perfection. Is there another place where Jesus was reluctant to do God's will?

      Another place Jesus' actions showed indecision was in John 7. Here we see Jesus trying to avoid going to the Feast in Jerusalem. This pericope has caused translators/scribes problems throughout the centuries. The problem was Jesus' unwillingness to go to the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He was talking with his brothers who were taunting him. Obviously, Jesus had already thought about the feast. This was a big event and all Jews were commanded by their religion to go. He had already made up his mind. So the bros wanted him to go and reveal himself publicly at the feast for they said "no one does these things (signs/miracles) except he show himself to the world." Jesus flatly told the bros that he was not going to the Feast, "it was not his time". They should go on without Him.  Yet, He went later to the feast and presented Himself to the "world" publicly, just as His brothers recommended. This has not set well with Biblical scholars. Early in some manuscripts we find the word "yet" redacted. You read "You go up to the feast, I don't go yet to this feast." The "yet" is not in the best original copy and was placed there by one of the copyist.  The KJV has this "yet" clearly in its text. Other commentators spill a lot of ink trying to explain this situation. Not one has suggested that Jesus missed it. That he evidently realized his bros were right and he needed to be at the Feast. His brothers were right, even though they did not believe that their half-brother was the Messiah. Don't we have to be open to God speaking to us through vessels we may not think are worthy? Christ clearly lectured them and put them down, and then recanted and went to the Feast. He probably ate some of that good old Tabernacle humble pie when He saw them. I wonder if crow is kosher?  Anyway, this is how I know my saviour was fully human, fully God. He, as I,  had to learn obedience to the Father. He admittedly was better at it than I, but it is good to see His human side, too. We are suppose to see the human side (John 1:14).  That is part of whom Christ was. That is the reason he came to earth. And yet this is not the first time Christ changed His mind. :-(
     In John the second chapter the author showed us this vascilating side of Christ. Jesus, his mother and his entourage were at a wedding in Cana. His mother told Him there was a problem at the wedding. The host was out of wine. She told him to do something. He called her "woman", not an endearing term.  He said "woman, my hour is not yet come." Nearly the same thing that he told his brothers!  He was very reluctant to perform his first public miracle. He went ahead and made the wine, even though he had said no. He went ahead to the feast even though he said no. I guess it was His time. Or was His timing off?  How do you read these two incidents? Maybe you have a good explanation. To me it shows the struggle of the human to submit to the divine. Our will, our way, instead of His will, His way.  It was preparation for the Cross. It foreshadowed Gethsemane. Christ could sweat blood so that God would have HIS way, so that He could end His conversation with "nevertheless, not my will but yours". He had learned that the Father's way is the best.
      This could be a disturbing picture we have of Jesus. We want Him to flow effortlessly through the pages of his life without making a mistake or saying one thing and doing another. We want Him to be decisive and clear. Right on every time!  "No and I mean it!" is the way we want Him to be. Not "No! Well,  okay, maybe your right and I'm wrong." This is not the Messiah we want. Oopsie, that sounds a little like the Jewish leaders. They were looking for a different Messiah too. But our Messiah is the one who came to do His Father's will, not His own.

      What Messiah are we looking for? One that was acquainted with our sins. One that lived in our flesh and suffered what we suffer. One that struggled with life. That had trouble relating to His family, or vice versa. An anointed one that might have had trouble doing the will of His father. These two Biblical stories show Jesus stumbling to know and do "what the Father does". He sometimes tried to do what he wanted and then changed to do what others suggested. Could this be a case where Christ was learning obedience? Maybe the Father set up the water to wine scenario. And He sent the brothers to push Jesus to go to the feast. Maybe we are seeing the "perfecting" of Christ's obedience. I react to situations in my life, too. Someone, maybe someone close to me may suggest I do something. It may be the right thing for me. But I can react, be abrupt and put them off. Sometimes tell them why they are wrong. Then relent and realize they were right. Isn't that what Jesus did in these two stories?
       We see this certainly in Hebrews 5: 7-9 as a process. The word for obedience finds it root in the Greek word akouo, hearing, obeying. Reluctance to hear and do God's will can be connected. Our will is often cries too loud to hear God's gentle voice. Christ showed us the way as it says in Hebrew 5:6 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; This is our example and application of how to learn obedience, on our knees in prayer. To me He is the perfect example of learning obedience. Obedience like all of our salvation is received.  No one is born with perfect submission. We are born with free will. We have to learn to lay it down. In the learning we have to identify where the reluctance is to do God's will. Maybe His humility was recognized by the brothers when they saw Him at the feast. Who knows. James and Jude ended up being important men in the early church. But the importance for me is that obedience is even something Christ had to learn. The scriptures say that because of His obedience I can receive obedience. "And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,"  


A message by Gary Hargrave entitled "Learn Obedience!" was brought in North Hills, California.