In Matthew 3 when Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized John said to him in 3:14, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” And even said earlier in that verse that John was trying to prevent him from being baptized by him. Jesus response is very simple; “Permit it at this time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” In a real sense Jesus did not even try to explain to John why John should baptize Him, but simply said it is what the Father wants. In John 14 Jesus says a couple of times, that obedience is about love and not duty. He said to love him is to obey him. I believe that obedience is the great word of spiritual romance in the Bible, and yet unfortunately we’ve reduced it to some kind of duty, instead of the delight of love. Towards the end of John 14 Jesus gives a personal demonstration by telling them “I will not speak much more with you for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me, but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment even so I do.” The crucifixion of Jesus was certainly not the devil’s story for he had nothing in Christ, but the crucifixion is the greatest love story ever told. For sure, we know that God so loved the world that he gave his Son, but even more intimate than that, Jesus said that he went to the cross because it was what the Father commanded Him, and His obedience to embrace the cross was so that the whole world might know how much He loved the Father.
Let me now connect the dots of what Jesus told John the Baptist at his baptism, and what Jesus told the disciples in the upper room about demonstrating the obedience of love. I believe that one of the things that Jesus was saying to John the Baptist was that I’m not going to explain to you why you must baptize Me, but all you need to know is that it is the will of God. There are going to be times in your life when God will ask you to do something, or walk through something, and He will not give you an explanation, but He simply wants you to love Him so much that you say yes to His will, no matter how painful it might be, with joy in your heart. Jesus was telling his disciples in the upper room that He is looking for followers that will love Him so much that they will want the whole world to know the measure of their love for Him by the measure of their extravagant obedience, even when God does not explain Himself to them.