JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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It is because of His complete dependence upon the Father that Jesus spends so much time
in communion with Him in prayer (Mk 1:35; 6:46; Lk 3:21). Sometimes He prayed all night
(6:12), which eloquently shows His sense of need. Even His enemies bore witness to His trust in
God (Mt 27:43). If Jesus needed time with God the Father, how much more do we need it.
ENTIRE SUBMISSION
Jesus' weaknesses or limitations must be seen in the light of His entire submission to the
Father's will. Jesus is not an independent divine person, but a dependent divine human person
who thinks and acts only and wholly as the Father directs.
"For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him
who sent Me. . . . I do nothing on My own but speak just what the Father has
taught Me. The one who has sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I
always do what pleases Him" (Jn 8:29).
The phrase, "what the Father has taught Me" shows the limitations that Christ took upon
Himself in becoming a man and it shows His complete submission to the will and purpose of His
Father.
Jesus did not know independently, any more than He acted independently. Jesus did not
do all that He could have done, because certain things were not His Father's will.
"Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal
more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled
that say it must happen in this way?" (Mt 26:53-54).
In the same way Jesus did not know all that He might have known, but only what the
Father willed Him to know. His knowledge and power, like the rest of His attributes and activity,
was limited or subject to His Father's will. Jesus was sent on a mission. He had come to
accomplish God's divine purpose and whatever knowledge was necessary for the fulfillment of
that mission was given to Jesus, but in other matters His genuine humanity gives Him no
advantage over us in our knowledge of the things of God.
Jesus did not live a serene life, knowing all the time all the secrets of the universe,
knowing the thoughts of everyone about Him, knowing the outcome of every course of action in
which He or they were engaging. Jesus did not automatically draw on His inherent divine powers
when He got caught in a difficult situation. Jesus did not use His divine prerogatives to impress
people. He drew upon the divine power only as He looked to the Father in complete
dependence upon the Holy Spirit to meet human need.