Day 122: What Habits Did Jesus Practice?
Philippians 2:12–13
“… continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one empowering in youscripleftblue both the desire and the empowerment—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.”
Even though we do not work to earn our salvation or our blessing or our acceptance from God, there are exercises that we can do which lessen the grip the World has on our flesh so that we can be more attentive and responsive to Father-God who is at work in Christ by means of the Spirit.
This week, we begin to look at serving the spiritual exercises which help us to “put on Christ,” to “put on the new person” who has been fashioned according the image of the One who created us – our Lord Jesus. These are not things that we do to obligate God to bless us. Instead, these are things that we do to lessen our attachment to the things of the world that seek to keep us distracted from Father-God’s work in Christ in us through the Spirit.
WORDwork:
Isaiah 50:4–7
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
50:5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient,
Nor did I turn back.
50:6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
50:7 For the Lord GOD helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have set My face like flint,
And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
This passage from Isaiah is one of the Servant Songs that describes the way Jesus Himself lived. Think about Jesus Himself saying these words. According to verse 4 who taught Jesus? How did Jesus generally respond to this teaching in verse 5?
Mark 1:35–38
Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. 1:36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 1:37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 1:38 He replied, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.”
Notice what Jesus is doing. Why do you think he is doing what He is doing?
Mark 10:42–45
…Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 10:43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 10:44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
What is the main teaching that Jesus gives in this passage? How has He modeled what He is teaching His disciples what to do?
As we get more focused on the question, “How should we live, knowing what we know?” it is important to understand that Jesus has modeled the life that Father-God desires for us. As we have been saying, it is critically important to understand that Jesus never played the “I am God” card while He was here on Earth. The Father, working through the power of the Spirit did incredible miracles through Jesus, no doubt.
But Jesus also came to leave us an example, a model of how we should live our lives in total dependence on Father-God. Consider this:
1 Peter 2:20–21
…But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. 2:21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.
In this context, Peter is talking about suffering for doing what is good. Jesus experienced this. Jesus suffered for us. He did this to save us, for sure, but He also endured His “unjust suffering” in order to give us an example to follow, a model of how to live in this broken world. If we read the Gospels carefully, we should see that Jesus also gives us a model of how to live life in general: obediently, prayerfully, serving all in every opportunity.
Jesus was taught by Father-God. (Hearing and Seeing)
In the Isaiah passage above, we hear that Jesus—as the Suffering Servant—was taught by the Lord God, Father God, morning by morning as the Father awakened His ear, enabling Him to hear and respond to what He needed to learn for the day. Jesus, the Master Disciple maker, learned first from His Father. Because of this, our Lord “set his face like flint,” meaning that He was completely committed to do what the Father desired for Him, no matter what the cost. Jesus followed the Father and this resulted in insult, humiliation, torment and death. Yet in none of this was the Lord finally ashamed or disgraced. The Father vindicated Him in the end.
Jesus Prayed (a lot!).
We also see Jesus taking time to pray—early in the morning, late at night, throughout the day. On the night before He chose the 12 Apostles, Jesus spent all night in prayer! (see Luke 6:12). Think about that for a minute: Jesus spent all night in prayer! This gives us great insight into how important Jesus considered prayer. Prayer was maybe the most important part of Jesus daily life. He taught His disciples how to pray and we even have several of Jesus’ own prayers recorded for us in the Gospels.
Jesus Served.
If we look at the whole of Jesus’ life, it will not surprise us to see that it is characterized by self-less service. He taught on this very pointedly toward the end of His ministry. In Jesus’ Kingdom the Greatest are measured by their service to all. Two great images present this to us: 1) Jesus washing His disciples feet on the night before His crucifixion and 2) Jesus on the Cross.
These three activities, which were habits in Jesus life—Hearing from the Father, Prayer, and Service—form the core activities that we cultivate in our own lives to follow in the Way of Jesus.
Directed Reading. At some point, you might read through the Gospels asking the question, “How did Jesus live life day to day?” or “What were the habits that Jesus formed in His life?” This is what I call directed reading: reading through a book of the Bible (or several books) thinking about only one specific question. This will help you see things in a new light.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
