Emptied Himself
What was the secret of Jesus’ great power in His earthly ministry?
“Oh, that’s easy,” many would say. “He’s the Son of God.”
That of course is true that He is the Son of God. But that is not where His power flowed from. Jesus Himself says so.
John 5:19 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.
John 5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
“I can of Myself do nothing.” Jesus did not do mighty miracles through His own inherent power as the Son of God. He left all that power behind when He became a human being.
Philippians 2:5-7 NIV 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
The Greek word ekonosen, translated in some versions as “made himself of no reputation”, or here in the NIV “made Himself nothing”, comes from a root word that means empty.
Philippians 2:5-7 AMP 5 Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]
6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,
7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.
Jesus divested Himself of all the divine attributes that God has – such as omnipotence (all powerful), omniscience (all knowing), and omnipresence – that sets God apart from human beings. When on the earth, He was limited to only those resources that are available to a human being – a human being that knows God.
Jesus was just as much the Son of God when he was in the manger in Bethlehem than when He began His ministry. Why does the Bible not record any miracles between that time?
There are some myths about Jesus forming clay birds and bringing them to life as a child, and other such things. You know where they come from? The Koran. The scripture says otherwise:
John 2:11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine.
This was by design. Jesus was to be our example to follow. If Jesus did miracles by His own inherent power as the Son of God, we could admire Him, but we could never duplicate His acts. But duplicating His acts was what He wanted us to do:
John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
The greatest miracles that Jesus did, were all duplicated by others.
Healing the sick. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, and they healed the sick (Luke 9). Then later a larger group of 70 were sent and did the same (Luke 10). The apostles after His resurrection did many healings.
Casting out demons. Luke 10:17 the seventy returned with joy, saying “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name”.
Raising the dead. Elijah raised the widow’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24). Peter raises Tabitha (Acts 9:36-40)
Walking on the water. Well, Peter did also (Matthew 14:25-32)
Turning water into wine. Here we do not having a Biblical reference. However, Mel Tari, in his book Like a Mighty Wind, which tells of the Pentecostal revival in Indonesia, talks about how a group of Christians turned water into wine for Communion.
Was this power to do miracles only for the apostles? No. It is for them that believe; believers.
Mark 16:17-18 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Anointed with the Holy Spirit
Jesus could do no miracles of Himself by His own admission. But there was an incident where He received power.
Matthew 3:13-17 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This is where the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus for ministry. Now the Holy Spirit had already been in Jesus, but this is where He came upon Him.
The Holy Spirit is in us for our sakes; but He comes upon us for the sake of others
— Bill Johnson —
Immediately after this, Jesus went into the desert, where He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. Afterwards,
Luke 4:13-14 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. And it was in that power that He did miracles.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Authority, not Power
Jesus walked in authority, not His own inherent power. What is authority? The dictionary says authority is
the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.
One aspect of authority is the right to command, and have someone else do the work. Jesus would command or declare healing, but it was the Holy Spirit’s power that actually accomplished the healing.
The difference between power and authority is illustrated in this example. A police office holds up his hand, and stops an 18 wheeler truck. Was it the officer’s power that stopped the truck? No, it was his authority.
The President of the United States is called the most powerful man in the world. But is Donald Trump stronger than any other man? Could he beat any other man in a fight? No. But he has great authority to command others – it is because of the great power that backs him that makes him powerful.
The Roman centurion recognized how Jesus’ authority worked.
Matthew 8:5-9 5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,
6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
Jesus marveled at the centurion’s faith and understanding. But notice something he said: “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me” .
The centurion recognized that Jesus was operating under someone else’s authority, and that he was given authority. The Roman centurion had soldiers he had authority over that he could command, but he also had his own superiors; eventually going up to Caesar.
Even the President of the United States is under authority – that of the US Constitution, that places limits on his power. As long as he operates within those boundaries, he is OK. If he steps outside them, he can be removed. The Democratic party tried to do this with Donald Trump, but the accusations that were brought against him proved to be groundless.
The authority over Jesus was Father God. And that brings me to my next point.
Hear and Obey
Even given that Jesus operated in the power of the Holy Spirit and not His own, even though He said His followers would do greater works than Him, there is nobody that has approached Jesus Christ in the scope of His miracles. What was His secret?
Jesus only said and did what He saw the Father say and do. He speaks of this in numerous places.
John 5:19 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.
John 12:49 AMP This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell.
John 14:8-13 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:31 AMP But [Satan is coming and] I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know (be convinced) that I love the Father and that I do only what the Father has instructed Me to do. [I act in full agreement with His orders.]
First of all, Jesus heard what the Father said. Clearly, with no distortion.
Notice this from these scriptures: Jesus mostly talks about not speaking on His own authority, but only saying what the Father tells Him to say.
Do you want your words to have power? Then you will have to do the same. If we hear God and say what he says, but then at other times go shooting off our mouth saying all kinds of things, God is not going to be able to trust us to turn up the power behind our words. Because the power of words doesn’t only work when you are in “prophecy mode” – it’s on all the time.
So that is the second point – you have to say what God says.
In Jesus’ case, it was that exclusivity – that He only spoke what He heard the Father say – that was the greatest secret to His power.
John 5:19 also speaks of Jesus seeing what the Father does. Not just hearing the Father say “Do this…”, but seeing His Father do things, and then copying what He saw His Father do. Perhaps He had visions during those times He went apart by Himself to pray?
So we see that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, that He heard and saw the Father, and then He obeyed what He saw and heard through both the words He spoke and His actions. He did this so well, that He could say to Phillip, “… if you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.”
That was the secret to His power.
Identity
At this point, you could take the attitude that “Well of course Jesus could hear and obey the Father. He was the Son of God”. That’s not much better than believing that He did all His miracles through His own innate power. It’s still putting things out in a place unattainable by us. And Jesus wanted and expected the things that He did would be attainable by us.
A forth point to the secret of Jesus power, was that Jesus knew who He was. He had a sure sense of His identity. He was not plagued with self doubt. He knew He was the Son of God come from heaven long before He heard the words “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus’ works flowed from His intimacy with the Father.
One thing you have to realize – Jesus had to learn these things just like we do. He wasn’t a baby in the manager going “Goo goo, gaa gaa, I’m God”. He had to learn who He was and what His purpose was. We know that He had a good idea of who He was when we was left behind in Jerusalem as a 12 year old boy – “didn’t you know I would be about My Father’s business?”
Look at the things that Satan tempted Jesus with after that great declaration by the Father that He was His beloved Son: They all began with “If you are the Son of God….” If Jesus’ identity was an innate part of Him and not something He had to learn, there wouldn’t be a temptation in questioning His divinity.
Knowing who He was, being sure of His identity, allowed Jesus to step out and take risks. Remember at the wedding of Cana, when His mother came to Him about them running out of wine – He had never done a miracle before! And even though He said “My time is not yet come”, He allowed His mother to move Him.
But there was that first time. I’m sure He had the direction of the Holy Spirit to fill the pots with water. I like how the episode of The Chosen portrayed the moment. Jesus is alone with the pots, He looks to heaven and prays, then hesitates a moment. He dips His hand in the water, and it comes up red! Then He breaks out into a big grin. It’s on!
So What About Us?
Will we ever attain the level that Jesus did in representing the Father and doing miracles? No. Can we do a lot better than we are currently? Absolutely! As we apply these steps.
We actually need to start with the fourth point, which was our identity and knowing who we are. He is the only begotten Son of God, but we are sons and daughters of God also! Get close to Him and He will tell you things. Seek Him more than seeking miracles.
As your intimacy increases, He will speak to you more and your ability to hear Him will increase – basically because you take the time to listen.
He will tell you to do things. It’s important to do what He says. Simple things at first. He’s not going to tell you to go down to the morgue and raise the dead your first time. As we are obedient, He will speak to us more. Some things will involve more risk. He is a gentle teacher. He will give you things that stretch you, but not overwhelm you.
I have to say that I am very much a student of my own words here. I am learning these things. The other day in the morning I was going through some old notes that were these scriptures from John about Jesus only saying what He heard the Father say and doing what He saw the Father do, and I heard “That was the secret to My power”. Within 10 minutes I had the whole outline, and sat down in the evening and put flesh to it.
In these days and these circumstances, we need to be better representatives of the Father. Of course that means we should walk in love, but it also means we should do the works of Jesus, Jesus gave that as an essential reason people should believe in Him:
John 10:37-38 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
I’m preaching to myself, here.
