Jesus said, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” John 12:49
Even though Jesus was God’s Son, when Jesus was on the earth, He operated as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit. He walked on the earth as an example to us, to illustrate to us how we also should operate as representatives of God (II Corinthians 5:20).
We know that Jesus had great authority when He walked the earth. In Matthew 7:29 we see that He taught with authority. In Matthew 8:28-34 we see that Jesus stood in authority over demons. In Mark 4:39 we read that Jesus took authority over nature in calming the storm. In Matthew 8:5-13 we read about the Centurion who understood Jesus’ authority over sickness. In John 11:42-43 we see that Jesus even had the authority to raise people from the dead.
There is a main point that Jesus continually made regarding His authority, and that point was that His authority only came from being in submission to God. Everything that Jesus said, everything that Jesus did, was in submission to God. He did nothing on His own. Jesus was constantly in a state of surrender, yielded to His Father and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, even to the point of sacrificing His life at the cross.
If you notice, Jesus did not perform miracles in the same manner in each case. His procedures for ministry would vary each time. Jesus came to teach us dependency upon the Lord. Jesus taught us that there is power and anointing available to the person who is in a submissive relationship to the Father (Acts 10:38). Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Together with God, yielded to His ways, nothing is impossible. Unlimited life and glory is found in dying to self.
Application: To know God and the glory He wants us to experience, our lives need to be completely surrendered to Him. If we are holding on to our own will or a sin or an offense, we are not fully submitted to the Lord. We will hinder ourselves from not only knowing God fully; but also hindering the work God wants to accomplish through us for His kingdom’s sake. If there is something in your life that you have not turned over to God, release it to Him now. Submission is sweet and its rewards are immeasurable.