One of the most remarkable verses in the Word of God surely must be Hebrews 10:7, which reads, “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”  Simply stated, the verse declares that from one perspective the entire Bible stands as a testimony to Christ’s submission to the Father!  Could anything be more amazing and should anything be more motivating than to consider that God, in the Person of the Son, was a perfectly submissive Being?  In his letter to the Philippians, Paul expounds on this glorious mystery:  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (2:5-8).

Being in subjection to God may be one thing—and many might consider it appropriate, at least in theory, to submit to God—but when we see just what that subjection entailed, Christ’s submission takes on new dimensions.  The horrendous suffering and death that these verses reference remain in the forefront of Christ’s act of submission.  But His passion was the culmination, not the totality, of His humbling.  Consider the following.

Christ submitted to Mary and Joseph.  As a child, Christ did not play the deity card and lord it over His mother and stepfather, even though He, as God, was responsible for their very existence and had brought them into the world.  Instead, He behaved as a proper child “and was subject unto them” (Lk. 2:51).

Christ submitted to John’s baptism.  Though John himself was loathe to baptize the Lord, having recognized Christ to be the Messiah, Christ submitted to that human ordinance “for thus it becometh us,” He told John, “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).

Christ submitted to paying taxes.  He explained to Peter that “the children are free” from the necessity of paying the temple tax; “notwithstanding, lest we should offend . . . give unto them for me and thee” (Matt. 17:27), He told Peter and then directed him to open the mouth of the first fish he caught where Peter would find money sufficient to pay both their taxes.

Christ submitted to the trial by the Sanhedrin.  Though the trial was conducted illegally on multiple levels, Christ submitted himself to the judgment of the counsel—even when He was convicted contrary to Jewish law.

Christ submitted to the questioning of King Herod.  And when Herod subjected the Lord to shameful and illegal mockery and torture, He quietly endured it (Lk. 23:6-12).

Christ submitted to the immoral sentence given by Pilate.  Though Pilate openly declared:  “I have found no fault in this man . . .” and “I have found no cause of death in him” (Lk. 23:14, 22), Christ, nevertheless, submitted when Pilate, against his own testimony, sentenced Christ to death.