Freedom, not Duty

What Jesus does he does out of a sense of freedom. He does not act out of a sense of duty, responsibility or obligation.

A contrary argument could be made from the statement of the Roman centurion who hoped that Jesus would be able to heal his gravely ill slave. The Centurion sent messengers to Jesus saying, "I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” Luke 7.8, nrsv; see also Matthew 8.9

The centurion assumes that, like himself, Jesus is also someone set under authority - God's authority - having been sent by God to do something and who does it. There is certainly some truth to that, but the truly beautiful thing about Jesus is that he is not God's soldier; he has authority but is not under authority.

Jesus did not empty himself (Philippians 2.7), take on our flesh and humble himself even to the point of death on a cross out of a sense of obligation or duty, but because he was free to do so and desired to do so. Likewise, Jesus did not heal people out of a sense of obligation or duty but because he delighted to do it.

"For freedom God has set you free," proclaims the Apostle Paul (Galatians 5.1). Again the apostle says all of creation yearns to catch a glimpse of the freedom of the children of God as a sign of its own liberation from its bondage to futility and decay (Cf. Romans 8.21).

If God has set you free you are free indeed. What will you do with your freedom?