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Surveying the Text: Matthew

Joe Harby on October 19, 2014

Introduction

We are now continuing with our plan to work through the Bible, a book at a time. We have considered the first five books of the Scriptures, the Pentateuch, and have now come to the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels. Let us begin, as seems normal, with Matthew.

The Text

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…” (Matt. 5:1–2).

Background to the Gospels

As you know perfectly well, there are four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and John were the only two gospel writers who were themselves apostles. Mark got his information (according to early church tradition) from Peter, while Luke tells us that he functioned as a researching historian, getting his information from different eyewitnesses and sources.

The early fathers said that Matthew was the first gospel, while modern scholarship generally thinks that Mark was. A good deal of scholarly consternation has been expended on what is known as the synoptic problem. The first three gospels share many similarities, which is why they are grouped together as the “synoptics.” The word refers to them sharing a “common view” of the life of Christ, with John’s account being very different. But the synoptics are also different from one another in very striking ways. The modern notion is that short means early (and Mark is short), and that Matthew and Luke quarried some material from Mark, and some other material from a source called Q (material that Matthew and Luke share, but which Mark does not). Some folks have even written commentaries on Q, a document that cannot actually be said to exist. Scholarship can be a marvelous thing.

Overview of the Text

The theme of Matthew is the royalty of Jesus Christ; He is a teacher/king. He is repeatedly described as sitting while he teaches (Matt. 5:1; 13:2; 15:29; 21:7; 24:3; 25:31), a prerogative of royalty. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of Jesus (Matt. 13:41). The Lord is given royal titles, like Messiah (Matt. 16:13-20) and Son of David (Matt. 1:1-18; 9:27). The son of man is one who will sit on a throne in order to judge the nations (Matt. 19:28; 25:31). The Lord comes into His reign as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and His regal status is attested by the worship of the magi at the very beginning of the book.

The authority of this royal figure is well-established in the course of the book, and so it is nothing short of astonishing to see how the book culminates in His crucifixion. That is not what we would have expected, given the build-up. But more on this shortly.
The structure of Matthew is straightforward, consisting of an alternating pattern of narrative and discourse, making up five paired sections in all. Each section has narrative followed by a discourse, and each one ends with the phrase “when Jesus had finished these sayings.” The first section is the early years (1-4) and the Sermon on the Mount (5-7). The second is traveling miracles (8-9) and instruction to the disciples on how to behave during itinerant ministry (10). The third section tells us how Jesus collided with the Jews (11-12) and concludes with His parables about the kingdom (13). The fourth gives us a collection of events (14-17) and instruction on life together in community (18). The last section following this pattern is the journey to Jerusalem (19-23) followed by an apocalyptic description of Jerusalem’s end and the end of the world (24-25). The conclusion of the gospel is a separate description of the Lord’s passion and resurrection (26-28).

Christ as Israel

Matthew presents the Lord as the true king of the true Israel, coming into His own as the true Israel. Matthew quotes the last part of Hosea 11:1—out of Egypt I called my son (Matt. 2:15). But that entire verse says this: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, And called my son out of Egypt.” (Hos. 11:1). Christ escaped from Egypt just as Israel had, but the Pharaoh He escaped from was Herod, and He escaped to the old Egypt from a place that had become the new Egypt. And after that, He was baptized in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13), just as Israel was baptized in the cloud and sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2). After His baptism He spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted—just as Israel had spent forty years being tempted. When His days in the wilderness were completed, He invaded Canaan in order to cast out the new Canaanites—demons.

That generation is described as occupied country. A man who has demons cast out of him is described this way: “Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation” (Matt. 12:45). The men in the tombs were possessed by devils (Matt. 8:28), and Mark tells us they were named Legion—a name applied to occupation forces of the Romans. And Mary Magdalene, a type of both the old Israel and the new, had seven devils cast out of her (Mark 16:9).

Stark Contrasts

The Lord’s famous sermon at the beginning of the book is marked by contrasts—wide gates and narrow ones, true prophets and false prophets, and foolish builders and wise ones. Everything always comes down to a point. Believe or don’t. Repent or don’t. Go left or go right. There are no third options.

The Lord comes to earth at the beginning of the book and leaves for Heaven at the end of it. The nativity happened at night, and the whole place was lit up. The crucifixion happens at midday and the sky is darkened. Jesus was worshipped by nobles from a foreign land as an infant in swaddling clothes and mocked by nobles from His own nation as a crucified man stripped naked.

The King as Suffering Servant

Jesus teaches with complete authority, and is in full command of all the circumstances He encounters. He—literally—walked on water. So then, how are we to account for the way the book ends? If that kind of crash happened to anyone else, we would say it was because he got above himself. But that is not possible here, and so something else is going on. This is the deepest wisdom possible.

We are astonished by the end of Matthew to find that Christ was crucified, but when we come to understand that His blood was the blood of the new covenant, we have already learned that it is royal blood. It was also innocent blood. More than all that, it was conquering blood—not conquered blood.

The Lord came down from a royal throne in Heaven in order to live and die here, but He also comes down from various mountains within the gospel itself in order to be stripped naked, flogged, and nailed to a cross. That is true royalty. That is how a king lives and dies—for His people. And because it was true wisdom, the same king lives for His people, down to the present day.

Three Chains IV: Deliverance

Joe Harby on October 12, 2014

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Introduction

We have been considering the ways in which men are held in bondage by fear, guilt, and shame. Fear threatens their safety. Guilt challenges their righteousness. Shame assaults their glory. Given the reality of sin, our response to this has to be true safety, genuine righteousness, and real glory—all given to us by another.

The Text

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:1–6).

Summary of the Text

Those who are in Christ Jesus are described as those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh (v. 1). For these, there is no condemnation. There are two contrasting laws. One is the law of the Spirit of life and the other is the law of sin and death (v. 2). The former sets us free from the latter. What the law could not do, God accomplished by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be condemned on the cross (v. 3). This condemnation on the cross did what all the righteous injunctions of the law could not do. This is what enables those who walk after the Spirit to fulfill the righteousness of the law (v. 4). Fleshly minds seek out fleshly things. Spiritual minds seek out spiritual things (v. 5). This means, at the end of the day, the fleshly mind seeks out death while the spiritual mind seeks out life (v. 6).

Freedom from Three Chains

In this passage, we see that the gospel liberates us fully and freely from fear, from guilt, and from shame. Fear? There is no condemnation. We are set free from the law of sin and death. Guilt? The righteousness of the law is now fulfilled in us. Shame? Our minds are elevated to the things of the Spirit.

What Liberation is Like

“When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Ps. 126:1–6).

This is a passage of Scripture that brings into high relief what it is like to be saved. Getting saved is only a cliché if you are unaware of the threat, or the condemnation, or the shame. There is good news that can just fall out of the sky on you (like winning a lottery you never entered), but there is another kind of good news—this is the good news that presupposes a full awareness of the antecedent bad news. This would be like finding out that the governor had signed the pardon preventing your execution ten minutes prior to them flipping the switch. You were fully aware of the dilemma, and you are fully appreciative of the salvation.

The Eyes of Faith

We sometimes try to create the exhilaration of “getting saved” by finding some bad sin and wallowing in it for a while. If we can’t get saved, we can at least rededicate our lives. That’s almost as good, right? Wrong. We don’t see the goodness of God by plunging into the badness of rebellion. We don’t need a covenantal and Reformed rumspringa. We see that we were objects of wrath by nature in the same way that we see everything else that is important—by faith. Scripture tells us what we are apart from Christ, and when we consider the bent of our hearts, we can find confirmation enough.

Jesus the Savior

Jesus is our Deliverer. He was named Jesus because His mission was to save His people from their sins. “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Ps. 18:2).

So then, we are saved from fear of death because Jesus has conquered death, and because we fear God through Him. We are freed from fear. We are saved from guilt over our unrighteousness because Jesus lived a perfect sinless life on our behalf, which has been imputed to us, and He died on the cross as the perfect satisfaction for the penalty we owed God because of that unrighteousness. We are freed from guilt. We are saved from shame because God has resolved to glorify us with His own glory. We are freed from shame.

We walk by faith now. The time will come when we will see what we have been walking toward, and at that time everything will come into perspective. At the same time, because God knows our frame, He has given us an earnest payment of the deliverance to come. He has given us His Spirit as a foretaste of all that is coming, and this Spirit is a seal and guarantee of the life everlasting. When that day arrives we will see it as the culmination of all our days.

Three Chains III: Shame

Joe Harby on October 5, 2014

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Introduction

We have been considering fear, guilt, and shame, and we have come to treat the topic of shame separately.

The Text

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1–2).

Summary of the Text

The Old Testament saints in the previous chapter were witnesses in their lives to the faithfulness of God. But there is something in this expression which indicates that they are now, in some fashion, witnessing us. They have run their race, and they are now sitting in the stands, a great cloud of them, as we run the race that God has assigned to us. We are compassed around with a great cloud of witnesses. We need to stretch out, take off any encumbrances, which would include any entangling sin, and then run patiently. The expression patiently indicates that it is a long distance run, not a dash. As we do, we look to the finish line. That finish line is Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He was the first one to run the entire race, and He did it with His eye on the finish line, which was the joy set before Him. The joy and glory He has obtained was what made it possible for Him to hold the shame He had to endure in contempt. He despised the shame, considering it a trifle in the light of the joy that was coming.

Shame in the Sins of Others

Shame is not the same thing as guilt. It often accompanies guilt, but it is not the same thing. In addition, there are times when the sin of one person causes shame in another. This was the case with Tamar when her brother raped her (2 Sam. 13:13). This is the kind of emotion experienced by children who have been abused and violated, for example. This kind of shame occurs when you are sinned against. Another example would be when a lazy son causes his father shame (Prov. 10:5). Another kind of shame happens when you are despised by others because of a righteous stand you have taken. “Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Shame hath covered my face” (Ps. 69:6–7). And in other situations, shame accompanies sins a person has committed himself. This would particularly be the case when the sin is generally despised, and is roundly condemned. A wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame (Prov. 13:5).

Shame in the Hand of God

“Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me” (Ps. 35:26). “But thou hast saved us from our enemies, And hast put them to shame that hated us” (Ps. 44:7).

God may bring them to destruction in this way, or He may bring His enemies to destruction by making them His friends. “Fill their faces with shame; That they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; Yea, let them be put to shame, and perish” (Ps. 83:16–17).

Never Ashamed

Jesus Christ was not ashamed as He enacted the gospel in and through His passion. That which Christ was not ashamed to go through, we must not be ashamed to be associated with. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom. 10:11).

This attitude is necessary because this is where the world is always going to push back. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8).

Glory and Shame

The antidote to shame is glory. True shame requires real glory. Spurious shame is going to be answered by a spurious glory, but of course it has to be a flawed answer. There is a tight connect in Scripture between the two categories of glory and shame. The sons of men are rebuked for turning God’s glory into shame (Ps. 4:2). God disciplines sinners by changing their glory into shame (Hos. 4:7). A debauched lifestyle uses shame for glory (Hab. 2:16). Paul rebukes false teachers, whose glory is their shame (Phil. 3:19).

This is what gives the cool shame its authority. The cool shame represents worldliness, which in its turn is a rival system of glory. When the devil tempted the Lord, one of the things He showed Him was all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

But Scripture gives us a striking contrast between the wise man and the fool. “The wise shall inherit glory: But shame shall be the promotion of fools” (Prov. 3:35).

There are two rival kingdoms in this world, and they have inverted systems of shame and glory. What they consider the ultimate disgrace we may embrace, and why? Because our understanding of glory is not theirs. Our understanding of glory has to do with a suffering servant exalted to the place that is above every name. Ours comes to the cross, and then to the crown. This is why, when the apostles were flogged, they were able to rejoice in it. “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). It is an honor to be dishonored. It is a grace to be disgraced. And all this is only possible in and through the cross.

Three Chains II: Guilt

Joe Harby on September 28, 2014

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Introduction

The solution to fear is deliverance. The answer to guilt is justification. The solution to shame is the honor of glorification. To release someone from one of these chains requires that he be released from all. And Jesus Christ is the only one who can do any of it. Last week we considered the authority of fear, and the deliverance provided by the fear of God —which is love for God, given by the grace of God. This week we move on to the chain of guilt in order to address how God has released us from it.

The Text

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).

Summary of the Text

In the first chapter of Romans, we learned that the Gentiles were under the power of sin. In the second chapter, Paul argued that the Jews were also under that same power. Here in the third chapter, he is showing us that Jews and Gentiles together were sinners together, and that all are under the power of sin. Everyone is a sinner, and everyone is a sinner in accordance with the law. God gave the law to those who are under the law (meaning under the condemnation of it), and God’s purpose in giving the law was so that every mouth would have to shut up, and so that whole world would become objectively guilty before God.

Guilt Outside and Inside

In Scripture, guilt is not primarily existential guilt. When we say “guilt” our primary meaning for this is guilt feelings. But guilt is created by, and measured by, the law of God. In other words, guilt is objective, regardless of how the guilty party feels about it. Once the judgment of the law is passed, and the accused has “his mouth stopped,” there are certain subjective sensations that come when the holy law of a holy God comes into the conversation and shuts you down. But that is a consequence.

When a man is wounded, that wound is objective. As a result, he usually feels wounded also. But the feeling is the result of the wound. We don’t create wounds out of feelings, unlike so many today, but rather the feeling comes after the wound.

The Stain of Guilt

A common image or metaphor for guilt in Scripture is the image of the stain. Saul’s house is described as blood-stained because of what he did to the Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21:1).

David says that Joab had his belt and sandals stained with blood (1 Kings 2:5-6). Soap cannot wash away this kind of stain (Jer. 2:22). Stains are problems of a more permanent nature. Sin is not something that can be dusted off. No, the guilt of sin is there, and what can be done?

False Guilt

Guilt is always a function of a standard of righteousness, and false guilt is a function of a false standard of righteousness. This harkens back to the point about guilt and guilt feelings. A false standard of righteousness can create feelings every bit as intense as those created by a violation of the true law of God. A man might feel more guilty about eating a piece of cheesecake, or about not doing his part to save the rain forest, than he does about his fornication.

The solution to false guilt is to repent of the false standard that has been set up in place of the law of God. The solution to false guilt is real guilt and real repentance. When you are confessing your sins, always make sure to be confessing the right ones.

Jesus, the Lord our Righteousness

So how is guilt addressed in Scripture? God will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7) —so how then can the guilty be cleared? The answer is just a few verses down from our text.

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:21–26).

In this passage, we are “justified freely” and God offers “propitiation through faith in his blood.” Propitiation means the turning aside of wrath—and wrath is always aimed at guilt. God offers “remission of sins” that are past, and how is this possible?

God could just say “whatever, let’s let everybody into Heaven.” But if God just throws the gates of Heaven open, what is the problem? The problem is that He is no longer just. Or God could be very, very strict, and He could send us all packing off to condemnation. Now He is just, but He is no longer the one who justifies. God set Christ out to be a propitiation so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Him.

In order to understand this, you cannot understand Jesus as just another individual, or even as a perfect individual. Jesus is an Adam. He is the head of the new human race, which means that His obedience is imputed to us, just as the disobedience of the first Adam was imputed to us.

Because of this, a glorious exchange can be made. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ had no sin, and was made sin. We had no righteousness, and were made righteousness. This means that when God looks at you, He sees nothing to condemn (Rom. 8:1). When God looks at you, He sees Jesus, which means that He sees no guilt. None. Gone. Washed. Cleansed. This is because we can call the Lord our righteousness.

Three Chains I: Fear

Joe Harby on September 21, 2014

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Introduction

Over the course of the next few weeks, we are going to be considering three chains that the enemy of our souls wants to use in order to keep us in bondage. But in Christ, we have been set free, and set free means set free from each of these chains, and from all of them. The three chains are fear, guilt, and shame. All three are common to the human frame, but different cultures can develop different emphases. The Western world is concerned with righteousness, and is therefore afflicted with guilt. The Eastern world is very concerned about honor, and is therefore afflicted with shame. The Southern world is concerned about survival and safety, and is afflicted with fear. The North generally does okay because it is cold and no one lives up there.

The Text

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt.10:28).

Summary of the Text

In this part of Matthew, Jesus is telling His disciples that He is sending them out as sheep among wolves. We need to be shrewd therefore (Matt. 10:16). We need to beware of men, because they will in fact persecute (Matt. 10:17-18). Even when we are delivered up, we need to trust God for the words we must use (Matt. 10:19). The persecutions will be both intensive and extensive, and if they treated Jesus this way, we cannot be surprised when they treat us in the same way (Matt. 10:20-25). Do not fear them, the Lord says, because everything is going to be revealed (Matt. 10:26). The entire story will eventually be told. Be bold (Matt. 10:27). Do not fear men, who can only kill the body and not the soul. Rather, fear the one who can wreck both body and soul in Gehenna (Matt. 10:28). We are told not to fear for two reasons. The first is that God will tell the whole story one day, and the second is that they can only kill the body, which means that all they can do is help you escape from them.

The Basic Issue

The devil is always a counterfeiter. He cannot create anything ex nihilo, not even sins. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which means the fear of man is the beginning of folly. This means that the point of biblical wisdom is not to say that fear is bad so we should stop fearing. No, the ethical choice is always between fear of this and fear of that. If you are paralyzed by fear, this means that you do not fear someone else enough. What is the whole duty of man? It is to fear God (Ecc. 12:13).

The First Chain

Death is an enemy. It is natural to fear it. Death has been given dominion and power over a guilty world—and the sting of death is found in the law. It is not that we are subject to death. The problem is that we deserve to be subject to death.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14–15).

Notice that this fear of death is a lifetime fear. As Augustine noted, in this world the dead are replaced by the dying. Death brings in a bondage that extends throughout our lives. Jesus struck off that chain by dying for us. He destroyed the devil through His death, and the devil was the one who had the power of death. With him removed from that position of authority, we are released from our fear of death. If we have received the Spirit of adoption, this means that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear (Rom. 8:15).

Now it follows from this that we are in principle liberated from lesser fears as well. To reverse Jeremiah’s image, if we can run with horses, we can run with men also. Women, you become daughters of Sarah if you honor your husbands and do not give way to fear (1 Pet. 3:6). In particular you women should remember that anxiety is the wrong kind of fear in seed form. It is by fear of God that we are enabled to turn from evil (Prov. 16:6). Knowing the fear of God is what enables us to persuade men to turn to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:11).

Being Careful with the Word

We are supposed to fear God, which is not the same thing as being afraid of God. There is a kind of fear that is craven, crawling . . . and we are not to have that kind of fear, not even in the presence of God. So we are not to have a particular kind of fear toward God because perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18). We need not fear this punishment from God, not because it is not fearful, but because it is not ours (Rom. 8:1). We are supposed to approach the throne of grace with boldness, it says, and we are to come boldly looking for mercy(Heb. 4:16). This is not possible apart from a robust doctrine of justification, where God declares us to be righteous in the righteousness of His Son (2 Cor. 5:20-21).

We are not supposed to “fear man” in any way that puts man in the place of God, and we are not to fear God in any way that puts Him in the place of executioner. We must fear Him as Judge, but if we do this rightly, we repent before we come before Him as executioner. When the Lord Jesus, the same one who bled and died for sinners, says “Depart from me, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23), this will be a moment of absolute and abject terror in one sense, but a final and defiant refusal to fearin another. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). Terror is not the beginning of anything other than an everlasting and hellish downward spiral. Terror does not fear Godenough.

Jesus and True Fear

A story is told in Acts of some itinerant exorcists, some sons of Sceva, who tried to cast out demons in the name of the “Jesus that Paul preaches.” The demon replied appropriately by beating them up. And then Luke says this: “And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified” (Acts 19:17). There is a kind of fear that is attracted to holiness, to the glory of God, to the numinous, to the wonderful. It is a fear that is filled to the top with an exquisite ache. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding” (Is. 40:28).

“Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; And let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13).

But how are we to do this? Remember that we are Christians, and what we need to learn how to do we may learn by imitating Jesus. Jesus was a God-fearing man—He had to be. He was a true man, the ultimate man, a wise man. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This was no less true in the case of Jesus.

But we do not need to rely on an inference. The Bible tells us explicitly in several places that Jesus feared God.
“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:2).

And the New Testament tells us the same thing:

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:7–8).