St Matthew, Chapter 3, verses: 13 -17, Let it be so now: The Baptism of Jesus.

Today there is only one paragraph entitled:  (The baptism of Jesus).  I include these headings because I have used them as meditation guides.  As we continue to go through the gospels, I take the paragraph headings and recite them and do a brief meditation of each.  The paragraphs give me a short description of the substance of the paragraph and a way to combine the chapters of the Gospel together.  These are the paragraphs we have covered so far,
Chapter 1: 
(The genealogy of Christ, Abraham to David),  (David to the Babylonian captivity),
(Babylonian captivity t Joseph),  (The virgin birth). 

Chapter 2:
(The Magi come to Jerusalem), (Herod consults them), (The Magi find Jesus) ,
(The flight into Egypt), (The slaughter of the innocents),  (The return to Nazareth). 

Chapter 3: 
(The preaching of John the Baptist),  (John speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees),  and
(The baptism of Jesus) .

I intentionally do not include the text of the verses that we cover because you may use a different Bible.  So you can follow along in your Bible or if you choose you can use the one we use.


Today's paragraph covers the baptism of Jesus.  John is out there in the desert doing his thing preaching about repentance and baptising the believers.  He knows that the messiah is coming and he knows the power and glory and majesty of the ONE.  John has not seen Jesus face to face so he does not know him.  Yet when Jesus approaches John to be baptized, John is stunned to see Christ before him wanting to be baptized.  What was it about Jesus that shocked John??  What was it about Jesus that told John that this is the ONE?? 

John was a holy man.  He lived in the desert and was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Dare we say that he had spiritual wisdom that enlightened him to the nature of Jesus??  He baptized hundreds and maybe thousands of sinners, standing in the waters of the Jordan accepting person after person after person.  Seeing people from all walks of life, he baptized them as they came.  He looked upon thousands of faces daily.  And then comes Jesus, and he knows.  And then he sees the messiah in his earthly form.  Having the true knowledge of Jesus, and not being worthy to bear his sandals, must have been a moment of joy, and shock, and awesomeness, and trembling, and breathtaking, and fulfilling, and peace.  Jesus, our God walked this earth among us humans, among his creation.    

And John said no.  He was not worthy to baptise him.  John wanted to be baptized by Jesus.  He wanted to be anointed by Jesus instead of performing a baptism of water.  He wanted to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and by the fire.  But Jesus knowing that all things must be fulfilled according to the scriptures and the law, requested that John the Baptist perform his baptism.  And John saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus and heard the voice of God From heaven provide witness to his son.  That indeed was a moment of a lifetime to remember, the voice of God descending from heaven and the Holy Spirit coming to rest upon Jesus.   I think about how I will feel when I meet him for the first time!!

St Matthew, Chapter 3, verses: 1-12, John the Baptist, the Pharisees and the Saddducees.

Today' readings has 2 paragraph with the following headings:  (The preaching of John the Baptist), and  (John speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees).

Now in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the desert, or was it Creflo Dollar, or Joel Olsteen, or Brian Houston, or Benny Hinn.  All the people came from Jerusalem, and Judea and from around the Jordan.  Or did they change channels from channel 5, or channel 11, or channel 2, to hear the words of these preachers on the church channels.  But John wore garments of camel hair and had a leather girdle around his waist, whereas today preachers wear fine suits and silk ties, and gold watches and silver bracelets.  And today they preach prosperity, and good fortune, and success in this life, and how to overcome lack, and getting out of the poverty mindset.  John taught repentance, but today we have every message under the sun that relates to everyday life. 

And John eat locust and honey, and today preachers eat steak and lobster, and dine at fine restaurants.  How start the times and the contrast in those times and the times we live in today.  Where are the prophets of old, the men how sought not the ways of the world but sought the will of God??  Are there men of such caliber today??   We can not find them on TV today, that is for sure!!
John called a spade a spade and did not bite his tongue.  He called the religious leaders of his time vipers, snakes with poisonous tongues.  John offered a way out, a door to escape the coming wrath.  Much of the population knew the sign of the times by the evil that lived among them.  John offered a way out.  He opened the door to salvation so that those who were drawn, were able to repent of their sins and prepare for the ONE to come.  The ONE to come was mightier than John, whose sandals he was not worthy to bear.  Such humility, such love, such compassion did John exhibit in his time.  Is it here today in our time?? 

John tells the Pharisees and Sadducees to bring fruit befitting repentance.  What fruit did he speak of?  Was it sorrow, and regret, a sense of low self esteem.  Or was the required fruit a deep sense of remorse and quilt, a sense of shame and a desire for forgiveness.  Otherwise the axe was at the tree ready to cut it down.  Is this our typical sermon of fire and brimstone that is taught in churches today??  Is this the typical message that you would hear in a church tent revival??  Or was it true then and true now.  John foretold of the thrashing floor being cleaned and the chaff being sent to the furnace where there is unquenchable fire.   R-E-P-E-N-T. 


John baptized with water but the ONE coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  Have you received your baptism in the Holy Spirit???

St Matthew, Chapter 2, verses: 13 - 23, Plots against the life of the Baby Jesus.

Today we start with the three remaining paragraphs of chapter 2: The flight into Egypt,  The slaughter of the innocents,  Return to Nazareth.

Behold, another news flash, the North Koreans attack a South Korean Island.  Christ's life here on earth starts with controversy and continues in the shadow of death.  Herod now has caught the scent of the new birth and will attempt to end the life of the child.  God has ordained his life, however, and protects him from harm through the watchful eyes of the angels.  His mother and father are warned to leave the area and flee to Egypt.  Do we have angels watching over us, guiding us in our daily life, giving us premonitions about things that we should or should not do?  If we look back in our recent history can we find things that have happened to us that we could not explain?? 

So Joseph leaves Bethlehem and flees to Egypt.  Meanwhile Herod is overcome with anger when he discerns that the Magi have not returned to him to tell him where the baby Jesus was born.  The evil within him moves him to craft a plan that will surely eliminate the problem, killing all newborn babies two years old or younger.  The slaughter of the innocent children takes place by the hand of Herod.  How great is his sin??  It brings to mind the sin of other leaders that have slaughtered thousands of people in the name of some cause, The Holocaust, The Rowandan genocide, The Serbian massacres, etc.  Evil works through the pride of men.  And the little ones were sacrificed for the life of the baby Jesus.  How great must their reward be in heaven!!


Now after the evil Herod had pasted away and received his just reward, Joseph again, protected by the angels, receives instructions to return to Israel, to Nazareth where he settled to raise the child Jesus.  And the life of Jesus develops without incidence for a number of years, and the scriptures are being fulfilled.

St Matthew Chapter 2, verses: 1-12, The Magi and the baby Jesus

This chapter starts off with an interesting twist, "When Jesus was born, Behold Magi came from the east." 

I think about the beholds that we have today.  Behold a plane has crashed killing all passengers aboard.  Behold, a valcano has erupted, leaving a cloud of smoke and ash killing all the villagers in its path.  Behold, the president of the United States busted his lip and has 12 stitches.
   
In those times Jerusalem was the center of attraction and all news traveled from that point. 


Today the world is the center of our awareness and all news originates from it.  Yet what captures our attention and is presented to us, is news of disaster, and news of ruin, or news of fame, or news of fortune, or news of greed, or news of lust.  Our beholds are quite different.


Yet in those days, the Magi appeared and upset the entire kingdom of Jerusalem.  All of Jerusalem was abuzz with answering the question of where was the new king that was born King of the Jews.  There was no, CNN, or CBS, or ABC news reports back then.  There were no ipads or ipods, or smartphones, or even televisions or radios.  There was only word of mouth, and whoever had the biggest mouth to know and tell the latest news was well known and a person of great importance.  That person knew what was happening.  That person had the latest information.  That person was the person to seek out, to get to know, to have in one's company, because they had information ties that kept them informed.  That person was the journalist of their time. 


So all of Jerusalem was in an uproar because the three kings came seeking the King of the Jews.  And  Pilate gathered together all his heads of state, his leaders of industry, his counselors, and lawyers, and priests, and scholars, and scribes, in an effort to ascertain what was happening in his kingdom.  Fear prevailed and he wanted a solution to the problem. 


After his inhouse search for the answer, he decided to secretly meet with the Magi to determine what they knew about this new King.  So he questioned with caution, so as to not give away his intentions.  And after his meeting, he sent them away, pleading that they send him a message when they had found the place where this new king was born.  Pilates intentions were not genuine.  Pilate was a dishonest and decietful man.  He was cunning and  deadly.  His heart was filled with malice and was possessed with evil.


But the Magi were wise men and men of the world who were able to discern the guiles of Pilate.  Having heard his plea, they set out on their quest and found the infant child.  And their hearts were filled with joy and they rejoiced exceedingly.  I can not remember the last time I rejoiced exceedingly.  Maybe when my favorite football team won??  But this is a different kind of rejoicing.  Their rejoicing was like a journey of discovery that they went on searching for a goal.  How deep was their desire to find their goal??  How sincere was their search to locate the destination of the star??  How much was their longing that what they sought was real??  How exceeding joy was their joy when they found what they sought?? 

St Matthew Chapter 1, Joseph's Dilemma and the Virgin birth of Christ.

In St Matthew Chaper 1 there are 4 paragraphs.  They are:  The Genealogy of Christ, Abraham to David; David to the Babylonian captivity; Babylonian captivity to Joseph; and the Virgin Birth. 

St. MATTHEW, one of the twelve Apostles, is the author of the first Gospel. He was
the son of Alpheus and was called to be an Apostle while sitting in the tax-collector's place at Capharnaum. Before his conversion he was a publican, i.e., a tax-collector by profession. He is to be identified with the "Levi " of Mark and Luke. Christ called him to become a disciple, and later an Apostle. After the Holy Spirit had come down upon the Apostles on Pentecost, MATTHEW preached the Gospel in Judea. He wrote his Gospel to prove to his readers that Christ was the Messias foretold by God In the Old Testament.

His apostolic activity was at first restricted to the communities of Palestine. His Gospel was written to fill a sorely felt want for his fellow-countrymen. For believers it served as a token of his regard and as an encouragement in the trial to come, especially the danger of falling back to Judaism. For the unbelievers it was designed to convince them that the Messias had come in the Person of Jesus, our Lord, in whom all the promises of the messianic kingdom embracing all people had been fulfilled in a spiritual rather than in a carnal way: "My kingdom is not of this world." His Gospel, then, answered, the question put by the disciples of St. JOHN the Baptist, "Art thou he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

I needed to include some reference for St Matthew because it will come to bear in later chapters and in the other gospels. 


In this first chapter what grabs me is, after the long display of Christ's genealogy the next paragraph begins with: " Now the origin of Christ was in this wise."  It is kind of a funny way of saying how Christ began.  Mary was found to be with child before she and Joseph had come together.  I think of some of the racy shows on TV today, Jerry Springer, and Maury, where women come on the show and they are pregnant or have had children by other men.  How there husbands discover this fact and the hurt and pain that they feel.  I can almost imagine how Joseph felt in that, with all the joy and expectation of his marriage to Mary, to discover that she is with child, and to hear that she declares that she has not been with another man , but this is the handywork of God.  Every jewish female child and woman knew that the Messiah was coming and that he had to be born of woman. 


Despite all this Joseph was a just man.  How far have we come from the justice of his day.  Joseph did not want to see Mary taken by the angry crowds and stoned to death.  He loved her and therefore wanted to hide her from the law of the crowds and the angry mob that would want to stone her.  His heart must have been deeply hurt and his anguish over this matter concerned him greatly.  So he did not wish to lash out in anger and to strike back in hurt.  How stark is the disparity in their time from ours today.  That a man would not have sex with his wife before he marries her and yet still wait nine months before he knew her, is highly unlikely today.  How was it possible then??


And then the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream bringing clarity to his confusion and peace to his troubled heart.  How many of us have had an angel speak to us in a dream?  And so it was.  And in this wise is the origin of Christ .