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!!
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!!
