From the close of Chapter Two to the beginning of Chapter Three we skip several years. We go from the return of Jesus' family from Egypt to Nazareth to the beginning of Jesus' ministry as marked by His baptism by John the Baptist. We're never told much about Jesus' boyhood, other than the story in Luke 2 about His journey to Jerusalem with His parents for Passover when He was 12. There are things we can surmise (that most likely Joseph passed away before Jesus began His ministry as He was never mentioned in that time frame), but otherwise we are left to know that He grew up as many other Jewish boys of his time in the small village of Nazareth. Did He perform miracles along the way? We are never told that. Could He have? If God had directed Him to. But it seems to me that Jesus' ministry was ordained to start here... in this chapter.
John the Baptist was the herald of our Lord and Savior...he came as a prophet, much like the Old Testament prophets, I think for the Jewish people to recognize him as such. Someone as of old, like Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah and Isaiah. He told the people to repent, and as they did they confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. It's interesting in the prophecy by Isaiah, "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight", on first reading you would think this would mean to physically prepare for Jesus, as a King, to show Him honor, and prepare the roadways for Him to come through as royalty. But reading in the context of John's cry to the people to repent in their preparation for the coming One, it is a call to get rid of all of the obstacles in our hearts, all of the sin and double-mindedness that will keep us from recognizing and accepting the truth of Jesus. We should hear the same call: REPENT! Clear our hearts and prepare the path for Jesus to come to us unhindered.
John the Baptist had no patience with those who were coming for any other motive than for that preparation. He called out the Pharisees and the Saducees who came to see what was going on with these masses of people coming out to the River for baptism by this desert monger. He called them out for what they were, a brood of vipers. Those are strong words---they indicate wickedness and maliciousness. John knew that these "highest of the high" in the Jewish religious world claimed their righteousness due to their lineage from Abraham. But in one of the first proclamations of Jesus' role as an international Savior, John tells them that God can raise up children from Abraham even from the stones. The proof of truly being in the family of God comes from "producing fruit consistent with repentance" (v.8) If we are proclaimed believers in Christ's redemptive work on our behalf, understanding the love that drove God's plan of salvation, and if we have repented of our sins, are we now living lives consistent with that repentance? Are we producing fruit that is consistent with the thankfulness that we should constantly show for what has been done for us? Let us be good fruit bearers for the Kingdom!
John goes on to pronounce that the One coming is more powerful than he and will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire...and that He will sift the righteous (wheat) from the unrighteous (chaff). What do you believe the baptism that John referred to as coming from Jesus is?
Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator from the 1800s, states this:
"They who are baptized with the Holy Ghost are baptized as with fire; the seven spirits of God appear as seven lamps of fire, Rev. 4:5 . Is fire enlightening? So the Spirit is a Spirit of illumination. Is it warming? And do not their hearts burn within them? Is it consuming? And does not the Spirit of judgment, as a Spirit of burning, consume the dross of their corruptions? Does fire make all it seizes like itself? And does it move upwards? So does the Spirit make the soul holy like itself, and its tendency is heaven-ward. Christ says I am come to send fire, Lu. 12:49"
So Matthew Henry would say that Christ's baptism with fire would illuminate us, would make our hearts burn for Him, would become our all-consuming passion. The Spirit of fire would burn up our sinfulness and make us like itself, holy and with a heaven-mindedness. I want that fire in me...please Holy Spirit, burn strong within my heart and make me more and more like You!
And then we have the glorious picture of Christ's baptism, the act He submitted to in order to "fulfill all righteousness." What was Jesus saying? Righteousness is the state of being acceptable to God...was Jesus saying, "We're doing this because God wants us to"? Jesus says in John 14 that everything He does, He does at the direction of His Father. His baptism was no exception. God directed Him to John, John baptized Jesus in obedience. Also, I think it shows us the first picture of Jesus taking on the sins of the world, for while He was sinless, He repented of the world's sins that would be placed upon Him. One last thought on Jesus coming for baptism, it is in direct contrast to the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees and Saducees. Jesus comes in humble submission, with no pretense of being anyone greater than those surrounding Him in the Jordan.
But greater He is! For when Jesus came up out of the water (a very strong indicator of baptism by submersion), the heavens broke open for Him, and out of the heavens the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove and came down on Him, and voice broke out of the heavens declaring, "This is My beloved Son, I take delight in Him!"
What do you think prompted the Father's words of pleasure in His Son? We are not told, but they are spoken at Christ's initial act of bringing His ministry to the earth. They are spoken at Christ's initial act of submission and obedience on a path of which both He and the Father knew the end...not the end that we think of in Christ's painful death on the cross, the end that they both see---Christ's victorious reign over eternity, with all those who have followed His example of humble submission to the Father's will. Here was the beginning of the revelation of God to man...His Son was about to embark on three years of ministry of which the earth had never seen, and which would change the world forever. Here was the beginning of what Father and Son had discussed in the heavens---the time that would forever crush Satan and bring the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of men.
Hallelujah! Father, Son and Holy Spirit celebrating in the commencement of Jesus' ministry!
Jesus' mission in Chapter 3? Here's what I saw:
1. Bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth (v. 2)
2. Bringing a baptism of the Holy Spirit (v. 11)
3. Separating righteous (wheat) from unrighteous (chaff) (v. 12)
4. Fulfilling all terms of righteousness (v. 15)
5. Testifying to the Trinity (vs. 16-17)
And directly following celebration? Temptation. Chapter 4 will lead off with the account of Jesus' temptation in the desert and follow with the selection of the first disciples. My verse from Chapter 4 to memorize? Verse 16: "The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland of death, light has dawned." Isn't that a beautiful picture of all of living on this earth without the light of Jesus? But Light has dawned...Jesus has come. We no longer are destined to live in darkness. And those of us who have seen the Light are compelled to share that Light with others, driven out of the great kindness that has been shown to us.
John the Baptist was the herald of our Lord and Savior...he came as a prophet, much like the Old Testament prophets, I think for the Jewish people to recognize him as such. Someone as of old, like Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah and Isaiah. He told the people to repent, and as they did they confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. It's interesting in the prophecy by Isaiah, "Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight", on first reading you would think this would mean to physically prepare for Jesus, as a King, to show Him honor, and prepare the roadways for Him to come through as royalty. But reading in the context of John's cry to the people to repent in their preparation for the coming One, it is a call to get rid of all of the obstacles in our hearts, all of the sin and double-mindedness that will keep us from recognizing and accepting the truth of Jesus. We should hear the same call: REPENT! Clear our hearts and prepare the path for Jesus to come to us unhindered.
John the Baptist had no patience with those who were coming for any other motive than for that preparation. He called out the Pharisees and the Saducees who came to see what was going on with these masses of people coming out to the River for baptism by this desert monger. He called them out for what they were, a brood of vipers. Those are strong words---they indicate wickedness and maliciousness. John knew that these "highest of the high" in the Jewish religious world claimed their righteousness due to their lineage from Abraham. But in one of the first proclamations of Jesus' role as an international Savior, John tells them that God can raise up children from Abraham even from the stones. The proof of truly being in the family of God comes from "producing fruit consistent with repentance" (v.8) If we are proclaimed believers in Christ's redemptive work on our behalf, understanding the love that drove God's plan of salvation, and if we have repented of our sins, are we now living lives consistent with that repentance? Are we producing fruit that is consistent with the thankfulness that we should constantly show for what has been done for us? Let us be good fruit bearers for the Kingdom!
John goes on to pronounce that the One coming is more powerful than he and will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire...and that He will sift the righteous (wheat) from the unrighteous (chaff). What do you believe the baptism that John referred to as coming from Jesus is?
Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator from the 1800s, states this:
"They who are baptized with the Holy Ghost are baptized as with fire; the seven spirits of God appear as seven lamps of fire, Rev. 4:5 . Is fire enlightening? So the Spirit is a Spirit of illumination. Is it warming? And do not their hearts burn within them? Is it consuming? And does not the Spirit of judgment, as a Spirit of burning, consume the dross of their corruptions? Does fire make all it seizes like itself? And does it move upwards? So does the Spirit make the soul holy like itself, and its tendency is heaven-ward. Christ says I am come to send fire, Lu. 12:49"
So Matthew Henry would say that Christ's baptism with fire would illuminate us, would make our hearts burn for Him, would become our all-consuming passion. The Spirit of fire would burn up our sinfulness and make us like itself, holy and with a heaven-mindedness. I want that fire in me...please Holy Spirit, burn strong within my heart and make me more and more like You!
And then we have the glorious picture of Christ's baptism, the act He submitted to in order to "fulfill all righteousness." What was Jesus saying? Righteousness is the state of being acceptable to God...was Jesus saying, "We're doing this because God wants us to"? Jesus says in John 14 that everything He does, He does at the direction of His Father. His baptism was no exception. God directed Him to John, John baptized Jesus in obedience. Also, I think it shows us the first picture of Jesus taking on the sins of the world, for while He was sinless, He repented of the world's sins that would be placed upon Him. One last thought on Jesus coming for baptism, it is in direct contrast to the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees and Saducees. Jesus comes in humble submission, with no pretense of being anyone greater than those surrounding Him in the Jordan.
But greater He is! For when Jesus came up out of the water (a very strong indicator of baptism by submersion), the heavens broke open for Him, and out of the heavens the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove and came down on Him, and voice broke out of the heavens declaring, "This is My beloved Son, I take delight in Him!"
What do you think prompted the Father's words of pleasure in His Son? We are not told, but they are spoken at Christ's initial act of bringing His ministry to the earth. They are spoken at Christ's initial act of submission and obedience on a path of which both He and the Father knew the end...not the end that we think of in Christ's painful death on the cross, the end that they both see---Christ's victorious reign over eternity, with all those who have followed His example of humble submission to the Father's will. Here was the beginning of the revelation of God to man...His Son was about to embark on three years of ministry of which the earth had never seen, and which would change the world forever. Here was the beginning of what Father and Son had discussed in the heavens---the time that would forever crush Satan and bring the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of men.
Hallelujah! Father, Son and Holy Spirit celebrating in the commencement of Jesus' ministry!
Jesus' mission in Chapter 3? Here's what I saw:
1. Bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth (v. 2)
2. Bringing a baptism of the Holy Spirit (v. 11)
3. Separating righteous (wheat) from unrighteous (chaff) (v. 12)
4. Fulfilling all terms of righteousness (v. 15)
5. Testifying to the Trinity (vs. 16-17)
And directly following celebration? Temptation. Chapter 4 will lead off with the account of Jesus' temptation in the desert and follow with the selection of the first disciples. My verse from Chapter 4 to memorize? Verse 16: "The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland of death, light has dawned." Isn't that a beautiful picture of all of living on this earth without the light of Jesus? But Light has dawned...Jesus has come. We no longer are destined to live in darkness. And those of us who have seen the Light are compelled to share that Light with others, driven out of the great kindness that has been shown to us.
