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What Malachi
predicted 400 years earlier, and what Isaiah predicted
350 years before that, actually happened, because
the Living God, who is not limited by time, and
who is perfectly capable of communicating with
us, truly inspired the prophets. God the Father
sent the forerunner ahead of His Son, to prepare
us for the Messiah's arrival.
John the
Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And all the country of Judea was going out to
him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they
were being baptized by him in the Jordan River,
confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel's
hair and wore a leather belt around his waist,
and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he
was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming
who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop
down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized
you with water; but He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit."
John appeared
in the wilderness, which was appropriate, because
far too much of the spiritual life of the Jewish
people was like a desert, spiritually dry, infertile,
unable to sustain much spiritual life. And, truth
be told, we are still very much a spiritual desert!
He lived in the desert, away from the populated
parts of the world, with its luxuries and corrupting
influences. He lived a life of simplicity and
purity.
John's
dress was austere. This great prophet wore clothing
that reflected his denial of the world and the
flesh. John didn't come dressed in the latest
styles of the day, with rich clothing, or fine
outfits. No, he wore clothes made of camel's hair,
which is a very strong material. The Bedouins
make tents out of camel hair. As far as I know,
it is normally not used for clothing. It is coarse,
irritating and uncomfortable to wear. John's clothing
reflected his denial of the world and the comforts
of the flesh.
John's
diet was likewise simple and austere. He lived
off what he could find in the desert. He ate grasshoppers,
which are the only insects that are permissible
for the Holy People to eat, and he ate wild honey.
John's diet likewise was one of denying the pleasures
of the world and the flesh. He wanted to concentrate
on dedicating his body and soul to fulfill the
mission that the Living God sent him on.
John lived
in the most humble and severe circumstances that
didn't cater to the world and to the flesh. A
true prophet, along with every man and woman who
wants to serve the Lord God, must not be corrupted
by the pleasures of the world and the flesh. John
was willing to deny the world and the pleasure
of the flesh, and be isolated, in order to serve
God.
There
are benefits from living a simpler lifestyle.
There are fewer distractions, fewer encumbrances,
so that a person can concentrate on serving the
Lord, and fulfilling the tasks he is being called
to do.
Are you
willing to give up luxuries and experience loneliness
in order to serve God, and help men and women
encounter the Savior, and find salvation?
John's
message was also stark and severe. It was message
of repentance. It was time to really turn to God
and pay closer attention to His ways, and turn
away from self and your own ways that ignore the
Lord. Those who heard his call were to demonstrate
that they were turning to God by being immersed
in water, an outward symbol of their inward change
of heart, an outward symbol of an inward washing;
a symbol of being forgiven, and raised up to a
new clean life that is dedicated to serving God.
John's
appearance in the desert, his austere and severe
lifestyle, His prophetic message of repentance,
especially after 400 years of prophetic silence,
was dramatic and powerful, like a blazing light
turned on after years of living in shade and gloom.
Like a
sudden, bright flame lighting up the night sky,
multitudes of Jewish people came to him from all
over Israel. They heard John's message, and sensed
that they had drifted away from the Lord. Even
many of the city dwellers from Jerusalem, including
some of the religious leaders, felt the powerful
influence of the preaching of this desert hermit,
and hearing his call to acknowledge their sins,
and turn to God, they did, and they were immersed
in the Jordan river, with their sins being washed
away.
John made
a great impact on Jewish people, not just in Israel,
but all over the world. His influence was felt
far beyond the borders of Israel. Acts 19 records
that many years later, hundreds of miles away,
in another country, 12 men in Ephesus were still
committed disciples of John.
Here is
the core of John's message: And he was preaching,
and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier
than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie
the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with
water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
As great
as this unique prophet of God was, and remember,
Yeshua said he was the greatest man who had ever
lived until that time, John was not impressed
with himself, but was focused on the arrival of
the Son of God. God had revealed to him that the
Anointed King was coming, and John was to announce
His arrival, and get the people ready to encounter
Him. John also know that Messiah was much greater,
and far more powerful, than he was.
John also
knew that compared to the great One that was coming,
he wasn't fit to be the Messiah's slave; he wasn't
qualified to be like the servant who bent down
and untied his master's shoes when he returned
home at the end of the day. This great and holy
prophet understood that there was a tremendous
distance between he, the greatest man who ever
lived, who is still finite, and the Coming Messiah.
And we
know that John was right. Yeshua is the Son of
God, and God the Son, and although He is fully
human, and has joined Himself to humanity, and
is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, He
is also fully God, and there is an infinite distance
between the Creator and the creature. And, the
creature must always treat the Creator with the
greatest reverence and respect.
John also
knew that King Messiah was far greater than he
was because while John could call the people to
repentance, and immerse them in water as an outward
symbol that they were washed, and had turned to
God, the King Messiah would be able to immerse
human beings with the reality to which the water
pointed - the cleansing that comes from God's
Holy Spirit. The Messiah would have access to
the Spirit of God, and be able to give people
the Holy Spirit. By giving human beings the Holy
Spirit, by immersing them with the Spirit of God,
human beings are reconnected to God; they are
given a new nature that is alive to God; they
undergo a spiritual rebirth, a life-changing transformation;
their souls are washed, cleaned, purified; they
are given a whole new quality of life - God's
life, eternal life; they are made holy; they are
forgiven. Wow! Immerse me, O Lord, with the Spirit
of the Living God!
Do you
believe that Yeshua is the Messiah? Has the Son
of God immersed you with the Holy Spirit? Has
He been pouring out His life-giving Spirit deep
into your innermost being?
Next,
Mark describes what took place when these two
great men, the Lord Yeshua, and His specially
chosen forerunner, encounter each other at the
beginning of the Messiah's time of ministry.
In those
days Yeshua came from Nazareth in Galilee and
was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately
coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens
opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending
upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens:
"You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.
John had
the privilege to be there at the very beginning
of Yeshua's public ministry. He had the honor
to immerse Messiah Yeshua, which started His ministry.
He had the honor to witness the miraculous dramatic
events that took place at that special occasion.
Why did
John immerse Yeshua? It was not because Yeshua
was in need of repentance like everyone else.
Yeshua was sinless, and wasn't mistaken about
anything, and didn't need to change His mind about
anything. His life was flawless, and He didn't
need to turn away from sin and selfishness, and
turn toward God. He was already fully turned toward
God.
Let me
give you seven reasons why the Son of God was
baptized:
- Yeshua's baptism begins His public ministry.
For thirty years Yeshua had remained in obscurity,
staying in Nazareth, growing in grace and
favor with both God and man. Now was the time
for Him to enter His ministry as a mature
man in the prime of His life. His baptism
begins His public ministry. This is the beginning
of Yeshua's time of service, traveling among
us, teaching us and preaching the Good News,
doing His signs and wonders and miracles the
likes of which were never seen before. This
was a deliberate turning away from His relatively
safe life in Nazareth, and heading toward
His death and resurrection in Jerusalem.
- Yeshua's baptism identifies Him with the
Jewish people and with all of mankind. By
subjecting Himself to baptism, the Sinless
One was identifying Himself with sinful humanity.
He was placing Himself on the altar for the
sake of the guilty ones. He was offering Himself
as the Substitute, as the Representative of
sinful mankind. Through His baptism He was
showing His solidarity with the entire guilty
human race for whose salvation He came. The
baptism of Yeshua is His acceptance of the
work of redemption, which would have to be
completed through suffering and death.
Despite His greatness, the Lord Yeshua came
to John for immersion. This teaches us that
although Yeshua is our Creator, and the Master
of all things, the King of kings and Lord
of lords, He is humble. He is the kind of
King who is willing to come down to our level.
He is willing to come to us, and identify
with us, and serve us, and suffer with us,
and even die with us and for us. That's the
kind of King that came among us 2000 years
ago, and that is the King who is still with
us this very day, at this very moment!
- Yeshua's baptism shows the complete approval
that Yeshua had from God the Father. After
Yeshua offered Himself so willingly, so completely,
so voluntarily, as mankind's Substitute and
Redeemer, God responded and said: You are
My dearly beloved Son, the One who shares
My name and nature, My deity and essence.
You are the One who always pleases Me, and
who will always and forever please Me. You
are the One who will accomplish all My purposes,
including the salvation of the fallen sons
and daughters of Adam and Eve. From eternity
to eternity, I was, I am, and I will be completely
pleased with You.
- Yeshua was baptized to reveal to Israel
that He was the true Messiah. When Yeshua
was immersed, the barrier between Heaven and
Earth was pierced, and the voice of God was
heard: "You are my Son, whom I love; I am
well pleased with you." It is a rare occurrence
when God speaks from Heaven in the hearing
of men. It only happened a few other times
in history. It means that something great,
something significant, something very important,
is taking place.
Not only was God's voice heard, but the Spirit
of God was seen in a visible way. Formerly
it had pleased the Three-In-One God to reveal
Himself in other visible ways to us: in the
burning bush, or in the pillar of cloud by
day and the pillar of fire by night during
Israel's wilderness wanderings, or in the
Sh'chinah, the glorious dwelling presence
of God that manifested divine light in the
Jerusalem Temple; or later on the Day of Shavuot
(Pentecost), when the Holy Spirit descended
on the first Messianic Jews in the visible
shape of tongues of fire. Here He revealed
Himself in the shape of a dove.
Why a dove? The dove is a symbol of peace,
a symbol of purity, a symbol of grace and
beauty, a symbol of the ability to fly in
the Heavens, a symbol of sacrifice, a symbol
of God's grace, since a dove could be used
by the poorest Jewish people as a sacrifice
for the poor.
So when the Holy Spirit descended upon Yeshua
in the shape of a dove, it symbolizes the
nature of that lovely, heavenly, pure, peaceful
Spirit, that would graciously come down from
Heaven to Earth, and rest on the Messiah,
and cover the Messiah, and dwell in the Messiah,
and through the life and death of the Messiah,
make redemption possible for the most wretched
of us, saving us from the horrible situation
that we are in.
Here is the way reality works:
- God's Spirit, which now only comes to
us through the Messiah, makes salvation
possible.
- God's Spirit, which now only comes to
us through the Messiah, reconnects us to
the God from whom we are estranged. He enables
us to come close to God.
- God's Spirit, which now only comes to
us through the Messiah, brings the life
of Heaven to us on Earth.
- God's Spirit, which now only comes to
us through the Messiah, bring us peace -
peace with God, peace with man, peace with
ourselves; He add wholeness and integrity
to our lives.
- God's Spirit, which only comes to us through
the Messiah, bring holiness and purity to
our innermost being.
- God's Spirit, which only comes to us through
the Messiah, adds beauty to our lives.
- The opening of the Heavens, the descent
of the Holy Spirit in a visible form, and
God's voice being heard from Heaven were
to Messiah Yeshua, and to all of Israel,
and to the whole world, an assurance that
Yeshua of Nazareth is the true Messiah that
God sent, and God's beloved Son, and the
One that God has wholly approved of to bring
about the redemption of humanity. And let
no one contradict God or dare to say otherwise!
- The baptism of Yeshua reveals that the God
of Israel is HaSheeloosh HaKadosh, a holy
and unique Three-In-One God, the Trinity.
The Three-In-Oneness of God had been hinted
at in the Tenach, but at this special moment
in history, it became much clearer. God the
Father spoke from Heaven, and the Son of God
was baptized on Earth, and the Spirit of God
was between them perfectly uniting the Father
and the Son. The Word of God teaches that
God is One, and yet Three. Belief in the Trinity
is absolutely essential. It is part of most
ancient belief of Messiah's Holy Community.
- Yeshua's baptism anointed Him in a special
way with and extra measure of power for His
ministry. At the beginning of their ministries,
the prophets, priest and kings were anointed
with oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
God recognized their legitimacy, and empowered
them to accomplish their tasks. Yeshua was
anointed by the reality to which the symbol
pointed. The Spirit of the Living God was
poured out on Him. Yeshua was now officially
recognized by God as the Messiah, and equipped
by the Holy Spirit to function openly as Israel's
greatest Prophet, Priest and King. Prior to
the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Messiah
did no miracles. His teaching and preaching
was limited. Now After the anointing of the
Messiah, He had the empowerment of the Holy
Spirit.
We too need that power that comes from the
anointing of the Holy Spirit, to empower us
to live the right way, to help us resist temptation,
power to accomplish the tasks set before us,
power for our ministries. Is it not fair to
say that there is so little of power to serve
God, because we know so little of the anointing
of the Holy Spirit? We need the guidance that
the Holy Spirit offers, the teaching He provides,
the indwelling He offers. Let us long for
a greater measure of the that same Spirit
in our lives!
- Yeshua's baptism sets a pattern that His
disciples must follow. The first thing we
are to do, after we turn away from our own
ways, and turn from our own ideas, and turn
to God and His ways, and realize that we are
to follow Yeshua, is to be immersed.
Baptism
is a new beginning, a fresh start.
Baptism is a commitment to put God and Messiah
Yeshua at the very center of our minds and souls.
Baptism is a commitment to do things God's way.
Baptism is a public declaration of our faith;
that we believe in God and Yeshua.
Baptism means that we identify with Yeshua, and
that we will continue to identity with Yeshua
from that point on.
Baptism means that we will follow Yeshua, and
forever be linked to and identified with Yeshua.
Baptism is a public identification with Messiah's
Holy Community, that we are now joined to all
true believers in God and Messiah throughout time.
By being baptized, Messiah
Yeshua sets an example for us that we must follow.
But it's more than just an example - it's a command
that we are to obey.
Baptism isn't something to be feared, but rather
it is a great spiritual blessing to be longed
for.
We can draw near to and identify with our Lord.
We can be part of His community.
We can share His blessed destiny! What a glorious
privilege!
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