Tag Archives: The Spirit descending

JOHN’S GOSPEL…THE SPIRIT’S WITNESS – 5

Bible Study,

“The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

How could John the Baptist be so confident that Jesus was God’s sacrificial Lamb? Wasn’t he being a bit presumptuous? After all, Jesus was no different from any  other man…or was He? What made Him stand out to John as the special one sent from God?

The three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, record Jesus’ baptism as the moment when the Father affirmed Jesus as His Son. The Holy Spirit coming on Him in visible form was the sign to the onlookers of His anointing even if they didn’t believe or even remember that moment.  

To John, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Jesus had special significance. It was the sign that Jesus was the one to whom he would bear witness to all Israel who would baptise people in the Holy Spirit. John would never forget that moment. God had told him it would happen. 

“And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

However, for John, this moment meant more than identifying Jesus as Messiah. Once he knew who Jesus was, he was able to do the task he was called to do…to point Him out to every Israelite whenever and wherever he could as God’s sacrificial Lamb and the baptiser in the Holy Spirit. 

What did John’s witness mean to his hearers? Lamb…sacrifice…the focal point of Israel’s worship. From the moment of their deliverance from Egypt to this moment, the lamb was the symbol of God’s forgiveness, the dividing line between life and death. 

Did Israel understand the message? No, they did  not! How ironical…Israel killed Him for being God’s Lamb!

The baptiser in the Holy Spirit…Israel’s greatest need! Their history was the witness to their failure. They could not obey God’s covenant because of their corrupt hearts. God’s Spirit left the human race when Adam disobeyed God. Only through God’s Lamb and the forgiveness He made possible could God restore His Spirit to humanity. 

So, John’s message was simple and clear. The one on whom he saw the Spirit descend was the one he was to reveal to God’s people. His constant refrain? “Look at Him!” More than that. “Look to Him!” 

“The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!””

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬

John was faithful! He went ahead of Jesus to show the way, never to get in the way. When he had accomplished his mission, he bowed out graciously, if not rather abruptly, by losing his life.  

Jesus, in turn, cemented John’s place in history…the greatest of the Old Covenant prophets despite his short ministry and untimely death.  

“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭26‬-‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To believe John’s message, to look to the Lamb of God, to receive His forgiveness and His gift of the Holy Spirit, is the only way to cross the great divide between death and life. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…THE INAUGURATION – 3

Bible Study,

Mark 1:9-11 NIV
[9] “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [11] And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

How fitting that the Father, whose commission Jesus, His Servant, had come to fulfil, should authenticate Him at the start of His public ministry! How better than to own and affirm Him as His Son! Jesus, the man, was not just any man… not even a special man chosen for the job. He was God’s own Son, very God Himself, born in human form, to carry out a mission so risky and so sacred that only one person could pull it off.

This Servant needed the Father’s affirmation to secure Him and the Holy Spirit’s anointing to empower Him. Following the act of baptism, immersion in the waters of “mikvah”, for Him the Jordan River, He was set apart for His work to which He dedicated Himself with unwavering faithfulness.

According to Google,

“Jesus’ baptism, as recorded in the Gospels, was a significant event with multiple layers of meaning. It marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, symbolized his identification with humanity and their need for salvation, and demonstrated his submission to the Father. Furthermore, it was a pivotal moment where the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and the Father’s voice affirmed Jesus as his beloved Son.”

Like the action of ordinary humans when they submitted to the ceremonial washing of the “mikvah”, Jesus also drew a line in the sand. His action was much more than obedience to a ritual demanded by the religious culture of His people. It was a declaration of intent, His dedication to the greatest purpose of the Father symbolically expressed in the act…the washing away of sin, not by water but by His own blood.

Like the believers who would follow Him, His baptism would forever cut Him off from any other pursuit than to do the will of the Father. His role as the Ebed Yahweh was cemented in that act.

Matthew 3:13-15 NIV
[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. [14] But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” [15] Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.”

Jesus was secured in the Father’s love and affirmation, after thirty years of living in a Galilean village in obscurity, by “the Father’s blessing”. He would have been insecure and adrift without the verbal affirmation from the Father, of His belongingness and approval. Armed with the Father’s words ringing in His soul, Jesus could step out into a hostile world with the assurance that He was beloved and supported by the greatest power on earth and empowered by the Holy Spirit Himself to carry out the Father’s will.

So, from that moment, Jesus set His face, ultimately, towards Jerusalem, the centre of Israel and the place where all the prophetic visions of the Messiah would come together to fulfill God’s great plan of salvation. Though His earthly ministry would range across Israel and beyond, beginning at the Jordan River, and crisscrossing the territory of His people, it would culminate, from the heart of God to the heart of His nation, in the mighty return of His Spirit in Jerusalem, to indwell His people and to finish what He started.