Cleansing Waters
Cleansing Waters
Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3
For those that have grown up and read the stories of Christ’s birth and Christ’s coming, but they still question who is this Jesus Christ? There are those that don’t know who Jesus Christ is other than when His name is used as a curse. This Jesus of Nazareth who was the Christ, the Messiah, and the Savior was a man. Jesus of Nazareth was a man that grew up and went through all the pain of the world, but He was God the Messiah, the Christ, who came incarnate, into flesh, to save all of humankind. He was the one foretold throughout the Scriptures. He was obedient to the will of His Father, He was a servant to all of creation, and He gave everything to those who did not truly deserve it. He gave us a model in which we could attempt to live our lives, but did not require it.
There are many people that hear the word Christian and think of judgmental, narrow minded people that look down on and condemn others for failures, but walk in their lives blind to their own. Some of these sentiments are justified. Our human nature makes it much easier to look down and judge others in order to lift ourselves up. In Matthew 3 we find Jesus, a sinless man and the son of God, placing himself on the same level as us entering into the cleansing waters of Baptism with John the Baptist, who was crying out and warning of the danger that is lurking in the hearts of many. John saw all those that held themselves up in high regard coming not in faith, but out of a piety to “cover their bases.” That is why he calls them vipers and does not welcome them with open arms, for them this was just another washing, not a cleansing or a renewal. Baptism is more than just another washing, it is an adoption. It is an adoption that makes us God’s children and it comes not through anything magical in the water, but a belief in this man, this God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we enter the waters of baptism we are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we walk in our baptism daily we are continually renewed and made clean all it takes is a heart that is willing to turn it over to Christ. We, too, can hear the words the Father spoke to Jesus as he rose out of the water, “This is my child with whom I am well pleased!” (modified from Matthew 3:17). We all are adopted as children of God through the cleansing waters of baptism. We all can know the promise of salvation and when we know this promise, we all are called to walk in humility and servitude as did Jesus Christ. We are to serve all humanity in the midst of their suffering and show them Jesus in how we live our lives. We walk in the knowledge that all that needed to be done has been done and serve others in the comfort of that knowledge, not out of any necessity, but out of love. We serve out of the love that we hold in our hearts for the one who gave us everything, our Lord Jesus Christ! People will know Jesus Christ as we meet them in our day to day lives as representatives of Christ. How do people know Christ through you?
Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3
For those that have grown up and read the stories of Christ’s birth and Christ’s coming, but they still question who is this Jesus Christ? There are those that don’t know who Jesus Christ is other than when His name is used as a curse. This Jesus of Nazareth who was the Christ, the Messiah, and the Savior was a man. Jesus of Nazareth was a man that grew up and went through all the pain of the world, but He was God the Messiah, the Christ, who came incarnate, into flesh, to save all of humankind. He was the one foretold throughout the Scriptures. He was obedient to the will of His Father, He was a servant to all of creation, and He gave everything to those who did not truly deserve it. He gave us a model in which we could attempt to live our lives, but did not require it.
There are many people that hear the word Christian and think of judgmental, narrow minded people that look down on and condemn others for failures, but walk in their lives blind to their own. Some of these sentiments are justified. Our human nature makes it much easier to look down and judge others in order to lift ourselves up. In Matthew 3 we find Jesus, a sinless man and the son of God, placing himself on the same level as us entering into the cleansing waters of Baptism with John the Baptist, who was crying out and warning of the danger that is lurking in the hearts of many. John saw all those that held themselves up in high regard coming not in faith, but out of a piety to “cover their bases.” That is why he calls them vipers and does not welcome them with open arms, for them this was just another washing, not a cleansing or a renewal. Baptism is more than just another washing, it is an adoption. It is an adoption that makes us God’s children and it comes not through anything magical in the water, but a belief in this man, this God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we enter the waters of baptism we are changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we walk in our baptism daily we are continually renewed and made clean all it takes is a heart that is willing to turn it over to Christ. We, too, can hear the words the Father spoke to Jesus as he rose out of the water, “This is my child with whom I am well pleased!” (modified from Matthew 3:17). We all are adopted as children of God through the cleansing waters of baptism. We all can know the promise of salvation and when we know this promise, we all are called to walk in humility and servitude as did Jesus Christ. We are to serve all humanity in the midst of their suffering and show them Jesus in how we live our lives. We walk in the knowledge that all that needed to be done has been done and serve others in the comfort of that knowledge, not out of any necessity, but out of love. We serve out of the love that we hold in our hearts for the one who gave us everything, our Lord Jesus Christ! People will know Jesus Christ as we meet them in our day to day lives as representatives of Christ. How do people know Christ through you?
posted by Rev. Christopher Byars at 12:47 PM
1 Comments:
It is true that it states that, but look at the entire context of what it says and who it is talking about,
15In those days Peter stood up among the believers[c] (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."
18(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms,
" 'May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,'[d] and,
" 'May another take his place of leadership.'[e] 21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." Acts1:15-22
Judas had betrayed Jesus and his death fulfilled prophecy from the OT, but this is not the judgment of man, but the judgment of God.
Have a blessed day!
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