Please remember that we bless each other with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His wisdom and His peace. Join us!!!
Zoom Link:
For Study, Prayer and Fellowship - 8:00 AM PST 11/08/2025:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82968961343?pwd=LzcwVjJKcWVESDRURlhDcXlNV0JUdz09
Meeting ID: 829 6896 1343
Passcode: 77299ere:
11/08/2025 – Prologue – My conviction is that Christianity must move toward a way of following Jesus that is based on scriptural lifestyle rather than scriptural belief only. We have been given the word of God. If we have the grand potential of a revival, it must not be structural, but a revolution of consciousness - a change of mind and heart through the work of the Holy Spirit. We must tap into the boundless reservoir of God’s love.
[Matt. 3:11-17] – Jesus’ Baptism – It would be an understatement to say that John the Baptist was surprised when Jesus appeared. Read [v. 11-12] as if we had never seen it before. John is saying, “He is coming!” ‘He is more powerful than me!” “I cannot qualify to carry his sandals.” “He is going to clean out the barn.” He will bring a fire that cannot be extinguished. Matthew reveals huge gaps in Jesus’ age – baby, infant, youth, fully adult ready to embark on His public ministry. Can we imagine Jesus as a baby with a price on His head and now standing humbly facing John. He is asking for Baptism and issharing repentance with all Judaea, Jerusalem and Galilee. We see Jesus, placing Himself with God who will judge all mankind, and with the people who will be facing judgement and who are deeply in need of repentance. John is astonished. Here is Jesus for whom he, John, was waiting, and why is He asking for baptism? Was there an agenda? Where is the wind, the fire and the cleaning of God’s barn? Certainly, John feels that Jesus should be baptizing him and asks, “are you going to come to me?” [v. 14]
What does Jesus say in response? [v. 15] His response is vital to the gospel story. Yes, He is coming to fulfill God’s plan, the promises which God had made ages ago and never forgotten; Yes, these promises will blow God’s wind, God’s spirit, through the world which will bring the fire of God’s just judgement on evil wherever it occurs and which will rescue God’s penitent people once and for all. This means whatever exile into which one may have been driven. But if He, Jesus is to do this He must humbly place Himself with God’s people. He must do this by taking their place, sharing their presence, living their life and finally dying their death. Yes, WOW! We may ask, What good will this do? How will it bring about the result John’s audience has been seeking? We shall find out as we move through Matthew – the rest of the story.
We share a glimpse as Jesus emerges from the water. The Israelites came out of the water, the Red Sea, [Ex. 13-14] and would soon receive the law. “And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. … “ [Ex. 20:1-3] “… Do not make any gods to be alongside of me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.” [Ex. 20:23] Read all of [Ex. 20]! The Israelites came out of the water of the Red Sea and were given the law, which confirmed their status as God’s chosen, God’s first born. Jesus came out of the water of the Jordan River, the water of baptism and received God’s spirit, God’s wind, God’s breath, in a new way declaring Him to be God’s chosen, Israel in one person. The dove, which symbolizes that moment and the coming judgement will not be received via a warlike or vindictive spirit – it will mean the making of peace. The Holy Spirit convicts us and we agree. It is the liturgy of life, just as Jesus will at last take the judgement upon Himself and make an end of it. We must learn here to be surprised by Jesus. He comes to fulfill God’s plans, not ours. We must carefully listen to Him and carefully watch what He does. If so, we will identify our real longings, our real hunger and those will be richly met. Those who, in repentance and faith, follow Jesus through baptism and along the road on which He will now lead us. We will find, if we listen, that the same voice from heaven speaks to us. We will learn to put aside our own plans and submit to His. We may be granted moments of vision. At the center we will find our loving Father. He will affirm us, equip us and fill us with His spirit; such that our lives are swept clean and made ready for use. This will be continuous!
[Matt. 4:1-11] – Temptation in the Wilderness – Jesus was tempted like other humans in every possible way. [Heb. 4:15] We should not be surprised. It was at His Baptism that He visibly fulfilled God’s call, placing Himself under the law. This was apparent to John, the folks and above all the devil. No wonder the devil appeared with three very telling, ‘If, then, challenges. Jesus must face these openly because they were an attempt to distort Jesus’ true identity. Jesus was: truly human, truly God’s son, servant to the world, and servant to all other people. Jesus had to face and defeat those temptations to be able to save the world.
Notice the clever choices the devil offers after 40 days of fasting in the desert. Temp # 1 If you are God’s son (all powerful); He (God) would not want you to be hungry (all loving); You are able to get food yourself (all powerful). You want people to see who you are (appeal to vanity); Do something spectacular (prove divinity). Then the devil dropped all pretense – forget heavenly father and worship me. (Sweet talk/force) Then the offer of a gift, that Jesus already possessed, but expressed in a temporary worldly manner – I will grant you - Jesus – power and greatness as no other. (Absolute falsification, a trademark of the devil.). Jesus sees through the trap and He replies with the Bible and God in His responses: Jesus is committed to living off God’s word (nourishment); Jesus trusts God completely; and Jesus does not have to deceive God to cause His Father to act. (Reciprocal love) There are multiple messages for us in these brief dialogues. The flesh may scream for satisfaction, the world may be seductive, the devil creates visions of power; but the God that loved Israel; the one Jesus knew as Father offered the reality of what it meant to be human, a true Israelite, and the Messiah.
These brief verses explode with Biblical references, all relative to Israel's time in the wilderness. Baptism/Red Sea; 40 days/40 years, but where Israel fails Jesus succeeds. Jesus is true to Israel – He brings light to the world. [v. 16] We see elements of Adam and Eve – a single command, a single temptation, a single devastating result. Jesus kept His eye on God. Thus, Jesus launched the mission to undo a millennia of human rebellion. However, this was not the end of the devil. Jesus would be tempted in every way: before going to the cross [v. 16:23]; and being mocked on the cross [v. 27:39-43] Those were not coincidental. Jesus refused to go the way of the tempter and thus embraced the cross. All of the devil’s work was to distract Him from His main vocation. His Baptism confirmed His mission of servanthood, that led to suffering and death. Translation - all efforts were meant to stop Him from executing God’s call - redeeming Israel, the world, and each of us. The daily temptations we face at critical moments may be the same as those faced by Jesus, and they have exactly the same point. They may be enticing us to sin, but the reality is temptation is designed to turn us from the path of the servanthood that our Baptism has commissioned for us. Baptism adopts us into the family of God and out of the family of man. Thus, God has a costly, but wonderful vocation for each of us. The enemy will do all in his power to thwart God’s purpose. If we can hear God’s still quiet voice, we will surely hear the quiet voice of the tempter. However, we have the same defense that was available to Jesus – Scripture. Use it, trust God, remember your calling, keep turning toward the light, say “No!” to the vice of darkness. 8/9 AMEN
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