Baptismal Depths

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: Is it right to expect that following Jesus should be free of trouble?

Bible Reading:  Mark 1:9-13

Insight: For Mark, the story he has to tell is breathtaking. His favourite word throughout the story is “immediately”. The translators of the NIV haven’t remebered to include it in verse 10, but Mark actually wrote, “and immediately, coming up out of the water . . .”  This Baptism was no polite little dribbling of a few drops of water on Jesus! Dramatically John plunged Jesus under the water. This must have been so spectacular for Jesus – down into a place of watery death, and then being lifted into the light and air of life – what a flash vision of His death and resurrection! Yes, this baptism was no dull ritual, but an action full of meaning: repentance, surrendering to the Father’s will and a breathing in of the mighty breath of God’s Holy Spirit. Baptism was never meant to be some minor “Hello!” to God but rather a heart-felt passionate and intensive commitment to the Lord of everything through time and eternity. How full and rich is our relationship with God?

That’s not the end of this deep experience. Heaven is torn open for amazing things to happen. The Holy Spirit swoops down like a beautiful bird. Instead of some hoot from its beak there’s an astonishing voice full of divine majesty. God the Father movingly declares a love for Jesus that is richer and more glorious than any human relationship has known – or ever will know. As we think and imagine this awe-filled scene, we recognise that Jesus is not some human being trying to look impressive – rather He is One Who is in total divine oneness with God the Heavenly Father. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

God gives us opportunities to understand and experience the awesome power and beauty of His holiness, goodness, glory, unlimited authority, love and joy. Sometimes this comes as we pray, sometimes as we worship, often as we read His word, and sometimes as we experience His Holy Spirit speaking God’s wisdom and care into our hearts. We need to be open to these special moments of intimacy from God’s heart.

Our reaction to all this is to want to bathe for hours, days, months, in the beauty of it all. But Mark reveals that it was at this moment there came another “immediate”. “Immediately the Spirit sent Him out into the desert, and He was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan.” (verses 12 & 13).  The times of rich intimacy with God so very often are not for us to revel in the joy, or to think ourselves so important that God has chosen us to experience such wonders. No, they are to strengthen our trust in God and our dependence on His power so that we may be able to withstand the black times of testing, conflict, trouble and tragedy. Satan and all the powers of evil and darkness will use every strategy they can to undermine our faith and turn our lives away from God. 1 John chapter 4, verse 4 reminds us that “the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” Frequently those who are baptised find that very soon after their baptism all sorts of things ‘go wrong’ and profound temptations overwhelm them. But it’s not only then that Satan brings us trouble – he keeps on coming at us throughout our Christian discipleship.  How important it is to hold fast to Jesus and His power and superior might so that we may be “more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.” (Romans 8:37).

The trials, temptations, troubles and tragedies that come so suddenly and with such viciousness can make us feel so alone – even deserted from God.  Mark tells us that in the midst of all the attacks of satan upon Jesus “anngels attended (served, cared for, helped, supported) Him”. And Jesus assured His disciples shortly before His crucifixion: “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Will you take that assurance , and trust Him in all of life’s troubles and temptations?

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

Thank you to Richard Soar for today’s Bible Reading

Where Discipleship Begins

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: We can’t proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus Truth. (Eugene H. Peterson)

Bible Reading:  Matthew 3:11-17

Insight: John the baptist created a huge stir with his preaching and baptising out in the waste desert area near the River Jordan.  Many people went to find out what it was all about. Some came just to criticise.  Others came, pretending they were accepting all John was saying. But really they thought they might as well accept baptism, just in case it might mean they earned some extra approval points from God to keep them in His good books. But really they weren’t taking it seriously.  And some were really wanting what John was talking about. They were taking it seriously.  In every part of our lives there is always the need to ask ourselves to what extent we are taking our commitment to Christ seriously.

“I baptise you in water for repentance,” said John.  Repentance means honestly accepting that our lives are far from right. It means we hate the Godless things we think and do which rebel against God’s purpose for our lives. So we want to turn away from that completely, and turn to God, saying we are genuinely sorry and want to follow Him now.  This may well produce a deep conflict in our hearts and minds, as such repentance involves things we would rather not face. We are used to excusing many of our thoughts, actions and attitudes, finding all sorts of reasons why they are not really important. Shame can cause us to shut our minds to what we are really like. Often people will testify that they accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour because they saw Him as a great help, and that He was “cool”. But if we are to become a Christian, we cannot avoid facing ourselves, our rebellion and our sin, and confessing to God honestly what we have been and what we have done.

John the baptist wasn’t wanting people to follow him. He spoke of Jesus – the One Who is so powerful that He baptises with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This Jesus will bring about massive change, burning away our rebellious and selfish nature and bringing us into an increasingly intimate life with the all-powerful God of time and eternity.

Our repentance and baptism lead us on into a humble obedience to this God who is so mighty that we must take obedience to Him incredibly seriously. Jesus is fully one with the Father. And Jesus insisted on being baptised by John. For He knew it was the Father’s will for Him. His obedience is the example we must follow in every part of life.

Repentance and obedience bring us into deepening spiritual maturity. Verses 16 and 17 of Matthew 3 records Jesus hearing, seeing and experiencing the Father’s wonderful approval and delight. It is not that acts of obedience are a way of “earning” God’s approval, but rather that the depth of obedience in our lives opens up within our hearts a new sensitivity to the love which God has for us and the joy of seeing how His Holy Spirit working within us is making us more like Jesus. We realise that our obedience is not “ticking a box” to earn acceptance, but an expression of worship from us – a thanksgiving that we can live in the new life God has given us in Jesus Christ. And as God receives that worshipful joy from us we are drawn into an ever-deepening holy and majestic intimacy with Him Who is King of kings, and Lord of all. We can live today and every day giving to God the worship that comes from lives of obedience and hearts that rejoice with deep praise and thankfulness.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

Further Reading: You may find it helpful to read William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible on this passage in Mattthew (see volume 1)

Thank you to Richard Soar for today’s Bible Reading

Related articles

• And they all lived happily ever after (252dailybiblestudy.wordpress.com)

John the Baptist confronts the crowds

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: 

Bible Reading: Luke 3:10-20

Insight: John was clearly a popular preacher. Many different types of people came to hear what he said. And while he spoke of repentance and turning from sin it appears that people also took the opportunity to confess their sins to him. To a confession of selfishness, John demands generosity. To those that collected the Roman taxes, often collecting more than was demanded by the Roman rulers, John demanded honesty. To the soldiers who confessed extortion and greed John demanded integrity.

While many thought that John was the Messiah, John never said that he was and in fact always confirmed that the true Messiah was coming soon, but was coming after him.

John’s baptism washed dirt off the outside, but the baptism the Messiah would bring would burn off all of a person’s impurities. Jesus would be like a blacksmith who heats up metal and makes it into something new. Great news for those that genuinely repent, but for those that don’t, John also warned of destruction. It was a common sight in John’s day to see labourers on a hill using a long handled, three-pronged fork to toss a mixture of wheat and chaff into the air. As the chaff caught the breeze it would have blown away and the wheat fallen back to the threshing room floor. Once the dry chaff had been set alight there would have been little that could have stopped the hungry flames from quickly taking hold. The fire would have died as quickly as it started, leaving nothing but a small pile of ashes. Jesus will be the difference that makes us wheat or chaff.

This seems to be just a sample of John’s teaching which took place over time and in various locations. There doesn’t appear to be anyone that escaped John’s teaching, even the governor Herod was not exempt. Boldly, John highlighted Herod’s sin and, like so many others that stand up against injustice in the name of God, he paid for his courage with his life.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

The preaching of John the Baptist part 3

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Introduction: In Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth we hear the story from Joseph’s point of view.

Consider: Are there any parts of your life that need to be turned around?

Bible Reading: Luke 3:1-9

Insight: Luke begins by reminding us that Israel was under Roman rule at this time. Tiberius was the stepson of the Emperor Augustus and a very cruel man. He was tyrannical and committed despicable crimes. Pontius Pilate was not only governor of Judea but also a military commander making him a higher ranking official than you would otherwise find here. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great who killed all those babies in Bethlehem. Although we reigned for over 40 years he was eventually deposed and banished to Gaul. All of these rulers were powerful and cruel but they were destined to be brought down, not through a battle of strength, as the Israelites expected, but through love and compassion.

The Roman authorities had deposed the high priest some 15 years earlier but it appears that Israel still regarded Annas as their legitimate high priest.

We don’t know in what form this Word of God came to John while he was in the wilderness, but he would have known that he was destined for a particular work. People would still have been talking about the circumstances relating to his birth and crowds of people would have been curious to see what this son of Zacharias had to say. They were waiting expectantly for this royal warrior that would rule with justice, not only Israel but the whole world. They longed for someone who would take revenge on the Roman rulers that were so cruel. They had no idea about how far they had fallen away from God’s ideal. No wonder there was a mixed response to John’s message!

John’s father Zacharias was a priest who upheld the traditions and rituals at the Temple. He was one that would perform ceremonies that reminded people that they are sinners. The ceremonies at the Temple would also include washing to ensure that the priests and people were as clean as they could be when they presented their offerings to God. John doesn’t do what is expected and become a priest like his father. Instead he lives this humble life in the dessert, on the outside of mainstream society, a bit like an Old Testament prophet may have done.

John’s radical and controversial message is that the rituals and ceremonies of the Temple are soon to be unnecessary. People don’t need to go to the Temple to get clean anymore, if they will turn their lives around, John will cleanse them in the river. The word for repentance means a ‘change of mind’, turning from old thoughts, turning lives around. Only with this change of mindset would John’s baptism mean anything. Some though may have looked at Baptism as a ‘just in case’ activity and perhaps it is to these people that he boldly speaks harsh words.

In places where roads are few, and not very well maintained, a great deal of effort would be needed to prepare and repair them when the time came for a dignitary to travel along them. Potholes would need to be filled and lumps would need to be smoothed out. John though is not looking to prepare any physical roads, he is calling for hearts and minds to be prepared for the coming King. Only then, when people are prepared would Jesus begin his work.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:25-26)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

The preaching of John the Baptist part 2

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: How consistent is the way you live your life with the things that you preach or tell people you believe.

Bible Reading: Mark 1:1-8

Insight: The preaching of John the Baptist was predicted by Isaiah and Malachi. Mark, like other writers when they quote two different sentences that say the same thing but are from different places, quotes them as the same testimony. They are both saying that John’s preaching of repentance was preparation for the beginning of Jesus public ministry.

Repentance is preparation for the receiving of the grace of Christ. Through the symbolic cleansing of their outer bodies people were preparing themselves to receive the cleansing of their soul through the Holy Spirit that Jesus would bring. What John started, Jesus fulfilled, perfected and finished.

God took care to prepare the way for Jesus, why would he not take care to prepare the way for us and the life he asks us to live?

The most respected saints are always the most humble and John not only preached about a life of repentance and humility, he lived it too. Camels were very common and the rough, course fabric clearly illustrated his lowly lifestyle. Locusts were food for common people (and are still widely eaten today) and the honey made by wild bees was inferior in flavour, both were consistent with someone living such a sombre lifestyle.

It was a menial task for a slave to bow low and put his master’s shoes on or take them off. John is saying that Jesus is his master and that he was a servant of Jesus. Some say that Jesus’ sandal represents his humanity and that there is a powerful illustration here where the Son of God is dressed in our humanity.

John the baptist tells us that Jesus will baptise us with or in the Holy Spirit. To be baptised ‘in’ something there has to be plenty of it. Jesus doesn’t baptise us with a dribble of Holy Spirit, he immerses us in Holy Spirit, cleansing us inside and out and filling the gaps in us with holiness, love, grace and mercy.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)

and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. (Malachi 3:4)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

The lamb and the Spirit

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: Thank God that he has erased and permanently removed your sins from you.

Bible Reading:  John 1:29-34

Insight: John, the author of today’s reading was a follower of John the Baptist, perhaps even baptised by him and perhaps a first hand witness of the events that took place on this day. Yesterday we heard that John was like a town crier, or a herald that was telling people to get ready because the Messiah would be there soon. Today, he points out exactly who they have been preparing for.

Jesus appears through the crowd and is identified to John through insight revealed by the Holy Spirit. He tells the crowd that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that will permanently blot out our sin. A few days ago we read that not long after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple to make an offering. They were required to sacrifice a lamb in order to make themselves pure again (but they couldn’t afford a lamb and sacrificed two birds instead). This was a ritual that went right the way back to the night when Moses led the israelites out of slavery in Egypt. That night, each Israelite family killed, cooked and ate a lamb, but before they did, they painted the blood of the lamb on their door posts. When the angel of death came that night he entered every home without lamb’s blood on the door and, because of their sins and they way they had treated the Israelites so badly, he killed their firstborn son. Every home with blood on the door posts, the angel passed over – the Passover. In calling Jesus the Lamb of God John recognised that Jesus would be like the lambs used for offerings, but when he died, his blood would ensure that anyone who believes in him would be saved from their sins and made pure.

If John’s parents had died while he was young, John may not have known his cousin at all or at least not seen him for many years but he possibly knew about him and the story of his conception and birth. He knew enough at least to recognise how great Jesus was. And his comment about ‘He existed long before me’ suggests he had a very good understanding of Jesus’ relationship with God and swears that what he says he saw is absolutely true.

Jesus could not begin his ministry until John had completed his. John needed to prepare people, to challenge them to think differently and to be baptised so that they would be ready to receive the Holy Spirit that Jesus would bring.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (Zechariah 13:1)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

Related articles

• Simeon and Anna (252dailybiblestudy.wordpress.com)

The preaching of John the Baptist

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Consider: Have you ever seen a royal parade? What was it like? Check out this video from a couple of years ago of a Royal Parade at Windsor Castle

Bible Reading: Matthew 3:1-10

Insight: John is a lone voice shouting out and telling the people that the King is on his way. He uses words that the Israelites would have been familiar with, words that once offered hope to the Israelites when they heard that God would rescue them from exile in Babylon. This time they were to be rescued from their sins. They are to make the road clear, to line the streets and prepare the way for the King to visit. They are to get their houses and lives in order because the King, God himself, is coming back to bring hope and forgiveness and healing and deliverance. Get ready for God’s Kingdom to come here on earth.

Prophets before John had said that God would come back when his people repented of their sins and turned back to him. This is what John called them to do and many of them came to be baptised. They confessed their sins and were symbolically washed clean. More than this, baptism reminded the Jews of the time that Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan river, out of the wilderness, into the promised land and into a new life. The call to baptism is also a call to new life.

Baptism itself is not enough though, John calls for real repentance, for people to do a 180 turn in their hearts and lives. He has little time for the Pharisees and Sadducees who are so full of pride and arrogance that they can’t see what is going on right in front of them. John attacks their pride at being ‘children of Abraham’ and therefore ‘ok’ as a particularly ridiculous idea – God is creator, why wouldn’t he be able to make new children for Abraham out of rocks?

John’s message is not all comfort – God isn’t the indulgent parent that we sometimes think. God demands our all, our complete allegiance and for us to be fruitful. Those that don’t give their all are useless to him.

Pause: Stop and listen to the voice of God, don’t rush on.

Picture: Is there a picture in scripture or in the world around you that helps?

Ponder: Think more deeply. What else does this relate to and what else does scripture say?

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10)

Pray: Spend time in conversation with God; be completely honest and open.

Promise: Decide what needs to change, commit to it and consider writing it in your journal.

Further Reading: Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone Part 1.