Tag: Messiah

He Loved Them

 

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One of my favorite bible verses is John 13:1. I read it one time and it was different from many of the other times I read it. It was that translation that drew me to it. The verse means one thing taken alone and another when taken in context. Both ways are powerful so let’s take a look at both.

… when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (he now showed them the full extent of his love) John 13:1

       In context after the verse, we see Jesus wash the feet of his disciples showing that even the Son of God was a servant and showed humility as an example of how we are to live. If this world were to set pride aside and love each other with a servant’s heart, we would live in a much better place. A place that is one step closer to Heaven and the presence of God. This verse, in context, showed that Christ wanted his disciples to understand a very important lesson about his followers having a servant attitude and heart.

       The verse that first caught my attention and stirred my spirit had the words shown in prenthesis above. Instead of focusing on what comes after, my heart reach toward the beginning of the verse. Jesus knew that his time to go to the Father had come. It was time for him to be betrayed and crucified. Knowing that time had come, he was now going to show the full extent of his love to his diciples by dying for them even though they were not ready to fully understand his sacrifice. Imagine the love it takes to go to the cross when his disciples, and many people today, still don’t understand or accept his sacrifice. Imagine as a parent you sacrificing your well being and happiness to a child who may never understand or acknowledge your sacrifice. Although that is supposed to be our job as parents, the selfishness of this world draws parents away from the love our Father showed us by allowing His son to die for us.

       Neither understanding of God’s living word is incorrect. The lessons Jesus came to teach us are so numerous that his words live forever and grow in the hearts of his followers through the help of the Holy Spirit, the helper that Jesus promised us as he joined the Father in Heaven.

       Read this verse and see that Jesus loved his disciples to the end of his life and he continues to love us until the end of time. Don’t miss his perfect life and sacrifice for your sin, and don’t miss the servent’s heart we are called to have as we follow Jesus.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends – John 15:13

       Sometimes laying down your life means putting the well being of other before yours. Laying down your life could be death it could also be humility. Both require sacrifice, the laying down of your own self-interest and ambition.

Why was Jesus Baptised?

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                I heard a question a while back asking why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. If baptism represents a forgiveness of sin, and Jesus was sinless, why would that be necessary? Why would Jesus insist that He be baptized when John stated that he was unworthy? (Matthew 3:14) John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  People understand that baptism represents forgiveness but forget it also represents new life with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through acceptance of Jesus. (Romans 6:4) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. With that thought in mind we can look into why Jesus wanted to be baptized.

  • To Glorify God, who opened the sky and spoke in acknowledgment of His son
  • To pass the torch from John the Baptist who came to set the table for the arrival of the Messiah
  • To submit Himself and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sinners He was going to lead out of death and eventually lay down His life for
  • To represent the beginning of His ministry, His ordination by the Holy Spirit of God

                What if Jesus was baptized in order to begin His discipleship of man? Part of discipleship is living a life that someone can come along side and imitate in order to grow in the Spirit. The humility of God’s Word made flesh, God in the flesh, allowed Him to become like us as an example. God’s love allowed this to happen. The baptism of Jesus wasn’t about His sin, it was about His humble love and the beginning of the Gospel that would echo through time as He drew the children of God into reconciliation with the Father.

(Philippians 2:8) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient