Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

February 8, 2021

2/8/2021

A Beginning With a Double Message

        And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:16, 17, RSV.

    Jesus' baptism represented the official announcement of the Messiah's arrival and the beginning of His ministry. Not only did it give John the opportunity to openly proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Savior (John 1:29-34), but it also provided God the Father with the opportunity for a public validation.

    The Gospels present three events related to the baptism. First, the heavens opened, symbolizing the restoration of communication between heaven and earth. Since the death of the last of the Hebrew prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) some 400 years before, Israel had had no direct visions from the Holy Spirit. The opening of heaven indicated that the period of prophetic barrenness had ended.

    Second, "the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him." We should not interpret that event as implying that Jesus did not have the Holy Spirit before. After all, He was the Son of Mary "through the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18, NIV). Rather, it marks a turning point in the plan of salvation, for only after the Spirit comes does the Messiah's ministry begin. Beyond that, the reception of the Spirit places Jesus in line with several Old Testament heroes, including Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 15:14), and Saul (1 Sam. 10:6). Time after time in the Old Testament, individuals began their work for God after the Spirit rested upon them. So it was with Jesus.

    The third post-baptismal event was the voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

    That heavenly proclamation had a profound message embedded in it. The words from heaven were a fusion of two Old Testament verses--Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. All Jews accepted Psalm 2 as a description of the Messianic ruler who was to come. The quotation from Isaiah ("with whom I am well pleased") begins a passage of God's Servant, whose destiny was to suffer abuse and opposition that climaxes in the great Messianic passage of Isaiah 53, in which the Servant is "wounded for...the iniquity of us all" (verses 5, 6, RSV).

    Thus Jesus left His baptism with two certainties. (1) That He was indeed the chosen One of God. And (2) that the way in front of Him was that of the cross. He might be King, but His throne would be a cross.

February 7, 2021

2/7/2021

Jesus Shocks John

        Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. Matt. 3:13-15, ESV.

    One of the most shocking things in John the Baptist's ministry is that Jesus came to him to be baptized. After all, hadn't he already publicly announced Jesus as the one who will baptize with a baptism superior to his own (Matt. 3:11)? And now Jesus shows up as a recipient of baptism as His first adult action in the Gospel story. No wonder John is shocked.

    Here we have an act of Jesus that could easily have been misunderstood. After all, John's baptism was one of repentance, accompanied by confession. Yet the entire redemption story hinges on Jesus' sinless nature. Is this request for baptism an admission that He is wedged in the bog of sin like the rest of us? Given the facts, it is little wonder that John remonstrates with Jesus, claiming that He should baptize Him.

    But Jesus won't take no for an answer. He directs John to "let it be so now," thereby implying that their relationship will change in the future as Jesus' Lordship comes more into the open. In the meantime, He tells the Baptist, "It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness" (verse 15, NIV).

    Part of the implication of that statement is that through His baptism Jesus became an example that His followers were to emulate. Thus Ellen White claims "Jesus did not receive baptism as a confession of guilt on His own account. He identified Himself with sinners, taking the steps that we are to take, and doing the work that we must do" (The Desire of Ages, p. 111).

    We should never forget that though He was personally sinless, Jesus identified with sinners throughout His life. Not only did He end His ministry on a cross between two thieves, but He began His public work in a river among penitent sinners. He was truly "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).

    But that is only part of the story. Just as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by descending into the river and came "up out of it" (Mark 1:10; cf Acts 8:38, 39), so His followers are to be immersed in the watery grave, symbolizing that each has died to the old way of life and been raised to a new way that "we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:1-4, RSV).

    Baptism for us, as it was for Jesus, is a visible sign of a conscious choice that we have decided to dedicate our lives totally to God and His kingdom.

February 6, 2021

2/6/2021

The True Significance of Jesus

        Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

    People have said many things about Jesus, but none have been more insightful or important than the short sentence of the Baptist as he saw Jesus coming over a rise: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (RSV). The next day he again called Him "the Lamb of God" (verse 36).

    That phrase may not mean much to those of us in the twenty-first century. Many of us have never even seen a real lamb. And none of us has ever sacrificed one. But for John's listeners it was a phrase pregnant with meaning.

    Their minds would have gone back to the Jerusalem Temple, the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the book of Leviticus, which sets forth the centrality of the sacrifice of innocent lambs to foreshadow the events that would eventually transpire on Calvary where Jesus would die "once for all" (Heb. 10:10, 14) as the real Lamb of God for the salvation of all humanity.

    The Old Testament sacrificial system was essentially substitutionary. Sinners brought their sacrificial animals before the Lord, laid their hands on the animals' heads, and confessed their sins, thereby symbolically transferring them to the animals that were to die as offerings in their place.

    It appears that through time the Israelites lost the full impact of the significance of the sacrificial system as the multitude of repetitions dulled their sensitivity to what was taking place. But for Adam and Eve, who had never seen death, the impact must have been crushing. With every pulsation of the cut arteries in the lamb's neck would come the powerful message that "the wages of sin is death," that the lamb had died in their place and for their sins.

    If we moderns are disgusted by such a teaching, just think how much more so is the teaching of the New Testament that Jesus, the eternal God, is the Lamb of God who died to take "away the sins of the world." The reality of that shed blood stands at the foundation of all the metaphors of salvation in the New Testament, including redemption (Eph. 1:7), justification (Rom. 5:9), reconciliation (Col. 1:20), propitiation (Rom. 3:25), and cleansing (Heb. 9:23).

    John's teaching that Jesus is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" provides the very foundation of the gospel and Christianity.

    Without that Lamb we would still be lost in our sins and subject to the death that He took on Himself. Praise God for the Lamb!

February 5, 2021

2/5/2021

More Lessons for "Dirty Little Rats"

        After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:7, 8, RSV.

        He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30

    In spite of all his peculiarities and forceful ways, John the Baptist was truly a great man. Not only did the common people travel long distances to hear him, but even the exalted religious leaders of the nation. And they not only listened, but they put up with his "insults" to their positions and characters. Eventually even the head of state would call for a meeting with him. John was truly a person of influence and prestige.

    While that is true, it is also true that he never fell into the same pit as most of the rest of us "dirty little rats." Let me explain. I once knew a great evangelist who was a genuine success. He had brought thousands of people into the church. But he had succumbed to the habit of believing in his own greatness. We could say the same thing, of course, of great pastors, local church leaders, and even church members. There seems to be enough "ratness" in the world to go around.

    One of the serious problems of human success in any line is its proximity to failure. And failure dominates when human beings begin to take the credit for success for themselves, when their vision of themselves becomes exalted, when they in essence point to themselves rather than to Jesus by their manners and subtle ways of saying things. That is the essence of "ratness."

    The Baptist saw the problem clearly. And I imagine that he faced the same temptations to greatness as you and I. But he had discovered the most important lesson any of us can learn. Namely, that our self-centeredness is the root of our sin and the problems that flow from it.

    John himself set forth the solution when his followers realized that the ministry of Jesus was overshadowing his own (John 3:26). But that was no big deal to John. He had learned the most important lesson in life: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

    Dear friend, it is time to join John. Today we need to stop pointing to ourselves, to stop feeling that we are better than other people, and to let Jesus have his rightful place.

        Help us, Father.

February 4, 2021

2/4/2021

A Message for "Dirty Little Rats"

        In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 3:1, 2, RSV.

    Yesterday we met the "uncouth" John the Baptist; a revolutionary who didn't even honor the dress code for ministers; a preacher who apparently didn't understand the rules of religious etiquette. After all, he went so far as to thunder that even church members and leaders in high places should repent. And that God didn't even need them--that He could make good Jews (and Adventists) out of rocks if they didn't shape up.

    John's message centers on the central requirement of each and every one of us every day: repent "for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4, RSV).

    Repentance is one of those religious words that is easy for us to throw around without really coming to grips with its meaning. Most people confuse feeling sorry for their sins with repentance. As Steps to Christ points out, "multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin" (p. 23).

    Halford Luccock has it right when he writes that "repentance, in John's preaching, was a thoroughgoing change." The word "calls for a right-about face, a will turned in a new direction....It is more even than being sorry for one's sins. It is a moral and spiritual revolution. For that reason to repent genuinely is one of the hardest things in the world; yet it is basic to all spiritual change and progress. It calls for the complete breakdown of pride, of self-assurance, of the prestige that comes from success, and of that inmost citadel which is self-will."

    Repentance in John's message led to confession. And here we need to be clear that confession does not begin with saying to God that we are sorry. The initial step in true confession is to come to grips with ourselves. Someone noted that we find the first step to saving grace illustrated by a man shaving one morning. As he looked at his own face in the mirror, he suddenly cried out, "You dirty little rat!" From that admission flows confession to God and other people whom we have wronged.

    John's message is for all of us "dirty little rats" to stop justifying our actions and get on our knees. It makes no difference if our sins are of the nasty or vegetarian (e.g., pride in goodness or religious pedigree) type. All of us this day need to heed John's call.

February 3, 2021

2/3/2021

Countercultural John

                        As it is written in the Prophets:
        "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.' "

        John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Mark 1:2-6, NKJV.

    Not an average person, this John the Baptist. The very description of him portrays him as a person in protest of the status quo. Avoiding the luxury of the city for the brutal desert near the Dead Sea, he had given up fine clothes and ate a diet of locusts and wild honey. We are not exactly sure what the locusts were, since the Greek word has two possible meanings. It was either a grasshopper-like insect that Leviticus 11:22, 23 declared clean or it could have been a kind of bean (carob) meaning, Scripture introduces John the Baptist as a countercultural revolutionary.

    In spite of his oddness, or perhaps because of it, he could draw a crowd to hear his message of repentance, confession, the arrival of the kingdom, and the need to be baptized. Mark tells us that "all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him." "All," of course, does not mean every last person. But it does signify that this rugged man from the desert has a major impact on not only the people but also the Jewish leadership. First-century Jewish historian Josephus tells us that John's influence was even felt by Herod, "who feared lest the great influence to raise a rebellion" (Antiquities 18.5.2).

    The prophet, however, was not after Herod's throne. He desired his soul. No one could see or hear John the Baptist and view him as anything but countercultural. He not only looked the part but he had a countercultural message--one just as needed in the twenty-first century as in the first.

    Before exploring that message, we should note that Mark introduces this powerful preacher who hails the new age of the kingdom of God with an Old Testament quotation, thereby signaling that Christianity is not a new religion but a development from within Judaism. Jesus and His message are not an afterthought of a failed plan for the Jewish nation, but they are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. He is the Messiah predicted from the earliest pages of Scripture. God's plan has moved orderly in the past. And it will do so in the future.

February 2, 2021

2/2/2021

The Call to Be Ponderers

           But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19, NIV.

        "Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?" But [Mary and Joseph] did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. Verses 49-51, NIV.

    Pondering! That's what mothers do best. Well, it may not be what they do best, but it does seem to be what they do all the time. They are wired differently than men. The typical father might be concerned about his children from time to time, especially when they are having a difficult time or have taken a wrong turn. But a mother's concern has a constancy that bewilders most males.

    Mothers are ponderers. My mother was. She kept a little book for each of her four children. In it she placed the first lock of hair sheared from my head, noted the dates when I began to crawl and then walk, kept a record of my growth in terms of height and weight, and wrote out verbatim my first words and my memorable sayings.

    Mary was like that. She kept a notebook in her heart. And what a notebook it must have been. On the positive side, she had an angel announcing to her that she would give birth as a virgin and that her child would be the Son of God and the Messiah. Then there were the angel-inspired shepherds praising God for His birth and mission. And, of course, she could not forget the Magi from the East who followed a star that wasn't a star and also came and worshipped the newborn as the king of Israel. Such occurrences would have led any mother to ponder.

    But then there was the downside, the shadowy aspect, of His early years that would send shudders into any mother's heart. Not only did His birth lead to Herod's massacre of the babies of Bethlehem that they had barely escaped by fleeing to Egypt, but there was also that mixed message of Simeon, who recognized Jesus as the Savior, while also noting that He would be like a sword that would pierce Mary's soul.

    And now this boy was disclaiming Joseph and telling His mother that His Father was God. And yet He was their Child. He lived in their home and ate their food like any other youngster. It is little wonder that Mary pondered all these things and hid them in her heart.

    We need to do the same thing. Every day we must turn our eyes upon Jesus and ponder the meaning of His life and death for us as individuals. Today and every day we need to meditate upon Him and his significance. In short, God wants us all to be ponderers.

February 1, 2021

2/1/2021

Jesus Begins to Get the Picture

        After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Luke 2:46-49, RSV.

    The scene is understandable enough. A Jewish boy entered manhood when he was 12 years of age. At that time he became "a son of the law" (what would later be called bar [son of] mitzvah [the commandment]). After his Bar Mitzvah a Jewish youth is morally responsible for his actions and is eligible to participate in public worship.

    As a result, we find Jesus traveling to Jerusalem with His parents for the ceremony. But the story takes an unexpected twist when they depart without Him and had to return to find their "lost" Son.

    But Jesus wasn't lost. To the contrary, on that short trip He had discovered His real "home." The Temple ceremonies as He viewed them for the first time led to an understanding of His mission in life. The Desire of Ages notes that day by day He saw the meaning of the Temple services more clearly, especially through the sacrificing of the Passover lamb. "Every act seemed to be bound up with His own life. New impulses were awakening within Him. Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great problem. The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour" (p. 78).

    Meanwhile Mary and Joseph were in a state of panic. No one likes to lose a child, but to lose the promised Savior must have been a jolt to their hearts.

    Two things stand out upon their discovery of their growing Son. First, He subtly disowned Joseph as His father. Mary had called Joseph "your father." But Jesus responded that He had all the while been in "my Father's house," indicating that He had grasped the fact that He was the Son of God in a unique way. A second point to note is the amazement of the nation's foremost teachers as this young man asked them penetrating questions about the meaning of the Temple system and set forth profound answers in the mutual discussion.

    Inspiration includes these few verses in the story of Christ's life because they represent a major turning point: Jesus now knows more fully who He is and the nature of His life's mission as the sacrificial Lamb of God. Yet that recognition did not make Him proud or haughty to Mary and Joseph. He returned with them and remained "obedient to them" (Luke 2:51, RSV).