Wise men still follow Jesus!

Luke 3:21-22

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Have you ever been asked the question or have you ask it; “Did you see that?”  It has happened to most of us when something occurs that is outside of the possibility of the normal.  It may have been a foolish act, an act of something in nature, or something so amazing that you questioned what you saw and heard.  Is this what happened the day the Holy Spirit came and descended in the form of a dove on Jesus after His baptism?

In the gospel according to Matthew, we have the Holy Spirit allowing Matthew to be more descriptive while Luke is more to the point.  Matthew 3:13-17, “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. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3:13-17 ESV)

In Matthew’s account, Jesus is still living in or at least coming from Galilee, John does not want to baptize Jesus for He has no doubt Jesus is the Messiah and only agrees to do so after Jesus explains it was an act of fulfilling all righteousness.  We must recall that John’s baptism was one of repentance and sinless Jesus had no need of it, but John knew that all men needed the baptism that only Jesus could give; the baptism of the Spirit.  Now we have two accounts in Luke’s gospel, we are not told who saw the Spirit land in the form of a dove on Jesus, or who heard the voice of the Father, and in Matthew it seems it was Jesus who was the witness.  This is why we need to study, for in the Gospel according to John we have this account of what took place on that very special day: “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”  (John 1:29-34 ESV)

Who was John sharing this with?  The answer is found in John 1:35-37, “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.”   But never forget, this book we refer to as the Bible, God’s Word, it is living and current and John was also speaking those words to you and to me.  Wise men still follow Jesus!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice