Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

A Prayer Prompted by Luke 4

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Father in Heaven,

Thank you for all that we can learn from Jesus and the way he carried out his ministry.

Thank you that he showed us how to defeat the devil by only being filled with the Spirit and filled with your Word.  Please fill us with your Spirit this day.  Help us further to be students of the Scriptures.  We want to be able to use the Bible rightly whenever we face the many temptations that we do.  

Help us also to have discernment to know the difference between the truth, which comes from you, and the lies that our enemy so craftily tells us.

Teach us to pray about every need, not least the many sicknesses that we face in this life.

And finally, help us to seek you first, so that we might constantly grow in our faith, and help us to set our priorities in accordance with your will.

In Christ,

Amen.

 

Jesus got baptized – John 3:21-22

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21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 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.”

One of the more remarkable things about this passage is that Jesus got baptized at all.  If anyone had zero need for a baptism of repentance, it was Jesus.  Matthew 3:15 adds the detail that Jesus said it was “to fulfill all righteousness,” but I confess I do not find it easy to say what that even means under the circumstances.

But I do see that many people were being baptized and they certainly saw that they needed a baptism of repentance, even if Jesus didn’t.  At least some of Christ’s earliest disciples were first followers of John, who in turn saw himself as Christ’s forerunner.  Finally, we also know from a later verse, Luke 7:30, that many Pharisees and lawyers did not receive the baptism of John.  

Under the circumstances, we might at least see that Jesus did not want to be confused with self-satisfied Pharisees and lawyers.  If there was to be any confusion, let it be that the sinless Son of God and Messiah went all the way in his identification with sinful humanity.  A baptism of repentance?  He submitted to it, just like so many of his followers.  John, who was some kind of blood relative, saw Jesus outwardly and obviously supporting his ministry.  Christ did everything he could to be “one of us.”

And isn’t that the great thing about him?  God the Son emptied himself and he began his public ministry getting baptized by John.

Luke 2 – Verse by Verse

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Luke tells about the birth of Christ including details that probably came from Mary.  This chapter shows Jesus at the temple shortly after his birth and later, when he was twelve.

Luke 02.pdf

Luke 02.mp3

The old man at the temple – Luke 2:22-32

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22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

This text does not exactly say that Simeon was old, but I’ve always pictured him that way.  He indicates he is now ready to die and his happy that he can do so in peace, having finally seen Jesus, the child of promise.

I admire the old guy.  His perseverance and faith are worth imitating.  How often are we tempted to give up when we are simply tired of waiting.  The enemy attacks people in their maturity the way a lion might look for a antelope lagging behind the herd. 

But not Simeon.  He was righteous, devout, sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and waiting.  Mostly waiting by this time I would guess.  He knew how to express his faith by his faithfulness.

The thing about perseverance and faith like this is that it is acquired by not giving up.  Does that sound simplistic? Maybe so, but it is not simple.  In fact, it can be hard.  Giving up is relatively easy – you just stop trying.  

But not Simeon.  I pray and commit to not being a quitter either, and I am praying that right now for you.  Like Simeon, the old man at the temple, we should each aspire to someday being that old man or woman in the church.