Summer 2011 Bible Study: Week 1 Day 3

I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely head over heels excited to be spending time together with Jesus. But the thing that keeps running through my mind every day, is that I have to make time for Him. I have to go out of my way; I have to leave things undone and choose Him. I have to choose HIM over the dishes. I have to choose HIM over a 30 minute TV show. In order to nurture my relationship with HIM, like any relationship, I have to spend time with HIM. I often compare my relationship with Him to my other relationships in my life. In order to have a healthy relationship with my girlfriends, we talk, we text, we Facebook chat, we just spend time together. The same is true for my relationship with my husband. And the same is true with my relationship with my Sweet Jesus. So, I sit here, computer in hand, Bible open, sticky notes out, colored pens chosen (today have chosen to use orange and pink). I leave behind the dishes in the sink, the laundry that needs to be folded in the dryer, the fact that sometimes there is nothing more I want to do than lay on the couch and watch mindless TV, and I willingly come to meet with my Sweet Jesus. You with me?

Lord, As I spend time with you today bless me with an out pouring of Your unfailing love, and remind me of the salvation I have in You. Remind me that Your word is eternal and it stands firm in the heavens. Bless my time in Your Word, teach me more about You. I praise you because your faithfulness continues through all generations and your love endures forever. Come, and meet with me today. Amen.

So, let’s dive right in, shall we?

Turn with me to Matthew, Chapter 3.

Take a few minutes and read Matthew 3:1-17

I have come to find out that almost 30 years had passed between the events we talked about yesterday, in Chapter 2 and the events we will learn about today. And one of the things I have come to love about John the Baptist is that he is NOT John the Apostle. Now, for the longest time, I thought they were one I in the same, but come to find out, they are two entirely different people. Trust me when I say, the Lord has a sense of humor. So, as I started researching who John the Baptist was, I have come to learn that his life on earth was more than just baptizing people.

John the Baptist’s adult like was characterized by his devotion and complete utter surrender to our Sweet Jesus. John 1:23 tells us that John the Baptists’ voice was a “lone voice in the wilderness”. His desire was to “Make straight the way of the Lord.” This man, LOVED his Jesus. He was an evangelist. He couldn’t keep from telling people about his Sweet Savior. He was filled with faith.

While John was known as “the Baptist,” he was in fact the first prophet called by God since Malachi some 400 years before his own birth. John’s own coming was foretold over 700 years previously by another prophet. Isaiah 40:3-5 tells us: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’" This passage illustrates God’s attention to detail and the very fact that He selected John to be His special ambassador to proclaim His own coming.

Take a careful look at Matthew 3:4-6. John dressed differently than those around him, he ate different food and people still came to him. We learn that people came to him confessing their sins and he baptized them! Regardless of how this man dressed or what he ate or where he lived, the Lord brought people to him. He was outspoken, yet he spoke the Truth, he looked different, yet loved deeply and he trusted Jesus above all else.

He baptized people in the Jordan River, which was about 70 miles long with its main section stretching between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. You couldn’t miss this river if you tried. This was a significant place in history, this was where things happened and this is where John the Baptist washed clean the people who came to him through baptism.

Take a minute and read Matthew 3:7-12. This is where I fall madly in love with John the Baptist. You see, I am not one to shy away from telling people what I think, in fact, more times than not I find myself on my knees, asking for forgiveness about the things I have said to others. So I can learn a lot from these five verses.

Ephesians 4:15 recommends that we, lovers of Sweet Jesus, speak the truth in love, and I believe these five verses are great examples of how to do that. John the Baptist didn’t back down from the truth, he spoke boldly, yet respectfully. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t agree on much, but both groups of people opposed Jesus. John the Baptist criticized the Pharisees for being legalistic and hypocritical. He was firm with them in their desire to follow the law rather than love the Savior. He didn’t stop there; he then turned to the Sadducees and spoke strongly to them about using religion to advance political positions and thoughts.

One of the things John the Baptist did NOT do, is use filthy language. A lesson I recently learned in the Word, is that we, lovers of Sweet Jesus are not only suppose to speak the truth in love, but Colossians 3:8 tells us to ride ourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. And yet, if I were really honest, I would say that I often “speak the truth in love” using anger, range, slander, and filthy language. So it is no mistake that I sit here, computer and Bible in hand, in awe of the lesson the Lord is teaching me.

We can get our point across and keep our integrity intact. One of the things I love about Sweet Jesus is His desire to use people to do His work. He used John the Baptist to bring people to Him in the most public way possible. He knew that he baptized with water, but that the Lord is far more powerful than he.

Take a look at Matthew 3:11-12

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John knew that baptism is an act, an outward sign of one’s commitment and choice believe in Jesus Christ. But he also knew that the inward change, could only be accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit.

I had to look into verse 12 a little more, and I found that a winnowing fork is a pitchfork what is often used to toss wheat into the air which separated the wheat from the chaff. The wheat is the portion of the plant that is useful, where as the chaff is the worthless outer shell, which means it was often burned. I believe Jesus, our Sweet Jesus, looks at us, His beloved children as wheat, as useful seed that will produce a harvest and anything that might hinder us, is tossed away and burned.

It is in Matthew 3:13-16 that we see firsthand our Sweet Jesus using those who loved Him. As soon as John the Baptist was finished speaking, Jesus showed up, in the flesh. Not only did He show up but he asked to be baptized. And our sweet John the Baptist, immediately felt unqualified. Bless his heart; as soon as the very man he loved so much showed up, he got shy.

Jesus didn’t ask to be baptized because He needed to be forgiven. He needed to be baptized to fulfill righteousness. He needed to be baptized because His Father, God, said He needed to do it. Jesus’ baptism was an outward act of His obedience to His Father.

And as soon as Jesus was obedient and was baptized, His Father showed up and an amazing thing happened. The heavens were opened, God the Father spoke, the Son was baptized and the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus. Jesus was publicly declared as the Son of God, in whom He is well pleased. Amazing! Out of obedience, the heavens opened and God spoke.

I love that the Son of God was blessed publicly for His obedience, because soon, He will be forsaken. I love that God the Father open the sky and publicly, verbally declared our Sweet Jesus HIS SON! THE ONE AND ONLY. And yet, it would be in just a few short years and the very same God, would turn from His Son, as our Sweet Jesus hung on a cross so that we might be saved. The love the Father must have for us rocks my world. And the love the Son must have for us, brings me to tears, Jesus, our Sweet Jesus, demonstrated His obedience to His Father with His actions on more than one occasion.

If only I could say the same thing.

Before we close in prayer, leave a comment today so that we can get to know those who are in the Word with us each day – answer this question: Is obedience difficult for you?

Lord, forgive me for my lack of obedience. May Your unfailing love be my comfort. Let Your compassion come to me, for Your Word is my delight. Your Word is trustworthy, help me put my trust in You alone and in Your Word. Your Word makes me wiser, may I remember what I study and keep in with me all the days of my life. Direct my footsteps according to Your Word, and let no sin rule over me. Thank you for meeting with me today, and bless me with time with You again tomorrow. Amen.