Matthew 3:16
First in a series--see the post below.
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
It would be quite the reassuring sight to see what Jesus and the crowds saw on that day: the heavens opened, as if the great globe of the sky were torn apart and a dove, descending, landing, and settling on Jesus.
One could not help but feel completely sure that Jesus was who he said he was, that he was touched by God in a unique way for the special ministry he had, indeed that he was God walking the earth. After all, stuff like this doesn’t happen every day.
In a skeptical world, sometimes we might wish for a similar revelation. Why don’t the skies open over Christian churches, with a giant Finger from heaven pointing at the church buildings, and a Voice saying, “Go there—this is where people speak the truth?” Wouldn’t people believe then?
Here is a radical thought: that same Spirit that “alighted” on Jesus lives in us. Jesus himself prayed that we would receive the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit’s power would be in us. And if indeed the same Spirit is in us, perhaps He can be as visible to the world through us as He was through Jesus.
Perhaps the Spirit was most evidently on Jesus not when the Spirit descended like a bird, hovering over his head. Maybe the Spirit was most obviously on Jesus when he was healing lepers, preaching with power in the synagogues, giving sight to the blind and confounding and revealing through his parables.
We can’t snap our fingers and make the heavens open to show the world that the Spirit of God exists.
Instead, it is up to us to show others the power of the Spirit in the same way Jesus did: healing, loving, truth-telling, calling a broken world to a new way of living, all empowered by the Spirit.
If God’s Spirit is in it, that can do more to show people that God is real—more even than the heavens opening, more than a dove descending.
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
It would be quite the reassuring sight to see what Jesus and the crowds saw on that day: the heavens opened, as if the great globe of the sky were torn apart and a dove, descending, landing, and settling on Jesus.
One could not help but feel completely sure that Jesus was who he said he was, that he was touched by God in a unique way for the special ministry he had, indeed that he was God walking the earth. After all, stuff like this doesn’t happen every day.
In a skeptical world, sometimes we might wish for a similar revelation. Why don’t the skies open over Christian churches, with a giant Finger from heaven pointing at the church buildings, and a Voice saying, “Go there—this is where people speak the truth?” Wouldn’t people believe then?
Here is a radical thought: that same Spirit that “alighted” on Jesus lives in us. Jesus himself prayed that we would receive the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit’s power would be in us. And if indeed the same Spirit is in us, perhaps He can be as visible to the world through us as He was through Jesus.
Perhaps the Spirit was most evidently on Jesus not when the Spirit descended like a bird, hovering over his head. Maybe the Spirit was most obviously on Jesus when he was healing lepers, preaching with power in the synagogues, giving sight to the blind and confounding and revealing through his parables.
We can’t snap our fingers and make the heavens open to show the world that the Spirit of God exists.
Instead, it is up to us to show others the power of the Spirit in the same way Jesus did: healing, loving, truth-telling, calling a broken world to a new way of living, all empowered by the Spirit.
If God’s Spirit is in it, that can do more to show people that God is real—more even than the heavens opening, more than a dove descending.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 1:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home