<\/p>\n
Old Testament \u00a0 Isaiah 43:1-7
\nPsalm \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Psalm 29:1-11
\nNew Testament \u00a0Acts 8:14-17
\nGospel \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Luke 3:15-22<\/p>\n
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The story of Jesus\u2019 baptism must be important.\u00a0 It is one of few stories that are contained in all four gospels.\u00a0 It is less unusual to have the same story in Matthew, Mark and Luke.\u00a0 When you add the story to John, this should make us ask, why, why is this story of Jesus\u2019s baptism so important?<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, the author of Luke, intentionally follows up the baptism story with the ancestor of Jesus before telling of the temptation of Jesus.\u00a0 It is the Ancestors of Jesus and the temptation of Jesus, that gives us a clues to the importance of Jesus receiving the baptism of repentance, which is what John is offering.\u00a0 Jesus, who is perfect, free of sin, still chooses and in Matthews account, even insists upon the baptism to fulfill all righteousness.<\/p>\n
First, least we forget.\u00a0 Jesus is the Son of God, who has taken upon human flesh.\u00a0 Therefore, He is both divine and human, 100% of each, both wills fully active and aware of the other, neither being mixed and yet neither being separated from the other.<\/p>\n
His lineage, is traced back through Joseph.\u00a0 Jesus is the son (as was thought) of Joseph, who is the son of Heli, and so on goes the ancestry.\u00a0 Maybe you caught that part about (as was thought).\u00a0 Anyone tracing Jesus\u2019 ancestry, would do so through Joseph as well, being that Joseph is considered the human father of Jesus.<\/p>\n
The ancestry through Joseph, includes men and thus ties them to Jesus\u2019, men who were \u2026\u201dwith great courage, personal flaws, competing interests, and fragile heroism.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> His ancestry is far from being without sin.\u00a0 Jesus is born into a world that is systematically sinful.\u00a0 Jesus is born from an ancestry line that is sinful.<\/p>\n Now that Jesus is baptized and his dubious ancestry line is established, then comes the temptation in the wilderness.\u00a0 You know the story; Jesus is driven into the wilderness following His baptism.\u00a0 There He spends forth days, during which time he eats nothing and is tempted by the devil.<\/p>\n It is in the temptation story that we see the divine.\u00a0 It is there that we see that Jesus\u2019 will, is God\u2019s will.\u00a0 Jesus does not fall to the temptation; despite the human will that is part of him.\u00a0 Despite the human will from an ancestry line that at times may seem troublesome, even back to Adam and Eve.\u00a0 A relative of the first Man and Woman, who have children, where one child kills another and Jesus is related to Seth, often thought of as the replacement for Able, who was killed by Cain, son of Adam and Eve.<\/p>\n Jesus\u2019s time in the wilderness, being tempted, ends with the devil departing, having not succeeded but only departing until another opportune time.\u00a0 Jesus is God and in that comes the strength to resist the temptation of the devil, despite the humanity of Jesus.\u00a0 Don\u2019t think for a minute it was a shoe in that Jesus will resist temptation.\u00a0 If it were, would the devil bother?\u00a0 Also recall, Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine with the wills of each, neither mixed nor separated.\u00a0 Two wills, but one decision to resist the temptation.<\/p>\n The Spirit descends upon Jesus, who in His humanity was from and born into a sinful world, yet was perfect.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019s baptism is a connection to the human condition, our condition.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 temptation is a connection to the human condition, our condition as well.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 baptism is important because of the human condition.<\/p>\n Our own baptism is just as important for our sakes.\u00a0 We are born in and from a sinful world.\u00a0 That sinful world is what me must exist in.\u00a0 This is where our temptations come in.\u00a0 When we are baptized, we are baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We invite the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we as sisters and brothers, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, might resist temptation in this sinful world.\u00a0 But no matter what, that we may be forgiven, for the sake of Jesus, so that we can have eternal life with the Father in heaven.<\/p>\n We are in relation to Jesus and in relation to His baptism and in relation to our baptism in Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 baptism is important not for the sake of Jesus but for our sake.\u00a0 Jesus baptism is important because of the sinful condition that we are born of and born into.\u00a0 We need the Baptism of forgiveness in Jesus and Jesus needed the baptism of repentance for us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n