Jesus Begins His Ministry

There was alot of ground covered today. Jesus' public ministry was announced, He began calling disciples, He performed his first miracle, turned over the tables in the Temple, and endured the 40-day temptation of Satan. Where to begin???

The first thing that tickled my research-loving fancy, was the testimony of John the Baptist. He had been attracting large crowds and had come under the scrutiny of the Pharisees who sent priests to find out what was going on. He was asked if he was the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet. He told them point blank that he was not the Messiah. Next, they asked if he was Elijah, who was expected to return to anoint the Messiah, according to Malachi 4:5-6. Because of a very specific prophecy in Daniel chapter 9, many Jews were anticipating the rise of a Messiah at this time in history. (They were not however, looking for the type of Messiah that Jesus was but rather for an earthly king and military deliverer for the JEWS alone). Lastly, John was asked if he was the Prophet, which immediately brought Muhammed to mind. The phrase, "the prophet we are expecting" refers to a prophecy from Deuteronomy (18:15-18) spoken by Moses... "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet claims on my behalf". Muslims do consider Muhammed to be this Prophet. Christians consider Jesus to be the fulfillment of this role but Jews consider the prophet to be a separate person from the Messiah.

The following day, John announces Jesus as the Messiah and admits that he did not recognize him as such until the dove descended upon Him. John was his cousin, but we have no reason to believe that they had spent any time together. Somehow John had recognized the significance of Jesus prior to the baptism or he would not have balked at the idea of baptizing Him. But he did not discern that He was the Messiah until God provided the pre-ordained sign. Incidentally, the Spirit descending upon Him at the time of baptism is NOT an indication that he did not have the Holy Spirit prior to this event. This was a visible expression of His deity and a sign for John, who would then begin to "decrease so that He could increase". Even with the certainty John displayed in the above passage, it wouldn't be long before he questioned Jesus' identity, falling prey to the Jewish expectation of their Messiah.

Tomorrow's reading: John 3:1-4:45; Luke 3:19-20