In the Beginning: the Creator; In the Beginning: the Word
Where do you begin thinking about Jesus? For John, the gospel writer, you begin at the beginning. The Bible begins with God and the spirit hovering over the waters and humanity created in 'our' image, so naturally John places Jesus within the context of the beginning.
After the fall: the first promise, the snake would be defeated
Which begs the next question, when was Jesus first promised to the creation? We still begin at the beginning, this time in the story of the fall, when humanity chooses to be in communication with a snake (?) that is not God. We listen to voices we shouldn't and then choose actions that we shouldn't. In response God promises that the offspring of the woman would destroy the serpent. Our response? To blame the serpent for everything that we do, even though one could argue that Jesus has already crushed that little serpents head.
2020 years ago: a promise fulfilled
So we move from the dawn of time, to the dawn of disobedience to an angel and a young girl and a pregnancy and a God-man or rather God-baby. Think about that for just a second, the God who created the mountains and rivers, the stars and the sun [which is also a star], the roses and the lions, the planet and the you decides to come in human flesh as a cute/smelly baby. If your mind isn't blown right now, there just may be something wrong with you.
Age 12: Jesus is in his Father’s house, yet obeys his Earthly parents
So, Jesus is miraculously born and is visited by angels and shepherds and wisemen/kings. And then he disappears. Which is strange. But he shows up again some 10 years later [since technically the wisemen/kings wouldn't have shown up till Jesus was approximately 2] and he proceeds to get lost. His family and friends traveled to Jerusalem and then leave and after some amount of distance along on their journey home they realize they left Kevin back home while they went to Paris...ummm, I mean Jesus back in Jerusalem while they went home. They frantically go back and search for Jesus and find him in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Jesus proceeds to tell them that they should have known all along where he was, duh, but he obediently goes with them. And disappears yet again.
Age 30: Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan and then fasts for 40 days and is tempted
He shows up 18 years later and gets dunked in a river. At this point, if you were reading a novel you might begin to question the author's talent for character development. But as it is Jesus is baptized by his cousin and a voice from heaven breaks through the firmament saying 'This is my son, in whom I am well pleased' or the Hebrew/Aramaic equivalent. And then Jesus goes into the desert and decides to not eat for 40 days, because that is the type of thing one does.
Temptation 1: base need of food; Temptation 2: make your name great; Temptation 3: safe from harm
After not eating for 40 days that pesky serpent shows up again and proceeds to tempt Jesus. First, Satan tells Jesus to turn the stones into bread and feed himself. Second, Satan says that he will make Jesus' name great if he would but worship Satan. Third, Satan teleports Jesus to a high point and tells him to jump because angels would catch him. Each time Jesus uses scripture to stand up against the scripture that Satan used. Yes, in essence the temptations are a Bible quiz game, but more than that we are beginning to understand the character of this God-man, a character that is deep within him, a character that is driving him forward.
The Beginnings: Luke from Isaiah ‘preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
For good measure I am going to repeat that: 'preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' It is not a coincidence that Jesus read this particular piece of Isaiah, because everything Jesus does after this point has this passage wrapped around it. Every word, every action, every tear comes from and points to this purpose. And the truth of the matter is that Jesus is still in this very same business to this day, releasing prisoners, giving sight, speaking good news and proclaiming the Lord's favor.
To Be Continued...
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
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