FRIDAY, March 05, 2021 ‘Journey to Easter’

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

If you’ve been on this journey with me for a while, you know that today is significant. Yesterday we concluded a several month chronological journey through much of the Old Testament amazed at how relevant to our times are the times of more than 2500 years ago in Israel. Today I invite you to join me as we begin a new “Walking with Jesus” journey, as we with Jesus toward EASTER 2021.

As you probably know there are several major events linked with the person of Jesus Christ which set Christianity apart from all religions or faith systems in the world. Easter is the most significant of these. But the incarnation of God is another monumental cornerstone to the Christian faith, and you can’t have Easter without Christmas.

Christianity is built on the truth that God Himself came to earth and lived here as what appeared to be a normal human being, known as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was presumed to be the son of a carpenter named Joseph and his wife named Mary. Of course the Bible makes it abundantly clear this Jesus was not a normal human being.

While every human conception is a miracle, Jesus’ conception was different, for there was no human male involved in any way in the conception of Jesus. Gabriel the angel had told Mary “The Holy Spirit of God will come upon you and the power of the Most High God will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) And so it happened, and to find answers, Mary went to spend several weeks with her relative old Elizabeth who was also miraculously pregnant. (Luke 1) I believe Mary’s primary motivation was to LEARN from Elizabeth and Zechariah.

She needed to learn the Scriptures, to understand all she could about the long promised Messiah, and learn how to live a miracle when no one would believe her explanation. In some ways that’s the challenge every Christ follower faces, anywhere in the world… living the redemption, regeneration miracle those who don’t believe in Jesus can’t possibly understand.

Six months before Mary’s astonishing experience, Gabriel the angel had visited Jerusalem and appeared to Elizabeth’s husband, the priest Zechariah, while he was praying in the Temple. (Luke 1:5-25) We looked at that yesterday. It was an incredibly significant event for it ended the 400 year silence of God since He had last spoken through Malachi the final Old Testament prophet. As Gabriel promised, old Zechariah and Elizabeth miraculously had a son even though both were well beyond the age of childbearing. (Luke 1:57)

That son was John the Baptist, and his life mission was to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus the Messiah. John was given the remarkable privilege to introduce Jesus to the people and baptize Jesus. Jesus’ baptism was unlike any other. The Apostle Paul declared: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is Jesus.” (Acts 19:4)

But when John baptized Jesus it was for the purpose of identifying Jesus as the One they had been long awaiting as their Messiah. As John was at the Jordan river preaching and baptizing one day, Jesus came walking into the crowd. John stopped, raised his arm, pointed at Jesus and declared “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me’… the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel…the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)

I doubt any of us can imagine how stunned the people were that day. Both Matthew and Luke tell us “…as Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened and the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove and a voice from heaven said “This is My Son whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:16,17) When God speaks, it’s important both humanity and all the angels pay attention!

This event happened at a time when there was no global communications like radio, TV, internet or cell phones. I’m sure we can all well imagine if this happened today, it would have been captured by everyone in the crowd on their cell phones, and those images would have gone viral on social media and the internet. Within moments every living human being in the world with internet or TV access would have it. The next time Jesus comes it is not difficult for us to imagine how “every eye will see and every ear will hear.”

Jesus’ baptism by John that day began a journey unlike any other person has ever walked. Jesus is eternal God the Son. Jesus has been actively involved in everything God has been doing from eternity past. Jesus’ incarnation here on earth was necessary so God could have a human body that could accomplish the God given mission of atonement death on the cross! That’s why John called Jesus “The LAMB of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jews in the crowd that day would immediately link John’s statement with the lamb offered on the annual Day of Atonement and also the Passover Lamb sacrificed each year in remembrance of the Passover Lambs which had been slain that night in Egypt to protect those families who believed God’s warning from the angel of death who passed over when he saw the lamb’s blood on the doorpost of those believer’s homes. (Exodus 12) That Passover event was a picture of what Jesus would accomplish on the cross that Easter weekend… deliverance, rescue for anyone living in sin bondage, anywhere in the world, if they would fully trust in Jesus.

God’s Redemption Plan was devised by God the Father from eternity past when God knew Satan would tempt humanity to rebel against God and reject God. Satan has always been opposed to God, God’s truth, God’s ways and especially God’s Plan of Redemption for humanity. Therefore as soon as Jesus was identified as the Savior of the world during His baptism, Satan went to work in opposition. Satan’s mission was to stop Jesus from going to the cross and giving His life as a ransom for humanity.

Matthew and Luke both give us a description of the 40 days which immediately followed Jesus’ baptism. Two significant things were happening here. Jesus was seeking an extended time of solitude with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit for the purpose of spiritual unity, spiritual clarity, spiritual empowerment for the journey ahead. But Satan was prowling, looking for every opportunity to distract Jesus, disrupt His focus, tempt Jesus to disengage from His intense spiritual preparation, and especially find a way to stop Jesus’ earthly mission.

As we begin our journey toward Easter today, I invite you to read or listen to the audio dramatic reading of these events launching the earthly mission of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 3:13-4:11. As you read I have three things for you to consider:

1. God, the creator of the universe and humanity, came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ for this purpose: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) It’s unthinkable, unimaginable, but that was the mission which began with God’s incarnation and concluded at Easter with His crucifixion. His resurrection, and His ascension back to heaven to reign.

2. Your life and mine has value and purpose and eternal hope when we are rescued from our sin bondage by the Easter death and resurrection of Jesus. Apart from Jesus we are hopelessly lost both here and now in this life, and for all of eternity.

3. The enemy of our souls, Satan and all his demonic forces, were determined to stop Jesus from accomplishing His redemption Easter mission. They are equally determined to stop every person from believing in Jesus and being rescued from their sin. And one more thing, the devil and his demons are determined to lead every non-Christian toward opposing every Christian as we attempt to live our lives victoriously as Christ followers. Do you see that battle raging where you live?

Now I urge you to listen to the audio dramatic reading of today’s Scripture, and ponder the powerful truths there, as we begin our journey with Jesus toward Easter.

Today’s Scripture Reading is Matthew 3:13-4:11.

Listen to Matthew 3.

Listen to Matthew 4 below

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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