The FaithOfJesus2 Daily Devotional

Focus:

kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

( FaithOfJesus thread begun by rRandyP )

Today's Verse:

kjv@Matthew:3:13-17

kjv@Matthew:3:13 @ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

kjv@Matthew:3:14 @ But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

kjv@Matthew:3:15 @ And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

kjv@Matthew:3:16 @ And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Today's notes: Fulfill all righteousness

Context:

Before - Preparing the way
After - temptation in wilderness

What is man believing/doing?:

counseling the Lord

What is making man to believe/do as he is doing?:

expectations of what is right and what the Lord needs to do and not do
limited understanding of what baptism stands for

Notes:

This is our fist actual meeting of Jesus. The anticipation of this moment on our part is no doubt matched by the planning for this moment on His. This is to be His first and most lasting impression. This is the royal emblem intended to be stamped upon all the remaining gospel context, the overall picture we are to consider all other glimpses of Him in.

Key Messages:

What does this say about our present condition?

If John's expectations don't quite match Jesus' on this one preliminary matter, imagine how stray our's are on this and the many more to come. If Jesus was intending to come meet all of our expectations there would be no way of doing that; they differ too broadly and are vain (if not wicked). Instead Jesus is immediately drawing our attention to His complete surrender and submersion into the Father's expectations.
Our expectation is largely that He serve us, that He will be and do what most closely resembles our image of Him, what we deem as being right. His expectation is that we serve Him, that in order to serve Him we have to follow His example surrendering and submersing ourselves just as completely into His expectations. Our most consistent struggle understanding His teaching/sanctification will be along this very point.
No one's expectation portrayed in the gospels is any closer to the true Jesus from the start than John's, yet we see here and at other points that even his image is humanly clouded. The Lord had to stretch his vision and understanding, therefore his surrender (suffering it to be for now) as well.
If our image of who He is and what He has come to do and how He is going about it is vain, then our image of who we are in Him and what we are to do in Him is vain as well.

Further Resources:

Comment Board:Matthew:3:13-17
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Matthew:3:13-17 rwp@Matthew:3:13-17 mhcc@Matthew:3:13-17
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index

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