GOSPELS 2 TheBaptism of Jesus

THE GOSPELS 2 THE BAPTISM OF JESUS 

We saw in the previous story of the Gospels, which was about John’s baptism of repentance, that the four Gospels were written by four different men of different temperaments and backgrounds who wrote from different perspectives and at different times.  This means that there were variations in detail and emphasis in the narratives and there were certain gaps in some Gospels that end up being filled by other Gospels. Fortunately in the previous sermon the starting point in all the Gospels was John’s baptism. That is called the data point or point of convergence. After that event there is variation as to what happens next and that gets more complex as the Gospel story unfolds as the writers are not dedicated to a chronological order of events. 

Commentators are astoundingly at odds with one another in agreement with the of the order of events so I’m having my own shot at presenting an order and attempting to give logical reasons - more logic than revelation - as the stories themselves bring their own revelation of Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. I’ll explain as I go on – and feel free email me with your own ideas or to disagree or discuss because I stopped being infallible about thirty years ago. Right now in this next story about the baptism of Jesus we will see the same individual perspectives in different Gospels. But there is one Gospel that appears to set the logical pattern of events that come after the baptism of Jesus.

John 1:26 John said “I baptize with water, but there is one here you do not know about and he will come to you after me, and I am not even worthy to untie the strap of his sandal” 
These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing, and the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I was talking about, ‘This man ranks before me, because he existed before me and I did not know him, but I was sent to baptise with water, so that he would be revealed to Israel.” And John testified: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not realise it was him, but God who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and now testify that this is the Son of God.” 
John 1:35 The next day John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as Jesus walked along, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 
John’s disciples following Jesus locks in a series of day after day events starting with the phrase ‘the next day’…

However, the supernatural appearance of the Holy Spirit as a dove descending upon the head of Jesus features in all of the Gospel stories about the baptism of Jesus. The other three Gospels appear to indicate that the very next thing that happens after his baptism is that he goes into the wilderness for forty days. However, the Gospel of John alone mentions that certain other events after the baptism of Jesus take place before Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

It is interesting to note that when we read Matthew’s account of the baptism of Jesus and the mention of the dove of the Spirit alighting upon him we read in the next verse that Jesus was ‘then’ led by the Spirit into the wilderness. However, the Greek word for ‘then’ is ‘tote’ which can mean ‘sometime after that’. So the event of the baptism of Jesus and the ‘sometime after that’ reference makes room for other things to have happened to Jesus between those two major events. 

But when we read Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism and the dove alighting upon his head it would appear that Jesus arises out of the water and strides directly into the wilderness, because Mark uses the Greek word ‘euthys’, which is translated as ‘immediately’ in the King James Bible. However, Strong’s concordance gives a range of time descriptors to that word euthys, ranging from ‘forthwith’ to ‘by and by’. This also makes room for other things to perhaps have happened to Jesus between those two major events. 

And again, when we read Luke’s account, Jesus is baptised and the dove appears again as usual, then Luke states that after his baptism Jesus returns from the Jordan and goes into the wilderness. 

The reality is that between those events of Jesus being baptised and the dove appearing, and then going into the wilderness, there were other significant things that did occur. This is graphically portrayed in the Gospel of John where he  describes other events that happened at the Jordan River where the baptism took place, where we then see a number of ‘next day’ statements that show us a logical sequence of events that occur one after the other taking place - before Jesus could have gone into the wilderness for forty days. So reading on in John chapter one, on the day after the baptism of Jesus we read;

John 1:35 The next day John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as Jesus walked along, John said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, saw them following, and said to them, “What are you seeking after?” And they said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?” And Jesus said to them, “Come and see. So they came and saw where he was staying and they remained with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour (4PM). 
One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Jesus, was Andrew, who first went to find his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ). Then he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, He said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

So we see the first significant event to take place before Jesus goes into the wilderness is that of Jesus gathering disciples, including some that were former disciples of John the Baptist who was still present at the river baptising people. We then continue reading in John;

John 1:43 The next day Jesus went forth into Galilee, (The baptism occurred in Judea at Bethabara, so Jesus would have travelled north along the flat land beside the lake of Galilee), and on the way He found Philip that day and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, (in northern Galilee) the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip went looking for Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, as well as the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”…  
Vs. 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said to him, “Here is an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip went to get you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

Nathaniel joins the other disciples on the trek from the baptism area at the Jordan River heading northward and well into Galilee, and John then writes about another significant event that was to happen before Jesus would get to go into the wilderness – and that was to be the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee.  

John 2:1. On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee (The phrase ‘on the third day’ is used eleven times in the four Gospels and is sometimes translated as ‘after three days’ and it allows time for the journey of the disciples from Bethany to Galilee).

The mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus came to the wedding bringing his new disciples with him. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “Son They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this mean for you and me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Mary does not command Jesus to do anything in particular but is prompted to mention the obvious need that was there and then leave everything in God’s hands. God the Father was right in the midst of all of this, and so was was the Holy Spirit, who may have prompted Mary to make her comment, and who would also have fully understood Jesus making his comment about the meaning of this and that his time had not yet come. He would have known that Jesus would ask the Father, as Jesus had yet to go through the temptation in the wilderness and likely thought that only then could he embark on his ministry of power and signs and wonders. But John says a few verses down (vs.11) that this was the first of the signs that Jesus did – ordained of the Father. 

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding at least eighty litres. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. and his disciples believed in him. 12. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 

The sign, or miracle of the changing of the water into wine is a clear sign that the supernatural ministry of Jesus had begun. But there is another sign that can be seen in the story of the earthen vessels. We can see that the six earthen water vessels can speak of the fact that the first earthen vessel of humanity was created out of the earth on the sixth day of God’s creation. We also see that these six water vessels were ordinarily used for ritual cleansing with water, but now they were to be used for the outpouring of the new wine of the Spirit. So - This sign also highlights John the Baptist’s remarks when he said ‘I indeed baptise you with water but he who comes after me will baptise you with the Holy Spirit’. It is also interesting that the first sign of the ministry of Jesus was at a wedding and the last sign of Jesus will be from Heaven and will also involve the marriage of Jesus with his Church as his bride (Ephesians 5:27).

Jesus had just shown that he was the earthen vessel that contained the new wine of the Spirit of God. And he would now go deep into the wilderness for forty days to overcome the power of darkness. He would then return in the power of the Kingdom of God to Nazareth to preach in the synagogue, doing many powerful miracles and healings along the way. 
He is telling us through that story that we also are not just earthen vessels filled with the cleansing water but that through him we can confidently be aware of ourselves as water always being changed into wine. It takes faith for us to realise that we have been filled with the Holy Spirit and it takes faith to know that we can be always ready to pour out of his life-giving spirit into a needy world around us.