1702AFC011317 – I declare!
Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you!
John 1:32-34 – 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Good morning, Belovéd! This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice in be glad in it! Today we are going to look at occasions in which Jesus was recognized as Messiah, and specifically at those declarations early on in his ministry. This one may test your patience a bit because there are so many (!) Scripture links. If you use them, though, I promise you that you will not regret it. Let’s get started then.
We begin of course with the Annunciation in Luke 1:31-32 – 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. The Archangel Gabriel (“God is my strength”) brings this message from God that Mary’s child will be called the Son of the Most High – El Elyon עֶלְיוֹן (elyown) {el-yone’} (El, God; Elyon, Most High). This name for God goes back to Abram’s meeting with the King of Salem and the Priest of God, Melchizedek. (See Genesis 14:19-20). This was before God appeared to Abram (See Genesis 17:1) and identified himself as El Shaddai – God Almighty. Mary probably would have known that story (remember she was just a teenager), and would have recognized that name – El Elyon. Her Son would be the Son of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That’s a lot to take in!
Later, we heard a hint of that Sonship from Jesus himself when he stays behind at the Temple to sit among the teachers asking questions. When his parents asked him “Why did you do this to us?” his reply was “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (See Luke 2:49) He declared himself to be the Son of the Father. That’s the last we hear of his early life. We next see him with John who is baptizing on the east bank of the Jordan near Bethabara (House of/at the Ford). Jesus asks John to baptize him as well because “it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (See Matthew 3:15) You will recall that on that occasion three amazing things took place. [1] Jesus was “baptized unto repentance” (John’s mission), [2] The Holy Spirit descended like a dove onto Jesus, and [3] “a voice from heaven” – God the Father – said “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (See also Psalm 2:7) God himself named Jesus as his Son.
Somewhat later, John the Baptist testified about Jesus again – which occurred just before the reference verse for today’s post – saying “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This scripture is included in every Eucharistic prayer. John declares that Jesus is the supreme, absolutely perfect sacrificial Lamb to be offered up to God as atonement – both punishment and expiation (reparation or payment – See Hebrews 9:28 and 1 Peter 2:22-26) – for our sins and “for the sins of many.” (See Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:24). That scriptural reference to The Lamb of God which we hear in the Eucharistic Prayer is followed by a response from the assembly saying, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; have mercy on us.” This prayer, of course, addresses Jesus’ Real Presence at the Altar. In it, we declare that he is The Lamb of God – the Messiah, the Christ of God.
All these declarations of Jesus’ divinity – in both Old and New Testaments – point to his origin (John the Baptist said, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.”) as God’s only begotten Son. When we declare that truth, we join the eminent company of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests, and Saints who have gone before us making the same declaration: “Jesus Christ is LORD.” (See Philippians 2:5-11) The Disciple and Apostle, John, said that Jesus was The Word (Logos) through which and by which Creation was Spoken as the Spirit moved across the face of the deep (See Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-12) The Apostle John also declared that Jesus is “The true light.” Jesus declared that he himself is “The Light of the world.” (See John 8:12 and John 9:5) The purpose of his coming was to give his life as payment for our sins – our sins. We can benefit from that sacrifice every time we give him our sins. How do we – how can we – just give him our sins so that he can take them away?
And why must we give them? He cannot reach into us and pull them out of the depths of our hearts. We have to “repent, and believe in the good news.” (See Mark 1:14-15) That was Jesus’ first declaration as he began his ministry right after John the Baptist was arrested. This same passage tells us that the Good News – the Gospel – is that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” The Darkness that blinded all earthlings for millennia was being displaced by The Light; but some still loved the darkness and feared The Light. They preferred the lies of the Prince of the Air to the Truth of The Prince of Peace.
Just as Satan always uses lies to try to convince us that God does not love us and has not forgiven us, and cannot forgive us still, for our sins; so too does Satan lie to us trying to convince us that we have not forgiven and cannot forgive ourselves and others who have wronged us. Satan places in our hearts and minds the appearance of doubt, anger, and resentment which seems like the desire for vengeance. Yet, we know that if we have placed our intention for forgiving in Jesus’ nail-pierced hands, he has made that forgiveness complete. Therefore, after having done this, if we find old hurts resurfacing and disrupting our Peace, we should banish those thoughts by commanding Satan to leave us and then reconfirm the original intention and moment of forgiveness. We need to voluntarily and intentionally step out of the confusion and fear of Darkness and declare our commitment to going into the certainty and Peace of The Light. We can easily understand why children are afraid of the dark, but as adults we think such fear is foolish. Being afraid of the Darkness, however, is not foolish nor is it hard to understand. What is difficult to understand, though, is that many grown men and women are afraid of being in The Light. They are afraid to repent and believe the Gospel. They are lost in the Darkness.
If you are lost in the woods, the best way out is THROUGH THE WOODS. The same applies to being lost in the desert. If lost at sea, you must go OVER the sea. We must go through or over our troubles, our sense of being lost. Scottie isn’t going to beam us up, and neither is God. We can’t expect some magical teleportation out of the forest or look for the branches to show us an open path. We must rely on God’s Wisdom, declared to us in Scripture, as our guide and, in confidence and peace, walk right through to the OTHER SIDE. Just put “your hand in the hand” (↔ Music Link) of the One whom God himself declared to be his Son. In doing so, you yourself declare that he, Jesus, is the Christ of God, the son of El Elyon, the Mighty One known as El Shaddai. I declare that “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” I lay all my sins and even my temptations at his feet. I surrender all (↔ Music Link) to Jesus and declare “Jesus Christ is Lord!” Please, let’s all do that today; in this present darkness (See Ephesians 6:12), let us declare, proclaim, and posses our place in The Light.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
1702AFC011317 – I declare!
Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you!
John 1:32-34 – 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
Good morning, Belovéd! This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice in be glad in it! Today we are going to look at occasions in which Jesus was recognized as Messiah, and specifically at those declarations early on in his ministry. This one may test your patience a bit because there are so many (!) Scripture links. If you use them, though, I promise you that you will not regret it. Let’s get started then.
We begin of course with the Annunciation in Luke 1:31-32 – 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. The Archangel Gabriel (“God is my strength”) brings this message from God that Mary’s child will be called the Son of the Most High – El Elyon עֶלְיוֹן (elyown) {el-yone’} (El, God; Elyon, Most High). This name for God goes back to Abram’s meeting with the King of Salem and the Priest of God, Melchizedek. (See Genesis 14:19-20). This was before God appeared to Abram (See Genesis 17:1) and identified himself as El Shaddai – God Almighty. Mary probably would have known that story (remember she was just a teenager), and would have recognized that name – El Elyon. Her Son would be the Son of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. That’s a lot to take in!
Later, we heard a hint of that Sonship from Jesus himself when he stays behind at the Temple to sit among the teachers asking questions. When his parents asked him “Why did you do this to us?” his reply was “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (See Luke 2:49) He declared himself to be the Son of the Father. That’s the last we hear of his early life. We next see him with John who is baptizing on the east bank of the Jordan near Bethabara (House of/at the Ford). Jesus asks John to baptize him as well because “it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (See Matthew 3:15) You will recall that on that occasion three amazing things took place. [1] Jesus was “baptized unto repentance” (John’s mission), [2] The Holy Spirit descended like a dove onto Jesus, and [3] “a voice from heaven” – God the Father – said “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (See also Psalm 2:7) God himself named Jesus as his Son.
Somewhat later, John the Baptist testified about Jesus again – which occurred just before the reference verse for today’s post – saying “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” This scripture is included in every Eucharistic prayer. John declares that Jesus is the supreme, absolutely perfect sacrificial Lamb to be offered up to God as atonement – both punishment and expiation (reparation or payment – See Hebrews 9:28 and 1 Peter 2:22-26) – for our sins and “for the sins of many.” (See Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:24). That scriptural reference to The Lamb of God which we hear in the Eucharistic Prayer is followed by a response from the assembly saying, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; have mercy on us.” This prayer, of course, addresses Jesus’ Real Presence at the Altar. In it, we declare that he is The Lamb of God – the Messiah, the Christ of God.
All these declarations of Jesus’ divinity – in both Old and New Testaments – point to his origin (John the Baptist said, “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.”) as God’s only begotten Son. When we declare that truth, we join the eminent company of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests, and Saints who have gone before us making the same declaration: “Jesus Christ is LORD.” (See Philippians 2:5-11) The Disciple and Apostle, John, said that Jesus was The Word (Logos) through which and by which Creation was Spoken as the Spirit moved across the face of the deep (See Genesis 1:1-2 and John 1:1-12) The Apostle John also declared that Jesus is “The true light.” Jesus declared that he himself is “The Light of the world.” (See John 8:12 and John 9:5) The purpose of his coming was to give his life as payment for our sins – our sins. We can benefit from that sacrifice every time we give him our sins. How do we – how can we – just give him our sins so that he can take them away?
And why must we give them? He cannot reach into us and pull them out of the depths of our hearts. We have to “repent, and believe in the good news.” (See Mark 1:14-15) That was Jesus’ first declaration as he began his ministry right after John the Baptist was arrested. This same passage tells us that the Good News – the Gospel – is that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” The Darkness that blinded all earthlings for millennia was being displaced by The Light; but some still loved the darkness and feared The Light. They preferred the lies of the Prince of the Air to the Truth of The Prince of Peace.
Just as Satan always uses lies to try to convince us that God does not love us and has not forgiven us, and cannot forgive us still, for our sins; so too does Satan lie to us trying to convince us that we have not forgiven and cannot forgive ourselves and others who have wronged us. Satan places in our hearts and minds the appearance of doubt, anger, and resentment which seems like the desire for vengeance. Yet, we know that if we have placed our intention for forgiving in Jesus’ nail-pierced hands, he has made that forgiveness complete. Therefore, after having done this, if we find old hurts resurfacing and disrupting our Peace, we should banish those thoughts by commanding Satan to leave us and then reconfirm the original intention and moment of forgiveness. We need to voluntarily and intentionally step out of the confusion and fear of Darkness and declare our commitment to going into the certainty and Peace of The Light. We can easily understand why children are afraid of the dark, but as adults we think such fear is foolish. Being afraid of the Darkness, however, is not foolish nor is it hard to understand. What is difficult to understand, though, is that many grown men and women are afraid of being in The Light. They are afraid to repent and believe the Gospel. They are lost in the Darkness.
If you are lost in the woods, the best way out is THROUGH THE WOODS. The same applies to being lost in the desert. If lost at sea, you must go OVER the sea. We must go through or over our troubles, our sense of being lost. Scottie isn’t going to beam us up, and neither is God. We can’t expect some magical teleportation out of the forest or look for the branches to show us an open path. We must rely on God’s Wisdom, declared to us in Scripture, as our guide and, in confidence and peace, walk right through to the OTHER SIDE. Just put “your hand in the hand” (↔ Music Link) of the One whom God himself declared to be his Son. In doing so, you yourself declare that he, Jesus, is the Christ of God, the son of El Elyon, the Mighty One known as El Shaddai. I declare that “I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” I lay all my sins and even my temptations at his feet. I surrender all (↔ Music Link) to Jesus and declare “Jesus Christ is Lord!” Please, let’s all do that today; in this present darkness (See Ephesians 6:12), let us declare, proclaim, and posses our place in The Light.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
About Chick Todd
American Roman Catholic reared as a "Baptiterian" in Denver Colorado. Now living on Kauaʻi. USAF Vet. Married for over 50 years. Scripture study has been my passion ever since my first "Bible talk" at age 6 in VBS.
