Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew3+13-17

Scripture

When Jesus had been baptised, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

Observation

Jesus comes to the Jordan River where John is baptising. John at first disagrees with Jesus’ request to be baptised. “I should be baptised by you,” he says.

John baptises Jesus. As Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens open and the Spirit of God comes down on Him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven affirms, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Application

The Son of God is baptised by a man, filled with the Holy Spirit and affirmed by the voice of the Father. This passage confirms the doctrine of the Trinity, but it also confirms the partnership that God establishes with human beings. Jesus could not baptise Himself. He voluntarily submitted Himself to the hands of a man.

God rarely acts alone; He chooses to work through people. His Kingdom is not merely the forceful use of power separate from humanity. He achieves His purposes at he hands of people who submit themselves to Him.

“The heavens were opened to him” suggests a connection between heaven and earth. The normal barriers that separate the physical from the spiritual are pushed aside. Jesus had full communion with the Father in the person of the Holy Spirit.

We have that same opportunity also as we have the Holy Spirit in us. The heavens are open to me today.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” May the kingdom of heaven be open to me to allow me to fulfil your purposes in me today.

God is still opening the heavens to us. He is still filling people with the Holy Spirit. He is still partnering with ordinary people, inviting them to be a part of His Kingdom.

Prayer

Today, Lord, I choose to believe in an open heaven with all your blessings pouring into the world through me. Fill me with your Spirit. May your will be done through me and in me. Amen.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+2.1-12

Scripture

And, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Observation

Some wise men come from the East looking for a child who is to be the King of the Jews. King Herod is very perturbed about this and asks his own “wise men”- the priests and scribes- where the Messiah is to be born. They tell him Bethlehem.

Herod sends the wise men to Bethlehem and tells them that when they find the child they are to let him know so he can come and pay homage.

The wise men go to Bethlehem where the star leads them to the house where Jesus’ family is staying. They worship the child and offer their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then they return home by a different road.

Application

These wise men were Magi, wealthy and respected astrologers and soothsayers from Babylon. They were most likely descendants of the wise men of Daniel’s day and may well have been aware of Daniel’s prophecies which indicated the time of the Messiah. Today these people would be the gurus and elites of the New Age movement.

It is interesting that the first worshippers of Jesus were the poor deplorable shepherds and the Gentile idolaters.

The Magi used their human wisdom and common sense to get them to Bethlehem. They knew from their astrology that a king had been born in Israel. They naturally went to the powerful people at the palace. Then the star led them to the child they were seeking.

But, after encountering the Lord, they were warned in a dream from the Lord to go a different way home and not to go back to Herod.

An encounter with Jesus will change your course.

Common sense, human wisdom and what we know will take a person so far in the christian life. It is only when we meet Christ, have an encounter with the living God, only then are our lives truly changed. Inly then can we go by a different road.

The way of religion is to make myself right with God. Say the right prayers, live a good life, go to church. Religion may change what we do but it does not change our hearts.

It is when I realise that I cannot make the grade, that I am hopelessly trapped in my sin, only then can I reach out to God and receive His gift of salvation in Christ.

It is a choice that sends our lives along a different road; a road of grace and freedom in Christ,

Prayer

Lord Jesus I pray today for my friends and family members who do not know you. Please give them an encounter with you that will change the path they are on. Amen.

Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+11.2-11

Scripture

“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.”

Observation

John the Baptist is in prison and he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus’ response is to point out the miracles and the healings and the preaching of the gospel.

Jesus then tells the crowd about John. He asks them “What did you expect him to be?” He tells them that John is more than a prophet- he is the messenger preparing the way of the Lord.

Jesus concludes that there was no one greater than John until the present day. But even the least important person in God’s Kingdom is greater than John.

Application

What does It mean to be great? Why is John the greatest of all men until the Kingdom?

John was great because he saw and recognised Jesus the Messiah. He was uniquely called to proclaim “The King is coming!” His greatness was in his calling.

All the prophets in the Old Testament saw a partial picture. Looking back we can see that they saw the coming of the Messiah and how it would happen.

Nobody, until John, saw the fullness of the Kingdom of God. Even John had his doubts.

John was greater than Moses, Abraham, David, Isaiah and Elijah.

But the least in the Kingdom is greater than John.

Me in my ordinary humdrum existence, far from perfect, not always hearing God’s voice– I am greater than John the Baptist, greater than Moses, David, Abraham and all the “heroes” of the Old Testament.

Goodness in God’s Kingdom is not about heroic deeds and famous sermons. It’s about walking with God and listening to the Holy Spirit, determined to live the best life I can for Jesus.

Prayer

Lord it is too marvellous for words to think that you consider me to be greater than John the Baptist. Show me how to be even greater as I walk in surrender to you. Amen.