But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” ~ Matthew 3:14 NLT
What if Jesus said, "That's so true! it should be the other way around John!"
What if Jesus never got baptized by John?
Would God have proclaimed, "this is my dearly beloved son?" Would the Holy Spirit have descended upon him and remained?
Would the heavens have opened?
But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? ~ Matthew 3:14 KJV
After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. ~ Matthew 3:16 NLT
One Apostle I enjoy listening to said in one of his sermons, "God's glory manifests where his patterns are followed." He mentioned how for God's glory to descend upon the temple Moses built, the temple had to be exactly as God had showed Moses. Until the construction was 100% complete, the glory didn't come. When they were done constructing the temple to be as the one God showed Moses, then the glory came down.
This reminded me of the dialogue between Jesus and John the Baptist. We say John the Baptist so much we tend to forget he was a Prophet. God sent him as a Baptist so he could easily identify the Messiah.
I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ~John 1:33 NLT
Jesus knew God required him to fulfil this prophesy. This reminds me to how Jesus was when he walked on earth. I remember my Pastor saying, it's easy to hear God's voice when you know the Word. The more time you spend with God (studying and meditating on his Word), the easier it is for you to recognize God's voice when he speaks by his Spirit to your Spirit.
Jesus knew the scriptures and he proved them. He had to be baptized by John. He had to make a conscious decision to go get baptized by John. That was how God wanted it to be, planned for it to be, and because Jesus followed that, God's glory manifested, in him, through him and around him.
If Jesus hadn't followed spiritual patterns, would the heavens have opened? would he have been led to go to the wilderness for 40 days? Would he have overcome Satan's temptation?
For God's glory to manifest in our lives, we ought to be discerning and walk in God's perfect plans for our lives. May we be people full of the Word, so we may easily hear Gods voice and act accordingly.
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