Grace Community Church of Ramona Podcast

As we continue the story of Jesus Messiah King, Jesus has begun presenting Himself to the nation of Israel as her promised Messiah King. Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptizer, faithfully paved the way and has clearly identified Jesus of Nazareth as the One Who is to come. As a result, a shift occurred. The crowds coming to Jesus were increasing; the crowds coming to John were decreasing.

Patriotic Service 2019
Evan Young, Jerry Sain, Shawn Percival

 

As we continue the story of Yeshua: Messiah King we find Jesus still in Jerusalem celebrating the feast of Passover. A prominent Rabbi initiates an evening meeting with Jesus. Little did he know that this man from Nazareth was about to rock his world.

There are evils in this world that should make us angry and spur us to action. If they don’t make us angry, something is wrong with us. As we continue the story of Yeshua, Messiah King, Jesus encounters a situation that has angered Him for twenty years but up until this moment He has not been at liberty to do anything about it. But this time it’s different.

"If mom says no, I’ll go ask dad." This timeless phrase has been used and practiced by children throughout the ages! No doubt many of us have either been on the using or receiving end. What kids seem to understand at such an early age, is that sometimes, mom and dad have a different plan for what they want their kids to do. We will see this play out in a very unique and interesting way in our bible passage today.

In our section today we will see Jesus begins collecting his disciples in preparation for his Messianic ministry. We will see each disciple who ends up with Jesus, does so in a unique way and has a singularly unique story about their first couple days with this Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. However, despite the variety of invitations, the heart of what they have been invited into is all the same. They are to "come and see." To be partakers in what this Jesus is doing.

In the 1st century, where proper documentation was far more difficult to obtain, the role of a witness played an important part in society. In our passage today, we will see John the Baptizer provide testimony both about who he is, and far more importantly, about who Jesus is.

God sent Jesus to be king over God’s creation. But will Jesus, like Satan and Adam before Him, grow proud and rebellious? After His baptism, the Spirit immediately led Jesus into the Wilderness to be tested in order to answer this question: is Jesus worthy of God’s trust? We must not blunt the intensity of this experience nor devalue its significance. In His earthly life, Jesus never drew upon His deity. If He had, He would have disqualified Himself as our Substitute and empathetic High Priest.

As a young adult, John spent many years isolated in the Judean Wilderness away from the influences of rabbinic Judaism and Sanhedrin politics. In 26 A.D. God called John out of the wilderness to begin his work of preparing the people to receive the Messiah and ultimately identifying the Messiah to the nation of Israel. On the occasion of Jesus' baptism, John received supernatural assistance in identifying the Messiah.

It's hard to live today in light of something so far in the future. Be that as it may, we're called to live our lives in light of the future Millennial Kingdom knowing that how we serve Jesus now will determine how we will serve Jesus then. This, too, was John the Baptist's challenge to his fellow Israelites. They needed to return to God and live their lives in light of the future.