What must it have been like?

Listen along here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2cfb459e/what-must-it-h...

And so it all begins.  

We left Joseph, Mary and 12-year-old Jesus traveling the dusty road from Jerusalem back to Nazareth, and I’m thinking there just might have been a lot of silence.  Jesus was no doubt thinking of the conversations he had had in the temple, Mary and Joseph wondering if this was just the first of many times their Son would have to be about his father’s business, and they would not understand.  Luke’s concluding remark is that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in the favor of God and man. 2.52  

That is all we know definitively of Jesus’ growing up years. However, permit me to do a little wondering with you today -- like I wonder if it was God’s blessing on faithful Mary that she raised the Son of God in tiny Nazareth unobserved, watching him learn the trade of his stonemason/craftsman father Joseph, watching what ‘the favor of God and the favor of men’ looked like for Jesus.  Luke had already told us that Mary pondered many things in her heart.  I can’t even imagine.  Did she worry more or less about Jesus than his half-siblings as they grew?  Hmmm.  As Jesus turned 20 years old, then 25, did villagers ask why Jesus had not taken a wife? hmmm...

And then, how did Mary feel when Jesus announced it was time to begin his public ministry at age 30?  She must have felt bereft as he left, right? --especially since there is no mention of Joseph at this point in the gospels.  

How long did it take Jesus to travel from Nazareth out to the Jericho area and find John (the Baptist) near the Jordan River?  What was Jesus thinking about as he went?  I’m sure he talked a lot to the Father along the way.  Did he carry a bedroll, food and water?  I like thinking of his journey, yet having driven the route numerous times, I sure do not like to think of Jesus being cold or navigating the tough, rugged terrain.  Yes, he was on mission, yes, he was God, but Jesus was also fully man.  And as I picture the Lord out there on that journey toward what I know was coming next, I realize there is so very much we do not know about Jesus’ time here on earth.  

As Jesus approached that day out at the Jordan River--recorded in all four gospels, even John knew it seemed backwards … why, Jesus should be baptizing him, right?  No, this was to be a public statement of the start of Jesus’ public ministry, and a very loud statement of Jesus' obedience to the will of the Father that he be baptized.  Soon, there would be a passing of the baton in the desert.

This glorious day was inauguration day!  Picture Jesus wading into the Jordan to where John stood…did they hug?  Did they shake hands?  While physical details do not matter, I cannot help but wonder of their height, their weight, even their muscle strength.  Both were physical men, so neither was a weakling.  hmmm. . .

But here comes the glory: John lowers Jesus into the river water and as Jesus comes out of the water, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3.21-22

Father, Son and Holy Spirit ~ together.

So amazing, such perfection, such love.

The very notion of this gives my heart wings!

Jesus does not ask anything of us that he has not experienced.  Our own water baptism does not save us or make us Christians, no - we are baptized in obedience to express what God has done in our hearts, and our repentance and surrender to him--our acknowledgment that he not just our Savior, but the leader of our lives.  And just like when Jesus was baptized, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are present.  Amen!

To Be with Jesus - brand new song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3HF5wSh9Ss

With love,

Christine

PastorWoman.net