ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF CHRIST AS THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY

The Trinity by El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos), 1577

Genesis 1:1-4 and John 1:1-5; 9-13

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And God said, “Let there be light:” and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world. [The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (NIV)]

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came to his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

JESUS IS BAPTIZED

The Baptism of Christ by Jan van Scorel, circa 1530

Autumn 26 A.D

The Jordan River

Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-23a

And it came to pass in those days, then that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him saying, “I have need to be baptized of you, and come you to me?”

And Jesus answering said to him, “Suffer it to be so now for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness.”

Then [John] suffered him and [Jesus] was baptized of John in Jordan.

This is a very interesting statement by John the Baptist, "I have need to be baptized of you, and come you to me?" [The NIV reads, “I need to be baptized by you…”] John testifies later that “I myself did not know him…” except he was told it would be the one the Dove descended upon. My personal opinion is when John saw the Holy Spirit descend; it confirmed what he knew intuitively when Jesus appeared for baptism. Remember as a baby in the womb, John leapt with joy at the approach of Mary. When John says, “I need to be baptized by you”, he wasn’t referring to being washed in the river, but to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He needed to be Saved like any other sinner.

But why would Jesus require baptism? He was without sin, He neither had to repent nor be purified from wrongdoing. 

Go read my previous information about Baptism in Jewish tradition. One thing noted was how the Jews entered into the Covenant with God: "By three things did Israel enter into the Covenant: by circumcision, and baptism and sacrifice.”  Jesus is the New Covenant with God and we see the three conditions exemplified in his life. On the eighth day after his birth, at the beginning of his human life, Jesus was circumcised as required by the Law. 

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Genesis 17:9-14

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. Leviticus 12:1-5. 

[NOTE: Is there anything special about the eigthth day?  Yes, according to Holt Pediatrics, a

classic study by Dr. L. Emmett Holt (pictured right). Vitamin K is essential for the liver to produce a substance called prothrombin, these two being necessary for blood coagulation. It is in the fifth to seventh day of a newborn male that adequate Vitamin K is present. On the eighth day the prothrombin elevates to over 100 percent of normal, and the eighth day of a male is the only day when both Vitamin K and prothrombin are at this high a peak, making it the perfect day for any surgery to be performed.]

At the end of his human life he became the final sacrifice for man’s sins, thus completing the cycle of the Covenant. If the circumcision and the sacrifice were required for all righteousness, then so was Baptism. 

But there is more.  Jesus is also the Priest of Priests. Priests were required to a Baptism of cleansing and an anointing of oil. Jesus would be anointed later, but here he is receiving that washing.  (And Moses said unto the congregation, “This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done.” And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. Leviticus 8:5-6)

But wait, there is still more. Jesus was setting the example for what we should do when we accept God’s Word (Jesus), that we should be baptized as an outer symbol of our change. He was also identifying Himself with the crowds who had come to be baptized and not with the old ways of the Pharisees and Sadducees who had only come to gawk at John and question. These Jewish leaders didn’t submit themselves to John’s baptism. Jesus was the exemplar putting his imprimatur on the work of John and He was showing his obedience to God the father. 

But wait, there is still even more. Baptism was used for conversion. It was more than just purification or a symbolic washing away of sin. “It was a commitment to a new life and a preparation for life with a reborn spirit and fresh eyes. It was a step toward reaching a higher plane toward God.” It symbolized a change in the person. Jesus had not yet started his ministry. He had lived for thirty years as a common man. Now he was making a change and a commitment to what He had come to do. It may seem strange to think of Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit from God the Father, since all three persons are one God, but this is what we see in Jesus’ Baptism.

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened. And straightway coming up out of the water, and, lo he [Jesus] saw the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, in a bodily shape like a dove descending and lighting upon him.

And lo there came a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,

Here is one of the passages where we see the Trinity: the Holy Spirit descending and the Father speaking from heaven declaring the Son. This is also an anointing, done by the Father on the Son by the Holy Spirit. Jesus will receive at least two physical anointing during His ministry, but this is the one that counts.

I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said to me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 

Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Psalm 2:7-11

JOHN THE BAPTIST DENIES BEING THE CHRIST

John the Baptist, an iconic painting from the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai and dated to the 6th Century.

Autumn 26 A.D

Bethany Beyond the Jordan

No one knows exactly where this “Bethany beyond the Jordan” was. There are strong arguments for two proposed sites. One places it closer to the Sea of Galilee while the other places it closer to the Dead Sea opposite Jericho. I favor the location nearer the Dead Sea for several reasons. One is the proximity to Jerusalem. It would seem more logical that John the Baptist was baptizing in this area. It also places the site of this “Bethany beyond the Jordan” at the place where Elijah ascended to Heaven in a whirlwind. This would have ties to the statement that John the Baptist was in the spirit of the Elijah to come. Another reason is the timing of Jesus’ movements at the death of Lazarus. Messengers came to Jesus with news of Lazarus’s illness. Jesus tarried two days before saying to his disciples they would travel to the Bethany of Mary and Martha, which is about two miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus arrives in the Bethany of Mary and Martha, he is told Lazarus has been dead four days. It is a day’s journey from the alleged Bethany beyond the Jordan site to the Bethany of Martha and Mary.  Thus, a massager took a day to arrive and inform Jesus that Lazarus was ill. Jesus waited two days and then took a day to travel to the grave – four days. 

Now another difficulty with places here is in the King James Version it is not translated as Bethany, but as Bethabara. No one knows where Bethabara was either. Ancient villages, towns and cities have ways of disappearing from history. They could disappear because of some disaster or, in many cases, because different peoples occupied the area over time and the names changed. Therefore, if we accept the King James translation, it is possible that Bethabara is not a place, but a location. Bethabara means “house of the ford, a place on the east”.  So when it is said John was baptizing at “Bethabara beyond the Jordan” it is possible it means John was baptizing at a place east beyond the Jordan or at a ford of the Jordan, it may be there were multiple such locations where John plied his trade.

However, the oldest extent manuscripts have the name Bethany, not Bethabara and the statement “at Bethany beyond the Jordan” would indicate the author did not want this place confused with the Bethany of Martha and Mary. As a result, we have had many arguments over the centuries of where this Bethany is and whether the name Bethany was a corruption of some other name of similar sound. I think we need to be careful not to get too absorbed in trying to figure out where a place was located when no one knows rather than concentrating on the events and their import. 

John the Baptist was six months older than his cousin Jesus, but this does not mean John started his own ministry when he was thirty years old too. John could have begun his preparing of the way several years before Jesus came to be Baptized and he could have moved up and down along the Jordan during that time to reach more people. 

(We will discuss locations and distances a bit more when we come to the Wedding at Cana passage.)

John 1:15-34

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was he of whom I spoke, He that comes after me is preferred before me for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” (Reference Luke 3:16, Matthew 3:11 and Mark 1:7.) And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”

And he said, “I am not.” 

“Are you that prophet?”

And he answered, “No.”

Then said they to him, “Who are you that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What say you of yourself?”

He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.” (Isaiah 40:3--“A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare 
the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”)

And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him, “Why baptize you then, if you be not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?”

John answered them saying, “I baptize with water: but there stands one among you, whom you know not. He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”

These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

There is an interesting, and perhaps confusing, exchange between John and the groups who came to question him. First, it is not clear how many different groups came or how often. The opening of this passage would indicate it was a recurring dialogue. John has not been shy in crying out that Jesus was the one he had meant would come after him. It would then appear that some priests and members of the priestly tribe came and questioned him on at least one occasion.  It is also clear a higher authority, probably the Sanhedrin, sent them.

Why did they come? I would think for two reasons. One, they were curious about this fellow who was drawing such crowds and two, they knew the Scriptures and were looking for the Messiah, perhaps John was he. (Remember the Scripture told us the people were already asking that question.) John pretty quickly put it to rest that he was not the Messiah.

So why did they ask him if he was Elijah?

Because they knew Malachi had prophesied that God would send Elijah back before the Messiah. 

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV)

Perhaps then John was actually Elijah, but John says he isn’t. This is true. John came in “the spirit of Elijah”. He is a type of Elijah and he was preparing the way for the Messiah, but for the first coming, not the ”great and dreadful day of the Lord”, which refer to the second coming. However, the prophesy in Malachi does apply to both. 

In the latter days, Elijah will return and Israel’s sons will have their hearts turned to God the Father and to Jesus as the Messiah at last. But John came as Elijah preparing the hearts to receive Jesus as the Messiah and they did not receive. As a result, God did strike the land with a curse and the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and the Jews were scattered to the four corners of the world.

Yet, they didn’t stop with that question. They asked a third, “Are you The Prophet?” John was indeed a prophet, the last Old Testament style prophet, but he was not The Prophet. So, who was The Prophet?

The Muslims will tell you this was Mohammad. I will tell you it was not. The Prophet was Christ. Now, how can that be? Why would they ask if he was The Christ and then ask if he was The Prophet when he denied being Christ? This is because they didn’t understand the prophesy of The Prophet anymore than they understood there would be two appearances of the Messiah. 

Moses in Deuteronomy 17 and 18 speaks of the King, the priests and the prophet, the three-in-one posts fulfilled in Christ. Moses says:

The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." Deuteronomy 18:14-16 (NIV)

What did the Israelites ask? Well, they feared if they heard the voice of God speaking to them they would die and so they asked Moses to be a mediator between God and them. This Prophet who Moses speaks of will be a mediator between God and us, another position fulfilled in Christ.

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, ‘After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me’. And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.”

And John bare record, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, ‘Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost’. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God.”

(See my comments in the section on Jesus’ Baptism regarding John’s comment, “I myself did not know him…etc.”)