Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
The rest of the account of Jesus’ baptism is found in Mark 1:10-11: “And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.’” Early in the Gospel of Mark, then, we have the clear presentation of the Trinity – One God in Three Persons. The Son is inaugurating His earthly ministry; the Father speaks His approval of the Son and His ministry; and the Spirit visibly descends upon the Son so that those present and those reading this account would know that the Spirit is fully involved in and supportive of “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Trinitarianism is crucial to Christianity, for it is central to understanding the nature of God. It affirms that He is intrinsically relational, a trait which is necessary if He is to save us from our sins. It also clarifies that God is different from us. He must be, for otherwise He is not Who is revealed in Scripture. If He were merely a bigger and stronger version of us, He could not decisively deal with our sins. (As an important aside, we should note that the Holy Spirit is not a literal dove. He is described as “like a dove” to indicate a physical manifestation that all could see and remember. Elsewhere, God the Holy Spirit is spoken of in terms of fire (Acts 2:3), an earnest or downpayment (II Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14), water (John 7:38-39), wind (Acts 2:1-2), a seal (Ephesians 1:13), and oil (I John 2:20). All of these uses of symbolism are to help us better understand the full nature of God and are not to be taken as the final, absolute, literal picture of the Spirit.)