Title: To the Jordan River
Contents
to the Jordan River
(Matthew 3:13-17)
“Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River, to be baptized by John… Then John allowed it” (verses 13-15).
Climbers say that going down a mountain is more dangerous than going up. But once you learn a few tricks, it's really easy. For example, it is said that if you bend forward and descend at a figure 11 gait, you fall less.
Jesus went down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, and I want to think about what that means.
1. the seat of the little one
After living as a carpenter and ministering to his parents for 30 years in Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus went down to John, who was baptizing in the Jordan River as the first step in his public life.
John was born into the world six months before Jesus, and he also started preaching the word. But when we compare Jesus and John the Baptist, Jesus is the Savior and John the Baptist is only a creature. Jesus is the light itself, and John is the vessel of light.
Jesus is the Word and John is the guide. Jesus is God and John is a man.
Therefore, it would be right if John the Baptist came to Jesus and was baptized by Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus went down to the Jordan River where John was staying and asked John to be baptized.
No matter how much you think about it, Jesus and John are incomparable, but even Jesus, the Creator God, went down to the Jordan River to find John the Baptist, a creature and man. In this way, our Lord Himself descended to the place of the least of the people.
This society is a hierarchical structure. Therefore, there is a strict hierarchy and a clear hierarchy in school, society, and occupation. It is a good virtue that juniors respect seniors and younger people receive guidance from older people.
But what is better than this is that the great know how to descend into the place of the lesser ones. We should use the example of Jesus washing the disciples' feet and carrying out the way of a servant who serves others (Chan 278:2).
Dr. Henry Nuenne of the United States resigned from the prestigious Harvard University, where he had been for a long time, and joined the staff of Day Break Academy, a small facility for the mentally retarded in Massachusetts.
It was difficult to comprehend that a world-famous theologian would give up a lot of salaries and honors to engage in toilet instruction, behavior correction, and training in eating, washing, and dressing the immature children.
But one day, while I was with these children, I found Jesus on the downhill road.” Ex-US President Carter worked as a carpenter and former Seoul mayor went down to work as the principal of a rural middle school. It is to volunteer to follow the path.
2. Place of Sinners
The Jordan River was full of many sinners who came down to be baptized by John. Among them, there were all kinds of sinners, such as swindlers, extortioners, plunderers, those who beat the weak women and innocent people, and the proud ones. There are also Pharisees and Sadducees mixed in. John said to them, "You brood of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come?" He exclaimed bitterly.
But the innocent Jesus went down to the Jordan River where there was a crowd of unscrupulous sinners. You have gone to the place of sinners.
Like Jesus, we must be prepared to go down to the position of sinners. Of course, this does not mean that we deliberately punish our sins and become sinners.
If you are being held accountable and attacked even though you have done nothing wrong, let's silently become sinners like our Lord. Even Jesus, who had no sin, was treated as a sinner, but we, who are sinners from the beginning, want to be treated as sinners, so there is nothing to feel bad about.
But we do not want to go down to the place of sinners, but rather to stand on the place of the righteous. They want to be recognized by the righteous or treated by angels. So there is a problem.
As the saying goes, "You are struck by lightning when you are next to a sinner", there are times when you are treated as a sinner when you are next to a criminal. It is natural to be punished for doing something wrong. However, it is also the spirit of the cross to quietly guide us and pray when we are driven like a person who has made a mistake even though there is no wrongdoing.
Let us live carefully so as not to make others sinners. On the other hand, I must not hesitate to step down myself to the place of the sinner if necessary.
During the 6.25 Incident, he was taken to the police station on the news that someone had worked as an artificial engineer and was subjected to harsh torture, and a neighbor who lived in the neighborhood defended him not to be the case, but was greatly misunderstood. . It is very precious to go near and help those who have sinned unintentionally and are serving a sentence.
3. The seat of death
Baptism has two meanings. One is the old, the death to sin, and the other is the new, the life to righteousness. But in the case of the Lord, the meaning of baptism is slightly different. As God, since He is sinless, there is nothing to die for, and because He Himself is made righteous, there is nothing new to live.
Therefore, while baptism was a ceremony for washing away sins for ordinary people, it was a ceremony of dedication to Jesus.
For the past 30 years, Jesus has lived faithfully as a member of an ordinary family in Nazareth. However, for the next three years, he had to live only to fulfill the purpose of his coming into the world (Mark 10:45), so the Lord's baptism was an example of the Lord's own devotion to develop into 'Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah Jesus'.
What is devotion? Devotion is giving up, giving up is sacrifice, and sacrifice is death. Jesus gave up everything to become a ransom sacrifice for all people, and this is His death on the cross. He died on the cross three years later, but as he entered his public life, it was as if he had already died in the Jordan River (Philippians 2:8).
Ruth followed Naomi, ready to die, saying, "Where my mother died, I will also die and be buried there" (Ruth 1:17). Esther said, "If I die, I will die" (Esther 4:16) before King Ahasuerus. The apostle Paul did not give up, saying, "I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:14).
Therefore, if we want to thank and repay the grace of the Lord, we must be able to descend to the point of death.
Indeed, the reason that Jesus came to the Jordan River was that the exalted One descended into a humble place, the Holy One became like a sinner, and the Lord of life descended into the seat of death.
All of us, in pairs, do as I tell you.
"Butler! Where have all the old castles gone?"
"He's already dead!"
That's right. Let's go down to our Jordan River.<1995. 3. 5>