October 31, 2000 By ROBERT FIGUEROA Launching Jesus' Public Ministry "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” - Matthew 3:16,17 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. The Baptist's ministry was very short but very critical. His calling was to prepare the way of the people for the Messiah to come and receive His own people. The scene is: Jesus was walking down by the Jordan river during the middle of one of the greatest sermons ever preached. There was a revival going on. There had not been a revival and repentance like this since the days of Malachi the Prophet some 400 years earlier. As the call to repentance was being made, Jesus being 100% human and 100% divine was moved by the will of God to fulfill all righteousness to come to John in the Jordan to be baptized. We might ask, why does Jesus need to be baptized especially if “Jesus name baptism” was not yet revealed? But we see that Jesus was being obedient to fulfill all rightnessnous (Matthew 3:15) which included the call of baptism. Although He was the Savior of the world, He also had to be an example. The baptism of Jesus was not to receive power for He already had the fullness of the Godhead in Him (Colosians 2:9); He did not become divine by some later act of God. So the humanity of Jesus was no exception but was now publicly confessing that His life would not be the same, for this was the launching of the physical ministry of Jesus Christ. We notice that Matthew and Mark both say the same thing about Jesus’ blueprint of baptism. He came “up out of the water” disproving sprinkling or any other method of baptism. Instead, complete emergence is necessary to put the old to past. Likewise Jesus and John were the only ones to bear witness of these three manifestations this glorious day. As Jesus was coming up out of the water and praying, the Heavens crashed open, to confirm the starting point of Jesus’ ministry. Then John and Jesus saw the Spirit (Holy Ghost) of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. This was to show John the Baptist that this truly was the One who baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. The dove represents the anointing of Jesus’ ministry. The word Messiah means the anointed One. The last manifestation: “Suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. This was the cream on the cake! They both heard the voice of God approve both of their ministries. John the Baptist's ministry was coming to a close, it had been signed, sealed and delivered. God was blessing him with the awesome presence of The lamb of God. Jesus on the other hand was now ready to be used for His full purpose. What a confirmation Jesus must have felt that day. Wow!. Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. One of the first things that Jesus did was to pray and fast for forty days. Just as we are tempted today it was Jesus who set the perfect example for us to know how to get out of our trials and sinful lifestyles. Jesus’ responsive weapon to overcoming temptation was the Word of God! One thing that I feel is very necessary for evangelism is to know the Word of God in order to show ourselves approved unto God and to benefit the souls of this world. Our personal application are these three elements: First, when we want to be used in the ministry of the Lord we need to be baptized of the water and of the Spirit as told to Nicodemus (John 3:5). Second, we need to allow the Spirit to manifest in our lives to do the work and will of God. Third, if we want to be used in the ministry of the Lord we need to hear the Word of God as Jesus and John did; that also consists of reading Word of God. If we consider these elements to be a necessity in our lives, we will be mightily used as the “Beginning of Jesus’ public ministry” was such a profound impact in history today. Let us never overlook what the Lord did for His ministry to take off and be totally anointed by God. Amen! Robert Figueroa is Co-Executive Producer of Inspired Christian.org and manages the Apostolic Doctrine feature section. You can send Robert email at robertfig@inspiredchristian.org. We're listening! Send us your comments, staff@inspiredchristian.org. Home | Site News | Reviews | Churches | CyberReading | Bible College Copyright 2000 Inspired Christian.org