Luke 3:15-22 NIV
15 The people were waiting
expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly
be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I
baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will
come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His
winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather
the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And
with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to
them.
19 But when John rebuked
Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s
wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod
added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
21 When all the people were
being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was
opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my
Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
A Flash and Then Thunder
We’ve been here before. I can tell from the highlights in
the Bible and the study texts that I use to study this Gospel message. We’ve
been here before, over and over and over again. Yes, we’ve been here before.
In this passage, John the Baptist introduces Jesus and God’s
Voice punctuates Jesus’ beginning ministry. This is amazing stuff here. And
yes, in this amazing stuff, we must realize, that, we’ve been here before.
Heaven opens up, the Holy Spirit assumes the body of a
dove, and a Voice from heaven, declares Jesus as the Son of the Father. Yep! We’ve
been here before. We’ve been here before, not only in this passage of Scripture,
over and over, but in many passages of God’s Word throughout the Old Testament
and the New Testament. We’ve been here before.
And notice… this is easily missed… Jesus was praying before
heaven was opened.
Do you wonder what Jesus was praying about? Jesus always
seems to be praying. And here, before the heaven opens, Jesus is praying.
We’ve been here before. How many times do you read in
Scripture how Jesus prays. He even gives us some instruction on how to pray.
Yep! We’ve been here before.
And then… and then… the Holy Spirit descends in the form of
a Dove and equips Jesus for His ministry.
All the baptized, should see, here how the Holy Spirit, descended
upon you or me, as adult or child, to equip us for God’s ministry in our lives.
Lives eternal. Yep! We’ve been here before. Over and over, God’s disciples,
have been here before.
So, what’s “A Flash and Then Thunder” have to do with any
of this?
I can’t help but to be reminded of Lightening and Thunder.
When I get on my radio to listen and send CW messages, sometimes, especially
during the summer months, I can hear very distant cracks of noise. Yes, this is
distant cracks of lightening and thunder bouncing off of our ionosphere in
radio frequency noises. Crack, and crackle, over and over again. Messages sent
through messages sent. As I listen for another CW message from a friend, I hear
over and over the crackles of noise. Noise that reminds me, that I’ve heard
this before, over and over. A crackle that interrupts my listening and
sometimes draws my attention completely away from the CW message I am trying to
understand.
John the Baptist was trying to send a crackle of a message
to all the world that someone greater than he was coming. A crackle of a
message that we need to turn from our sinfulness and prepare ourselves to
witness something new and amazing. John’s message crackled through the air,
interrupting any and everything else, at that time, and even today. John’s
Lightening and Thunder introduced fear with a message of repentance and coming
salvation.
But John’s Crackle and Thunder didn’t come exactly like he
or the world expected. John’s introduction of a new Crackle and Thunder, didn’t
come in a way that the world expected. That Flash and Lightening, didn’t quite
come like a King David, to take over all the governments of the day and right all
the wrongs of this world with power and might. Well, not like what mankind
expected.
We’ve been here before. Jesus’ Flash and Thunder came to
this world in a much different way. Jesus, the man who did not sin, was baptized
with John’s baptism of repentance and turning from sin. Well, what sin? What
sin did Jesus have or commit?
And then there’s that Flash and Thunder of God. You see,
Jesus took on our sin and became our sin. Flash and Thunder! Heaven opens, a
dove descends and the Thunder of God’s Voice announces this Jesus’ as His one
and only Son. Yes, God sent His Son into this world with a Flash and Thunder,
of sorts, to save mankind from the curse of sin and death and eternal separation
from God.
In God’s Flash and Thunder, in God’s ear-piercing crackles
over the eternal air waves, minds and hearts turn to God. Mankind is captured
in the fascination of God’s salvation. Life as God would have it, not as
mankind thinks life should be. A Flash and Thunder that brings to earth God’s
purpose in life. God’s gift of a direct relationship with Him through the
Fellowship of God’s own Son, here and now. God’s crackle and Flash and Thunder teaches
us how to live together with God and each other.
Yes, that crackle, that Flash of Light, that vision of
Jesus grace in death, coming patient and gradual to the Cross. Death in an
amongst much prayer. Just like we experience death in our baptismal waters, as
we go under to be raised to New Life with God and have our very own Dove
descend on us to bring us through life, to death and to eternal life with, and
in God.
A crackle, a Flash, a Thunder of the voice of God, sent to
all mankind, in Jesus, to illuminate REAL power. Not like the power of earthly
men, but the REAL power of love and grace of God through Jesus’ life, ministry,
healing, suffering, death and resurrection.
That’s the Flash… the Thunder… the Crackle that overpowers
all other words in this world, that I’m talking about.
See the Flash, hear the Crackle, hear the Thunder… Know
that Heaven has opened up to you and me and a Dove has descended upon this
world and you and I, as well… In Jesus’ baptism and in your baptism, we have
died and rose again to something else.
Matthew 27:50-53 NIV
50 And when Jesus had cried
out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the
rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies
of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They
came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy
city and appeared to many people.
Can you hear the Crackle, see the Flash, listen to the Thunder.
May Jesus overwhelm your soul with new life in Him… today… tomorrow… and forever.
Let’s Pray,
Lord, You are with me through everything. All that this
life brings, You are there too. May I listen to the Thunder and see the Flash
of Light; that I may be dead to sin and alive forever through Christ. --- Amen
Wow! Look at this YouTube Video --- Read the words, look at
the images, and think about this passage of Scripture on the Baptism of Our
Lord and you as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C77pE9-V0vU
“In Christ Alone”
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