Of these 17 verses, the first 11 describe John the Baptist, and the last 6 outline Jesus’ baptism.
I am struck by this scene.
Consider how people are responding to John the Baptist’s message. For those of us reading this story some 2,000 years after it took place, we might not grasp what is taking place.
It might be easy for us to slip into thinking that the people “back then” not as sophisticated as we are today. Human advances in the 20th and early 21st century create in us a sense of being far-and-away advanced. Perhaps we are giving ourselves too much credit and those of the past too little.
If we assume this position of superiority, we can slip into not appreciating what we are reading.
What we are reading is an episode of Divine Truth grabbing hold of people. God’s Word does that—it grabs hold of you—at just the right moment!
People are not responding because they have been duped. These are not backward thinking, superstitious buffoons who have been taken in by a smooth-talking charismatic, if not curious character.
No, the very Word of God is piercing their hearts.
Jesus is about to burst onto the scene. God is using John the Baptist to prepare the soil of people’s hearts—for just this right moment.
Jesus’ baptism is magnificent. God, the Trinity, breaks into the world, shattering the silence. It is a glorious moment for the world.
I encourage each of us to gaze upon the Baptism of our Lord.
But we might do more than gaze upon Jesus’ entrance. We might also seek God’s Divine Truth for us, at this moment, in our lives.
Maybe God has been speaking to you, something you know you must respond to? If He hasn’t, would you ask Him to speak His Divine Truth to you?