你们好！Yes, I had my Chinese oral exam that I did very well on, which is great because I was very stressed out about it. I almost missed my morning class today (I know, what's wrong with me), but somehow my body woke up at 7:10 and I rushed to my 7:30 on time. I think it's time for a new alarm clock. Anyways I always love doing my QT's (and now my blogging time) right after dinner because by now everything is settled, my stomach is happy, I'm happy, and I can give my 100% to God. Nothing really exciting happened today so I don't have much to share. I'll just go straight to my reading then!
The story skips a few years (ok more like 20-30 years. Jesus is almost an ah-juh-shee!). We start with John the Baptist who starts going around sharing the prophecy and telling people to repent. The Bible states that John was in clothes that were "made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey." Now I tried to visualize that and for some reason I kept getting the picture of one of those sandpeople in Star Wars:
Anyways, imagine someone dressed like that (minus the mask) trying to come telling you to repent! But people did come and the dress didn't seem to matter much. John says something that was rather hard to understand at first: "12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Yes it's a comparison comparing the ones that are saved and ones that aren't, but in the context of where it's at, it's talking more specifically about being baptized. I never really took baptism that seriously, but the way John puts it, it's the difference between being a wheat that will be taken by God and chaff that will be burnt.
Jesus comes along to Jordan and asks John to baptize Him. Imagine the look on John's face when he's asked to do this. Jesus replies by saying that "'it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.'" This again makes me think twice about the importance of baptism and all other practices in the Bible. There are many thing I regard as petty and almost stupid at church. For some people, the act of going to church is even pointless. But this action and response by Jesus really answers that. Who are we to say such things? Are we really that great and holy to be able to say that we don't need it? If Jesus, aka God, says He needs to be baptized, who are we to say we don't need it? If Jesus were here today, would he attend church regularly? Well, He'd probably be the guest speaker at every church he goes to, but even if He weren't, I bet He would. That really hit me. The next time I think something like that, I just need to remember what Jesus said, "'It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.'" Amen.
Once Jesus gets baptized, everything goes crazy and God declares from the heavens saying that Jesus is His Son. This is essentially what happens when we get baptized. It's been a while since I've witnessed baptism. The last time I've seen someone get baptized was in high school when I attended a Baptist Church. They take this motion very seriously. Then I thought about the other churches I've attended (which are all Presbyterian). Then I realized, I really haven't seen any. That got me really curious about the stance Presbyterians take on baptism and other "sacraments." Here's what I found:
"In Baptism, the Holy Spirit binds the Church in covenant to its Creator and Lord. The water of Baptism symbolizes the waters of creation, of the flood, and of the Exodus from Egypt. Thus, the water of Baptism links us to the goodness of God's creation and to the grace of God's covenants with Noah and Israel. Prophets of Israel, amidst the failure of their own generation to honor God's covenant, called for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream. (Amos 5:24) They envisioned a fresh expression of God's grace and of creation's goodness -- a new covenant accompanied by the sprinkling of cleansing water. In his ministry, Jesus offered the gift of living water. So, Baptism is the sign and seal of God's grace and covenant in Christ. (Book of Order W-2.3003)"
"Baptism enacts and seals what the Word proclaims: God's redeeming grace offered to all people. Baptism is God's gift of grace and also God's summons to respond to that grace. Baptism calls to repentance, to faithfulness, and to discipleship. Baptism gives the church its identity and commissions the church for ministry to the world." (Book of Order W-2.3006)
"The water used for Baptism should be common to the location, and shall be applied to the person by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion. By whatever mode, the water should be applied visibly and generously." (Book of Order W-3.3605)
"Baptism is received only once. There are many times in worship, however, when believers acknowledge the grace of God continually at work. As they participate in the celebration of another's Baptism, as they experience the sustaining nurture of the Lord's Supper, and as they reaffirm the commitments made at Baptism, they confess their ongoing need of God's grace and pledge anew their obedience to God's covenant in Christ." (Book of Order W-2.3009)
"As there is one body, there is one Baptism. (Eph. 4:4-6) The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recognizes all Baptisms with water in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit administered by other Christian churches." (Book of Order W-2.3010)
All this information can be found on http://www.pcusa.org. PCUSA, better known as Presbyterian Church USA, has a lot of information on what our denomination entails. I think this stuff is more important than you guys think, so check it out.
My summary notes:
1-3 Time has passed and John the Baptist preached in the Desert of Judea, telling people to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. He told people to “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”
4-6 John was dressed very poorly, but went around baptizing people as people confessed their sins and went to John.
7-10 John warns the Pharisees and Sadducees, telling them to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” He tells them that anyone who does not produce good fruit will be cut.
11-12 Baptism from John is good for now, but when Jesus comes, all those who don’t repent will be judged and will not be able to enter the kingdom of God.
John Baptizes Jesus
13-15 Jesus came to Galilee to be baptized by John. John was hesitant but baptized Jesus because He told John, “it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
16-17 Once Jesus gets baptized, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended and declares Jesus is the Son and God is pleased with Him.
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