Jesus Grew Up Part 2

 

    Jesus and John grew up together, but apart.  John started his ministry younger.  He was the trailblazer, but that was his destiny.  He had a lot to do to clear the path for Jesus and get people primed for such a big change.  It was a change that he did not fully understand.  He got people used to the idea of what Jesus would be teaching: repentance for the forgiveness of sin.

    Jesus taught to give to others.  He taught baptism as a sign of inner cleansing.  He taught how to show love to the people that the world did not think were worthy of love.  Even those that were not society's outcast could be considered great sinners and not worth people's time.  The tax collectors are an example.  No one wanted them around, but they were a part of society.   Jesus taught honesty and integrity.  He taught how to treat people well.  

    John taught all this too, but it never got the attention that Jesus' ministry got because he was not the Messiah.  John had to correct people when they thought that he may be.  He told them to be looking out for Jesus.  He baptized with water, but the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and a fire that will never go out.  John never let pride enter his heart to try to take credit of his cousin.  He also never pushed Jesus to start his ministry before Jesus declared it was time.  He knew his place and purpose.

    John's fatality came because he spoke strongly and boldly against the sins of leadership.  He openly rebuked Herod for divorcing his wife to marry his brother's wife, Herodias.  He called Herod out on his other sins too.  The government never likes that kind of attention, so John was arrested for slander, but really to make him quiet.  We all have to call sin what it is, sin.  John never backed down from that challenge.  His time had to end for Jesus' to fully begin.

    Jesus was about 30 when he was baptized.  His baptism was the catalyst for his ministry about salvation that would change everything.  He was stepping up declaring who he was and even God spoke to make it clear.  He showed us the way from the very first steps.  That meant calling an account of his ancestry to officially fulfill the first prophecy that he came from the line of King David.  However, he tied his human ancestry to Adam.  He took it back to the beginning for a purpose: we always needed him.  It also connected Jesus to humanity and creation through his legal lineage and being God's son.  

Luke 3