Immediately after the exhilarating experience of baptism, the heavenly anointing with holy spirit, and a sacred affirmation from the Father in the words, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the wilderness. On our trek, we seek him there.
Continuing to travel along with John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea, we’ve observed that his simple, bold, heart-convicting message started a revival of hope for the coming of God’s Messiah. Multitudes of needy folk had come out to partake in the baptism of repentance that he offered.
Time for a wilderness walk! Yes, a walk into the wilderness of Judea to find John the Baptist. And we find him there preaching to all who had come out to hear him. But first, we’ll track back to find out more about John, the son of Zacharias.
When Sherry and I visited Israel, we stood by the Jordan River perhaps near the place where Jesus was baptized by his cousin John. Just as Jesus was a prophet “like unto” the Prophet Moses (Acts 3:22; 7:37), John was a prophet like the Prophet Elijah. John’s coming was predicted by another prophet, Malachi.
On the road again! We’ll be taking a shortcut from the time of Jesus’ birth directly to his family’s trip to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. If you’d like to see what happened from just before his birth to his move to Nazareth as a young child, you can read Moving to a New Home.
Continuing to follow the True and Living Way through the gospels, we come across these significant prophecies about our Lord Jesus Christ around the time of his birth. Let’s sit awhile and contemplate each occasion, considering the influence on those who initially received these words, and then how they speak to us today about him whom we love.
Browsing through a small bookstore in Portland, Maine, I found an old book about the ministry of Jesus and asked the clerk, James, how much it cost. That started us on a conversation about the Bible and he said that he believed it was a book full of errors and inconsistencies. I maintained that the Bible was the Word of God without error or apparent contradictions when properly interpreted.
Gene and I lived on Guam for seven years. While there, he wrote for the Pacific Daily News, including feature stories about interesting characters on the island.
This blog marks the beginning of a new journey for me and I plan on taking you with me, dear reader, if you are willing. I recently pulled out an ancient map that was a beloved part of my youth, and it is the map of Jesus’ life on earth, the good news of the Savior as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Part 1 showed how God gave revelation to holy men of God to write down what we have as the Bible today. We saw that prophets, including Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ezra and Nehemiah, David, and Solomon, made known what God wanted them to. Part 2 will show how we got the other books of the Bible from our heavenly Father, and how we can trust His Word for a sound, true foundation in our lives.