Matthew03::Jesus Baptized?

Matthew03

One of the memorable moments from my Monday night review with my daughter from Matthew01 was pointing out that something she read about happening when Mary was pregnant was actually prophesied a thousand years earlier. It prompted her to ask, “Was Mary pregnant for a thousand years?” Little things like this make my heart smile as I am sharing this year’s reading discipline with her.

Matthew is unique among the four gospel writers because he is writing to a Jewish audience. A group of people who have been waiting for their Messiah. A group of people who have a list of prophecies concerning who this Messiah will be, where he will come from and how he will rule. We have already seen a conflict built into Matthew’s assignment - the Messiah is here, but not what they were expecting. As a result, Matthew will continue to infuse fulfilled language to show that Jesus is their long awaited Messiah. Chapter 3 opens with a wild man named John preparing the way, fulfilling the prophecy (Isaiah 40:3) that there would be “thunder in the desert” that would prepare the way for the Messiah.

What caught my attention today was the last section of the chapter (v. 13-17) when Jesus goes to John, the baptizer, and requests baptism. Really? Baptism was a demonstration of a changed life, a cleansed life. When someone wanted to change their ways and embrace the life of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, John would baptize them. Well...here comes Jesus, the initiator of this kingdom and one whose life is perfect in every way, wanting to be baptized. Why? John had the same tension I feel when I read this: Shouldn’t Jesus be baptizing John? Jesus insists and says, “God’s work, putting right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” What in the world? Is Jesus giving us a picture of his eventual death and resurrection by his baptism? Is he simply obeying a step in a system of rules? I’m still not totally sure...

What are your thoughts? Maybe we can walk through this one together? I’ll post what I find, if you’ll post what you find...

Great Day...Great Holiday!

What a weekend. Easter Sunday on March 23...can't say I'm a fan of the early date. In case some of you don't know how Easter is determined, here is a little trivia for you: Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, which is March 20. The Hebrew calendar is lunar and the date identifies with Passover. On our Roman calendar it hops around. This Easter was the earliest that any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives. The next time it will occur this early is 2228, and unless anyone is planning on hanging around this planet for another 220 years, it ain't happening!

Okay, enough trivia. It would be great to get feedback from you regarding a couple of things. How did the 21 Day Journey through the book of John go for you? Did you make it? Did you enjoy it? Would you be up to doing something like that again?

Also, one thing I realized this weekend is that we are not prone to traditions as a family. According to studies of my generation and younger, we are not alone. Would those of you who have Easter traditions be willing to share some of your traditions with us?

School's back and we are in full swing again. We posted the drawings from the kids on our site, so go check them out.