Post by M.R. Hagerty on Feb 18, 2023 6:45:02 GMT -7
Matthew 3:16-17
16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
It is unclear how much those standing around saw and heard. Matthew here states that He – Jesus – was the one seeing the Spirit descend. But Luke states that the Spirit descended in “bodily form, as a dove” which suggests that this would have been seen by the people.
Also, it’s unclear if “this is My beloved Son” was heard by others. By saying “This is . .” we have an expression meant for others, but Mark and Luke have, “Thou art . .” which means an address to Jesus.
We also have the expectation that a voice from heaven declaring such things would seem proof positive of His messiahship so as to eliminate all questions and doubts, something the leaders and priests would have to heed. But this didn’t happen, nor was this event later referred to by those defending Him.
But we have to understand that this event was only witnessed by whoever was present on this occasion and there’s no indication that the Pharisees and Sadducees were present. Testimonies wouldn’t have been taken at face value. It’s a bit like telling your neighbors you saw a spacecraft land in your back yard. The larger the claim, the larger the need for corroboration.
The important part of the message is that this was God proclaiming the Person of His Son, and that with Him He was well-pleased. That is the commendation we should all seek for ourselves, that God be well-pleased with us.
We can know this in the basics, in that we are pleasing to God on account of the death of His Son. We are not to gain that pleasure by measuring our performance in works. Paul makes it clear that this approach not only doesn’t work, it never worked.
But in another sense there is a striving to please God by obeying and succeeding in those things He bids us do. They are not the basis of our assessment as to salvation, but they are as to our rewards before Him. Some may object that this can place the focus on getting things from God, but Paul does state, ” If any man's work which he has built on remains, he will receive a reward.” . . “but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (1 Corinthians 3:14, 3:8 ) Whether some may wrongly emphasize rewards or not, we are instructed that such things are part of the pleasure of God toward us.
Regrettably, there are some people who care little for (and even resent) the idea that their lives have been designed for one purpose – to please God. But despising it and rejecting it doesn’t change its truth. So we really have two choices: if we reject this fact of our existence we will live frustrated lives, bitter and full of disappointment at every turn. Our very faces will reveal the bitter effects of going our own way. But if we accept this fact and respond to it expectantly and with love for it, we find a life of abundance and meaning. And conversely, our faces reflect this to the glory of God.
Luke 3:23
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age,
This has been a point of controversy for chronologists whose business is accurately placing Jesus’ life and ministry in a real historical context.
For starters, we know that Jesus’ ministry begins at the same time or a bit later than John’s (but by no means before.) We mentioned earlier that John began in the ”fifteenth year of Tiberius” which would have been A.D. 28. If Jesus began also that same year or very soon thereafter, he would have been about thirty-one or thirty-two years of age at verse 23 which agrees with ”about thirty years of age.”
[There was no year Zero, hence 4 B.C. to A.D. 28 equals 31 years not 32. This also puts His age at thirty-four or thirty-five at the time of His crucifixion.]
While this seems pretty straightforward, it is not without problems. Other chronological factors to be taken into account are the dates for the officials, Caiaphas and Pilate, and how many Passovers are recorded for Jesus’ ministry. Another complication comes into play when scholars try to match up the fulfillment of Daniel’s first 69 weeks with the coming of Messiah. Certain ending dates can complicate the timing of when these other events could have occurred. This is merely to say that we can’t be rigidly dogmatic about the dates and exact age of Jesus at given points.
16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
It is unclear how much those standing around saw and heard. Matthew here states that He – Jesus – was the one seeing the Spirit descend. But Luke states that the Spirit descended in “bodily form, as a dove” which suggests that this would have been seen by the people.
Also, it’s unclear if “this is My beloved Son” was heard by others. By saying “This is . .” we have an expression meant for others, but Mark and Luke have, “Thou art . .” which means an address to Jesus.
We also have the expectation that a voice from heaven declaring such things would seem proof positive of His messiahship so as to eliminate all questions and doubts, something the leaders and priests would have to heed. But this didn’t happen, nor was this event later referred to by those defending Him.
But we have to understand that this event was only witnessed by whoever was present on this occasion and there’s no indication that the Pharisees and Sadducees were present. Testimonies wouldn’t have been taken at face value. It’s a bit like telling your neighbors you saw a spacecraft land in your back yard. The larger the claim, the larger the need for corroboration.
The important part of the message is that this was God proclaiming the Person of His Son, and that with Him He was well-pleased. That is the commendation we should all seek for ourselves, that God be well-pleased with us.
We can know this in the basics, in that we are pleasing to God on account of the death of His Son. We are not to gain that pleasure by measuring our performance in works. Paul makes it clear that this approach not only doesn’t work, it never worked.
But in another sense there is a striving to please God by obeying and succeeding in those things He bids us do. They are not the basis of our assessment as to salvation, but they are as to our rewards before Him. Some may object that this can place the focus on getting things from God, but Paul does state, ” If any man's work which he has built on remains, he will receive a reward.” . . “but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (1 Corinthians 3:14, 3:8 ) Whether some may wrongly emphasize rewards or not, we are instructed that such things are part of the pleasure of God toward us.
Regrettably, there are some people who care little for (and even resent) the idea that their lives have been designed for one purpose – to please God. But despising it and rejecting it doesn’t change its truth. So we really have two choices: if we reject this fact of our existence we will live frustrated lives, bitter and full of disappointment at every turn. Our very faces will reveal the bitter effects of going our own way. But if we accept this fact and respond to it expectantly and with love for it, we find a life of abundance and meaning. And conversely, our faces reflect this to the glory of God.
Luke 3:23
23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age,
This has been a point of controversy for chronologists whose business is accurately placing Jesus’ life and ministry in a real historical context.
For starters, we know that Jesus’ ministry begins at the same time or a bit later than John’s (but by no means before.) We mentioned earlier that John began in the ”fifteenth year of Tiberius” which would have been A.D. 28. If Jesus began also that same year or very soon thereafter, he would have been about thirty-one or thirty-two years of age at verse 23 which agrees with ”about thirty years of age.”
[There was no year Zero, hence 4 B.C. to A.D. 28 equals 31 years not 32. This also puts His age at thirty-four or thirty-five at the time of His crucifixion.]
While this seems pretty straightforward, it is not without problems. Other chronological factors to be taken into account are the dates for the officials, Caiaphas and Pilate, and how many Passovers are recorded for Jesus’ ministry. Another complication comes into play when scholars try to match up the fulfillment of Daniel’s first 69 weeks with the coming of Messiah. Certain ending dates can complicate the timing of when these other events could have occurred. This is merely to say that we can’t be rigidly dogmatic about the dates and exact age of Jesus at given points.