{"id":2823,"date":"2019-01-14T14:46:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T03:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2019-01-14T14:46:06","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T03:46:06","slug":"jesus-closest-companion-13-01-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=2823","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Closest Companion 13-01-2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus\u2019 Closest Companion<\/i>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 43: 1 \u2013 7; Luke 3: 15 \u2013 17, 21 \u2013 22.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reading the Bible is like doing a large puzzle. Each bit of the Bible you read is a piece of the big picture. Each piece fits into another to make up the whole. It is a big task to do this jigsaw puzzle. It is bigger that a 1000 piece puzzle.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the Bible is a little like that. Last Epiphany Sunday I decided to put the \u2018piece\u2019 about the Gentile wise men coming to see the Christ child into the larger picture. So I built up an overview of the story of Scripture beginning with Abraham and Sarah through to Jesus and the Gentiles being welcomed into the company of Jesus and his followers. I think it helped a few of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have the same problem this Sunday.\u00a0 <\/span>We have a Biblical jigsaw piece \u2013 Jesus and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 <\/span>We looked at the birth of Jesus and that is manageable. He has got to be born before he dies and is resurrected. But now we\u2019ve jumped, it seems, to his baptism. We\u2019ve got this piece in our hand, so to speak. Where do we put it? We\u2019ve got Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist \u2013 Jesus\u2019 cousin. John believed Jesus didn\u2019t need baptism. John was popular. The people thought John was the Christ. John distinguishes between his ministry and Christ Jesus\u2019 ministry saying that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to John for baptism. John baptises him in the Jordan and afterwards the Holy Spirit falls on Jesus. The piece we\u2019re holding right now is about the Holy Spirit. How \/ where does \u2018she\u2019 fit in?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today I want to respond to the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence in the Baptism of Jesus,\u00a0 <\/span>by connecting this \u2018piece\u2019 about the Holy Spirit with all the other \u2018pieces\u2019 about the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

All four Gospel accounts provide us with the same basic details about the Baptism of Jesus [Mt 3: 13-17; Mark: 1-9; Lk 3: 15-22; Jn 1: 28-34]. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. John was reluctant to baptise Jesus.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. John baptised with water but the Christ would baptise with the Holy Spirit. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. When Jesus was baptised the Spirit came upon Jesus. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Jesus confirmed as the Son of God. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We should note that Jesus\u2019 baptism is an historical fact equivalent to the historical fact of the crucifixion. There is no debate that it happened. Where the discussion lies is in the reason for Jesus to be baptised by John. John\u2019s baptism was a baptism of repentance, forgiveness and being made spiritually right with God.\u00a0 <\/span>We find it hard to work out why Jesus needed to repent, be forgiven and made right with God. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    I am conscious that we can never understand perfectly the wonder of Jesus\u2019 baptism, because we do not have every single detail before us.\u00a0 <\/span>However we can come to an understanding that will help us grow as Christians and fulfil God\u2019s mission to be a blessing to others. So let\u2019s have a go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Firstly it seems that Jesus wanted to be baptised by John because Jesus wanted to identify with humanity. In being baptised Jesus is saying I am human I need to identify with sin and experience forgiveness, because I will take on the sin of the world and confront it and break its power. That is one of the significant results of Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. That seems to be the best conclusion we can reach. We can certainly be sure that the Incarnation \u2013 the coming of God in the Christ child \u2013 is statement of God\u2019s commitment to us and ownership of us. The presence of Christ Jesus confirms that God is for us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Secondly, we cannot avoid the obvious conclusion that the Holy Spirit is important in Jesus\u2019 life. Here I want to return to the metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle.\u00a0 <\/span>Let us put some of the pieces together.\u00a0 <\/span>Pastor Sinclair Ferguson helps us when he says; \u201cThe best way to think about the Holy Spirit is to think of <\/i>\u2018her\u2019 as<\/i> <\/i>the closest companion<\/i> of the Lord Jesus<\/i>.\u201d Not only has the Spirit been the Son\u2019s eternal partner in the uncreated fellowship of the Trinity, but also the Spirit was there with the Father and Son at creation [Gen 1:2]. The Spirit was instrumental Jesus\u2019s conception [Lk 1:35], there at both his baptism [Lk 3: 22] and temptation [Lk 4: 1-2].\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Luke mentions the Holy Spirit many times. We can be very grateful to Luke for that. For instances Luke tells us that, J<\/i>esus, filled<\/i> with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>15<\/i> He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone<\/i> [Lk 4: 14-19]. But Luke is not the only one to make this point that Jesus ministered in power of the Holy Spirit. Mark makes the same statement in a different way. Mark tells us that after Jesus\u2019 baptism when the Spirit came and affirmed him as the Son of God, the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness [Mk 1:12].\u00a0 <\/span>Mark leaves out a lot of details about the temptation and other things and shows us very quickly the power of Jesus\u2019 preaching [1:15], his call of the disciples [1:16], the authority of his teaching [1:22], his power over the demons [1:24] and his power to heal [1:31]. In the space 16 verses we are given all this information. In other words Jesus\u2019 authority and power resided in the fact that the Holy Spirit was with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We are left with no doubt from the four Gospel accounts that the Holy Spirit is one with Jesus.\u00a0 <\/span>We can easily say that the Holy Spirit is Jesus\u2019 closest companion<\/i>.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus had companions. They were good companions, but they wavered in their commitment, didn\u2019t quite understand him, let their interests come between them and Jesus, and betrayed him and ran away.\u00a0 <\/span>However they did come back. They did prove to be wise and brave followers of Jesus, but that was only after the Resurrection and the blessing of the Holy Spirit coming upon them at Pentecost. Just putting that all together tells us that our companionship with Jesus at times falls short.\u00a0 <\/span>It seems we are at our best when we let the Holy Spirit dwell in us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I think it is useful to look at the Spirit as Jesus\u2019 closest companion and naturally ours.\u00a0 <\/span>We can recall Jesus\u2019 teaching in John chapters 14-17 about the importance of the Spirit as the One who will lead us into truth, empower us, convict us of what is right and wrong and keep us close to Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    We know we need companions along life\u2019s journey.\u00a0 <\/span>They come in many ways to us.\u00a0 <\/span>We have occasional companions who have supported and guided us.\u00a0 <\/span>I can think of the companions I had at school, both teachers and students, the companions I have at the yacht club, the companions I have in the church, my friends, my wife and family. How impoverished my life \u2013 our lives \u2013 would be without these companions. Some travel with us for just a short while, others for the long haul. I also know that all the wonderful companions I have had in life have had their own needs and responsibilities to address.\u00a0 <\/span>But imagine having a companion who is always there.\u00a0 <\/span>Always there to bring out the best in us. \u00a0 <\/span>A companion that is honest and loving.\u00a0 <\/span>Honest enough to tell us we\u2019ve got it wrong. Loving enough to forgive and nurture us. That kind of companion is hard to get, if not impossible, amongst humans. We need a companion who is solid, secure, sensitive and safe.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus talks about having such a companion in his farewell messages to his disciples in John chapters 14 through to 16, which is the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    When Jesus\u2019s closest earthly companions betrayed him, denied him and scattered, the Spirit walked with him all the way into the jaws of death, empowering him to offer himself freely. That is how the writer of Hebrews understood Jesus\u2019 sacrificial death saying that Jesus through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God<\/i>\u00a0 <\/span>[Heb 9:14].\u00a0 <\/span>Paul tells us that Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

    was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead<\/i> [Romans 1:4].\u00a0 <\/span>The early Christian writers clearly understood that the Holy Spirit was Christ Jesus\u2019 constant companion.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Let us be wary.\u00a0 <\/span>If our Christianity is made up of worship services and doing kindnesses to others, we run the risk of limiting the Holy Spirit\u2019s influence on our lives. In so doing we deny ourselves and the Church of God\u2019s full blessing.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    A.W. Tozer said, \u201cThe Spirit filled life is not a special delux edition of Christianity.\u00a0 <\/span>It is part and parcel of God\u2019s total plan for Christians.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Paul writes in Romans 5:5, God\u2019s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.<\/i>\u00a0 <\/span>Let us welcome the Spirit into our lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    *******<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC:\u00a0 <\/span>13\/01\/2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

    pcwhitaker@icloud.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span>\/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Jesus\u2019 Closest Companion. Isaiah 43: 1 \u2013 7; Luke 3: 15 \u2013 17, 21 \u2013 22. Reading the Bible is like doing a large puzzle. Each bit of the Bible you read is a piece of the big picture. Each piece fits into another to make up the whole. It is a big task to do this jigsaw puzzle. It is bigger that a 1000 piece puzzle.\u00a0 I think the Bible is a little like that. Last Epiphany Sunday I decided to put the \u2018piece\u2019 about the Gentile wise men coming to see the Christ child into the larger picture. So I built up an overview of the story of Scripture beginning with Abraham and Sarah through to Jesus and the Gentiles being welcomed into the company of Jesus and his followers. I think it helped a few of us. We have the same problem this Sunday.\u00a0 We have a Biblical jigsaw piece \u2013 Jesus and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 We looked at the birth of Jesus and that is manageable. He has got to be born before he dies and is resurrected. But now we\u2019ve jumped, it seems, to his baptism. We\u2019ve got this piece in our hand, so to speak. Where do we put it? We\u2019ve got Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist \u2013 Jesus\u2019 cousin. John believed Jesus didn\u2019t need baptism. John was popular. The people thought John was the Christ. John distinguishes between his ministry and Christ Jesus\u2019 ministry saying that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to John for baptism. John baptises him in the Jordan and afterwards the Holy Spirit falls on Jesus. The piece we\u2019re holding right now is about the Holy Spirit. How \/ where does \u2018she\u2019 fit in? Today I want to respond to the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence in the Baptism of Jesus,\u00a0 by connecting this \u2018piece\u2019 about the Holy Spirit with all the other \u2018pieces\u2019 about the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 All four Gospel accounts provide us with the same basic details about the Baptism of Jesus [Mt 3: 13-17; Mark: 1-9; Lk 3: 15-22; Jn 1: 28-34]. \u00a0 John was reluctant to baptise Jesus.\u00a0 John baptised with water but the Christ would baptise with the Holy Spirit. \u00a0 When Jesus was baptised the Spirit came upon Jesus. \u00a0 Jesus confirmed as the Son of God. \u00a0 We should note that Jesus\u2019 baptism is an historical fact equivalent to the historical fact of the crucifixion. There is no debate that it happened. Where the discussion lies is in the reason for Jesus to be baptised by John. John\u2019s baptism was a baptism of repentance, forgiveness and being made spiritually right with God.\u00a0 We find it hard to work out why Jesus needed to repent, be forgiven and made right with God. \u00a0 I am conscious that we can never understand perfectly the wonder of Jesus\u2019 baptism, because we do not have every single detail before us.\u00a0 However we can come to an understanding that will help us grow as Christians and fulfil God\u2019s mission to be a blessing to others. So let\u2019s have a go. Firstly it seems that Jesus wanted to be baptised by John because Jesus wanted to identify with humanity. In being baptised Jesus is saying I am human I need to identify with sin and experience forgiveness, because I will take on the sin of the world and confront it and break its power. That is one of the significant results of Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. That seems to be the best conclusion we can reach. We can certainly be sure that the Incarnation \u2013 the coming of God in the Christ child \u2013 is statement of God\u2019s commitment to us and ownership of us. The presence of Christ Jesus confirms that God is for us. Secondly, we cannot avoid the obvious conclusion that the Holy Spirit is important in Jesus\u2019 life. Here I want to return to the metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle.\u00a0 Let us put some of the pieces together.\u00a0 Pastor Sinclair Ferguson helps us when he says; \u201cThe best way to think about the Holy Spirit is to think of \u2018her\u2019 as the closest companion of the Lord Jesus.\u201d Not only has the Spirit been the Son\u2019s eternal partner in the uncreated fellowship of the Trinity, but also the Spirit was there with the Father and Son at creation [Gen 1:2]. The Spirit was instrumental Jesus\u2019s conception [Lk 1:35], there at both his baptism [Lk 3: 22] and temptation [Lk 4: 1-2].\u00a0 Luke mentions the Holy Spirit many times. We can be very grateful to Luke for that. For instances Luke tells us that, Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.\u00a0 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone [Lk 4: 14-19]. But Luke is not the only one to make this point that Jesus ministered in power of the Holy Spirit. Mark makes the same statement in a different way. Mark tells us that after Jesus\u2019 baptism when the Spirit came and affirmed him as the Son of God, the Spirit took Jesus into the wilderness [Mk 1:12].\u00a0 Mark leaves out a lot of details about the temptation and other things and shows us very quickly the power of Jesus\u2019 preaching [1:15], his call of the disciples [1:16], the authority of his teaching [1:22], his power over the demons [1:24] and his power to heal [1:31]. In the space 16 verses we are given all this information. In other words Jesus\u2019 authority and power resided in the fact that the Holy Spirit was with him. We are left with no doubt from the four Gospel accounts that the Holy Spirit is one with Jesus.\u00a0 We can easily say that the Holy Spirit is Jesus\u2019 closest companion.\u00a0 Jesus had companions. They were good companions, but they wavered in their commitment, didn\u2019t quite understand him, let their interests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Jesus\u2019 Closest Companion. Isaiah 43: 1 \u2013 7; Luke 3: 15 \u2013 17, 21 \u2013 22. Reading the Bible is like doing a large puzzle. Each bit of the Bible you read is a piece of the big picture. Each piece fits into another to make up the whole. It is a big task to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2824,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions\/2824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}