The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^[h]with you I am well pleased.”

It’s always great to hear Daddy speak of his pleasure with your work. Some of us got just the right amount-not given when not deserved, but not withheld when good work was seen. Others of us suffered through a father who was never satisfied. “That was okay, but it can always be better,” followed by a string of complaints thinly disguised as constructive criticism. Still others received praise for everything we did, whether or not we did it well. As a result, we stopped striving. Why bother.

Jesus’ Father was God, but that didn’t make him any less a proud dad. He wanted to make sure that the Son understood that he was watching and pleased with what he saw. Imagine the scene-the Son stepping out of the water and the Father proudly saying “This is my Child. I love Him so very much; listen to Him!

And not just the Father. No, the Spirit also took part. The visible representation of the Father’s voice came through the opened heavens. Did He open them himself? He came as a dove met Jesus as he was baptized. What promise this gives us! He didn’t come as an eagle or hawk. He didn’t come to scavenge or throw his power around. No, he came to intercede in the life of the poor and weak, the bruised reeds that he’d promised not to break.

Thoughts on Mark

Hi everyone! This is the first blog in a very long time. I'm trying something new. I'm trying to get back into blogging by printing a Bible study that I've been doing. I am reading the book of Mark and commenting after every paragraph or so. I'm not using this as a new direction for this blog. Instead, I am trying to come back from over two years of anxiety and depression so deep that I stopped writing altogether by trying this direction. This is just for a while, and I hope to go back to my original blogging topics when I feel ready.

Please comment and tell me what you think. It means the world to hear from you.

1 The beginning of the good news^[a] of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^[b]

² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,^[c]

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,^[d]
    who will prepare your way;
³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

The way was made before Jesus ever came, made by his cousin John. This is an example of humility. John knew from the beginning that his way was not the way of glory. His job was preparing the way for  One greater than him. It isn’t a stretch to believe that this understanding was with him from the womb. After all, he lept with joy when Mother Mary came to visit Elizabeth with Jesus in her womb.

⁴ John the baptizer appeared^[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸ I have baptized you with^[f] water; but he will baptize you with^[g] the Holy Spirit.”

John came to prepare. He didn't seek to do anything else; that was not his job. John was preparing his flock to become the Shepherd’s sheep. As will later be seen with Jesus, not all his followers understood that. The fact that he did not glory in his disciples or seek his own acclaim speaks to his humility before God.

In fact, everything about John speaks of his humility and his desire to direct his followers toward God's coming Messiah, not himself. He chose to dress austerely, in the same style as Elijah and other OT prophets. He did this not to bring attention to himself, but (I think) to point toward the humility of the coming Messiah. He didn't feast with his disciples but ate locusts and wild honey. He was who he was, and his manner and demeanor drew people to him.

The Baptism of Jesus

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;^[h]with you I am well pleased.”

It’s always great to hear Daddy’s pleasure with your work. Some of us got just the right amount-not given when not deserved, but not withheld when good work was seen. Others of us suffered through a father who was never satisfied. “That was okay, but it can always be better,” followed by a string of complaints thinly disguised as constructive criticism. Still others received praise for everything we did, whether or not we did it well. As a result, we stopped striving. Why bother.

Jesus’ Father was God, but that didn’t make him any less a proud dad. He wanted to make sure that the Son understood that he was watching and pleased with what he saw. Imagine the scene-the Son stepping out of the water and the Father proudly saying “This is my Child. I love Him so very much; listen to Him!

And not just the Father. No, the Spirit also took part. The visible representation of the Father’s voice came through the opened heavens. Did He open them himself? He came as a dove met Jesus as he was baptized. What promise this gives us! He didn’t come as an eagle or hawk. He didn’t come to scavenge or throw his power around. No, he came to intercede in the life of the poor and weak, the bruised reeds that he’d promised not to break.

IS YOUR BODY TRYING TO TALK TO YOU?

I honestly never gave this subject much thought. My body and I didn't really communicate-I guess you could say that we pretty much weren't on speaking terms. It didn't tell me when it was full, didn't tell me that it needed to exercise, didn't tell me much of anything. Or maybe it did but I wasn't listening to it. About the only thing it regularly told me was that it was hungry or tired or cold or hurting. Not a very big selection, and all pain-related in some way. But that has recently changed.

It started after I got home from Ashram. I knew that the miracle that I believed God was giving me was going to come through my work as well as his intervention (no, I don't believe all miracles happen this way, but I felt that this one would. I needed to step into a better lifestyle as well as being healed). In order to do that, I decided to do water aerobics three times a week and water yoga on Saturdays.

I felt that was a great start, but I wanted to do something on the other days--something that would help me with the achiness that was a normal part of a new exercise routine. So I started yoga on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sunday was my day off :).

I didn't realize what I was in for. The first thing that you're told to do is to sit quietly and listen to your body. If you haven't done yoga or meditation you might not believe this, but my body was quite happy to start talking! Not about aches and pains--about sadness and grief. Certain parts of my body were not healed, although I had been spiritually long ago. I suffer from kidney disease and other related issues (to go into them would be TMI!), and that part of my body seemed to be crying. I can't explain it any better than that. I know now that my woundedness was not only mental; it was also physical. Just sitting and paying attention to that was important.

If you are like me-a survivor of some sort of abuse, whether it be mental, emotional, sexual, or whatever, it might do you good to really meditate on your body. Listen to what it's telling you. See if you can understand what kind of intervention may be needed. Some people might need to come into a new relationship with wounded body parts. For example, if you were raped, you might have turned off your ability to feel and respond to your feminine parts (again, not going in depth because of TMI, but if this applies to you you know what I mean). If you are a man who was constantly abused and bullied because of a body part, you might have turned away from that part because of the shame you felt with that bullying.

What can you do about disfunction within your own body? It depends. For some, I think it means that you begin an intentional relationship with that part in particular. If your shoulders and neck constantly hurt, you can consciously say, "My stress doesn't belong here. I give it to God. He has bigger shoulders than I do." That is intentional in that you are concentrating on your shoulders and possibly stretching them or circling them as you do.

For others, that may not be what's needed. It's possible that the damage done was deeper than you can handle yourself. You might want to go to someone who you can talk to and pray with to heal your body, specifically that part. This is especially true if your pain occurred in numerous different ways and through numerous people.

For still others, your body is trying to alert you to a danger that you can't see. If you are feeling a physical pain instead of or in addition to the spiritual or emotional pain, I would really advise seeing your doctor.

For many of us, it's a combination of all three. For example, my pain was both spiritual and physical. I'm planning to pray comfort to that area, but I think that it's also wise to see a gynecologist. If my prayers don't avail, I will seek out a prayer warrior to pray with me.

So however your body speaks to you, please do listen to it. If you find that you have divorced yourself due to pain or hurt, it's time to bring that relationship to life again. You won't regret it.