“
The beginning of the
gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the
prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your
way" ---"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the
way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'” (Mark 1:1-3, NIV)
"And so John came,
baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people
of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized
by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair,
with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I,
the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I
baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
(Mark 1:4-8, NIV)
Observations:
I looked for all the CHARACTERS involved in
verses 4-8:
-
John
-
Whole Judean countryside
-
All the people of Jerusalem
-
One more powerful than I
-
Holy Spirit
Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself what I can
learn about John from verses 4-8:
1.
John came baptizing in the desert region.
2. John came preaching a baptism of repentance.
3. John was able to draw a huge crowd towards him.
4. John baptized those who first confessed their sins in the
Jordan River.
5. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair.
6. John wore a leather belt around his waist.
7. John ate locusts and wild honey.
8. John knew he was a messenger.
9. John shows his humbleness.
10.
John was prepared to draw crowds to the One more powerful than
he was.
Interpretations/Applications:
I asked myself what was
the significance of each point?
Points 1
& 2: John came baptizing in the desert region, preaching a baptism of
repentance.
It is interesting that he did not go right into
the cities to preach a baptism of repentance but isolated himself in the
desert region. This fulfilled prophecy regarding
‘a voice of one calling in the desert!'
Yet, he was able to
accomplish something significant which is evident by point 3.
Point 3:
John was able to draw huge crowds to him.
He must have been a powerful
speaker or a speaker that drew interest that the whole Judean
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Now as I
think about it, a desert region has lots of space that can be used for
all those who wanted to listen to him. Also when the people found out
that there was someone in the desert region preaching a baptism of
repentance, they could have been reminded of the Book of Isaiah and
wanted to check it out. Human tendency is that if a lot of people are
flocking to an area other people will usually follow even if they do not
know anything about the prophecy. This could have happened too. Now they
are in the desert region and put themselves in a place to receive. This
is evident by
point 4.
Point 4:
John baptized those who first confessed their sins.
I found it very interesting that John did not take baptism lightly but
only baptized in the Jordan River those who confessed their sins. In
essence, he was symbolically washing them clean. This happened only
after he first preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins. This showed me the connection there is between repentance and
confession. These two became prerequisites to baptism. Only after people
decided to repent (turn from) their evil ways and then confess their
evil ways did he agree to baptize them in the Jordan River.
I also found it so interesting that desert
region was mentioned first before the Jordan River. This made me realize
that many times our lifestyle can be likened to a desert region. It is
dry and like a parched land. We may want to get out of it but we are
figuratively surrounded by the desert and hope for water to quench our
thirst and give us hope. Yet, there seems to be a condition to receive
that water into our lives. It starts with admitting when our lifestyle
is wrong and deciding to confess and turn from it. When that happens we
do figuratively receive that water into our lives. Now we have moved
from the desert region of thirst into alleviating our thirst. Even then,
it is interesting that John does not stop with just baptizing them in
the water which is evident later.
Points
5-8: John, who wore clothing made of camels hair, wore a leather belt,
and ate locusts & wild honey knew he was just a messenger.
I believe whatever the Bible mentions, there is
a reason for it. So I thought to myself, why
mention John’s clothing attire and his food?
In olden days, emissaries used to come first to
prepare the way for someone important who was going to come. They would
lay out the groundwork and preparations for that person to come. They
themselves would have some important title that would draw people to
them.
For me clothing made of camel’s hair reminds me
of fur and the expensiveness of it. The leather belt also reminds me of
expensiveness. Leather can sure be expensive. Now the food he eats is
significant too. He eats locusts and wild honey in the desert region. I
believe God provided them for him. Honey to me is expensive and not
cheap even in the supermarkets now.
For me all this pointed to John being someone
important with a message. He knew he was a messenger and not just a
messenger but a ‘powerful messenger’ and crowds were flocking to him.
Yet, he does something that is evident by point 9.
Point
9&10: John shows his humbleness by wanting to lead the crowd to someone
else.
John does not take the opportunity to boost his
own resume, getting excited about all the people that were coming to
him. Instead, “this was his message: "After me
will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not
worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
John made three very significant points to
prepare the way for the One who was to come:
-
After me will come one more powerful than
I.
-
The thongs of whose sandals, I am not
worthy to stoop down and tie.
-
I baptize you with water, but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Statement 1: After me will come one more powerful than I.
This shows me that John was powerful but did not
let that power go to him. Instead he is humble and tells the crowd that
he is not the one to be followed because there is One who is more
powerful than he who will come.
Statement 2: The thongs of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down
and tie.
He tells the crowd that even though he is
seen as powerful, he does not feel worthy to even stoop down and tie the thongs
of the sandals of One who is to come and that’s how powerful the One who
is to come is.
Statement 3: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit.
John lets them know that there is a baptism more
important than water baptism and it is being baptized with the Holy
Spirit which he cannot do but the One who is to come will.
John has prepared the way for the One who is to
come!
(To be continued)
Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life.
What stuck out to me was ‘pointing’. Whatever John did, his mission
became to point others to Jesus. Even when the whole Judean countryside
and all the people of Jerusalem came to him, he was telling them not to
focus on him but the One who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.
When I was volunteering in
full-time ministry for many years, I had the desire of wanting the
fellowship to grow and all the people to come there. Even through that
hope, my desire was to point people to Jesus Christ and Him glorified. Yes, it would have been exciting to see the fellowship grow in
leaps and bounds but the purpose of the fellowship existed because of
Jesus Christ.
Even now Jesus reminds me of the impact the
fellowship made in pointing people to Him. We were a small fellowship
but it was exciting to see people grow strong in the Lord and be
impacted by the Lord. Every year while I was there, the fellowship
existed even when we were losing students to graduation amidst being
small. We wanted Jesus to be the central focus of the fellowship and
majority of the time, I believe He was in whatever we did. We did not
have the numbers but we had the love and heart to see others grow in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Why am I sharing this
with you, you may wonder?
I learned that numbers can just be numbers
sometimes and it can give us a sense of false satisfaction even in
fellowships and churches. Numbers necessarily does not always mean people are
being drawn to Christ and growing in Christ.
Now as the Pittsburgh Standard is being
published, there is the temptation to want to work on the paper only
when I know a lot of people are coming to it and reading it.
The paper is not here to build my ego but the
paper is there to glorify Christ and to try to help people grow in the
Lord and at the same time give coverage of events that are happening on
campus and in the world as time permits. This means even if only one
person is pointed to Christ and is growing in their faith, it is worth
it. Even if only one person looks at any article, it is worth it!
The awesome thing is that one of
the students shared with me the impact the devotionals in the Pittsburgh
Standard had to draw her to Jesus Christ! For that one person being
pointed to Christ this paper's existence is worth it!
I ask you now dear friend,
who do you point to?
Dear friend, if all you do is pointing to
yourself, then this passage should lead you in another direction. It is
awesome there are so many fellowships on campus and hopefully all
continue to exist to point people to Christ and not just be happy with
numbers that come. The same thing goes for churches.
I want to encourage you from experience that
amazing things can happen with just few people too who are passionate
and have a heart to glorify the Lord and bring people closer to Him
carrying the vision of pointing people to Jesus. In my time in
ministry with my brothers and sisters in the Lord, I have seen that
happen! We were small but every leadership team we worked with at one
time or other had a glowing and fiery passion to reach students with the
Gospel of Jesus Christ and those who were already believers to help them
grow in their faith. The fellowship was also honored at one time by the
Student Government Board.
You may have a passion and vision to help people
grow strong in the Lord and point people to Christ, but may feel
inadequate because of size. Don’t! For the Lord can use you where you
are and help you as you seek Him diligently and become humble. If you
have a desire to point people to Christ, He will open the doors and make
a way.
I am part of Oakland
International Fellowship every Sunday morning where their passion is to
know Jesus and make Jesus known throughout the International community.
You do not have to be an international student to be part of the church.
The church meets at North
Dithridge Street opposite to Webster Hall. Prayer meetings start at 9:00
a.m, Worship starts at 10:00 a.m, Sunday School at 11:30 a.m, and Free
Lunch at 12:30 p.m.
In the evenings I am part of
Asian Indian Christian Church of Pittsburgh for Sunday worship when I
can make it and Bible Miners Bible study at the Pastor's house every
other Tuesday/Wednesday right now.
If you want information on
any of these please email me or call me at 412-720-4579.
When we let Jesus be the focus, He will take
care of the rest! Amen!
"Point Out Immanuel’s
Nurturing Truth!" (P.O.I.N.T)/”Who do you
point to?”
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to
thank you for this devotional time you have let me have and learn from.
Thank you for helping me to share it with others. Oh Lord, thank you for
John the Baptist's example in showing humility. Help us to be humble and not be
carried away with numbers but be thankful to what we have and have a
desire to point others to you and to help them grow strong in you Lord. Help
us please to live for you and serve you. Thank you Jesus for being there
for us and that you baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit come
reign in our lives. We confess our sins to you and repent of them. Help
us and lead us by your Spirit that we may lead others into your radiant
presence in their lives. Thank you Jesus so much for hearing us and
answering us. Thank you Jesus for being our Lord and Personal Savior! In
Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
If you would like to invite Jesus
Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can
this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises
for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His
wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to
the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in
your heart.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner Lord.
I am so sorry for my sins. I confess my sins to you. I confess the wrong
things I have done and messed up my own life. I need you Lord right now
and in the years to come. I have gone my own way and have not found what
only you can give me. You alone have the words of Eternal Life. You
alone love me unconditionally for who I am. Thank you Jesus! I turn
myself to you Oh Lord in this Fall of September 2005. Please forgive me of
all my sins and come into my heart. I accept
you Jesus into my heart. Thanks Jesus for coming into my heart. Thanks
for forgiving me of all my sins. Thanks for giving me a new identity in
you. I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior as I believe in my
heart that you died and came back to life to save me now and forever. I
give myself to you and ask you to be in control of my life. Thank you
Jesus for the coming days we can do things together. Thanks for being my
Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and
answered me. Thanks Jesus for changing me and helping me through life's
storms and winds. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Friend, you may feel something
or you may not but this you can be assured that the Lord Jesus has come
into your life and will give you a new beginning! Amen!
Get yourself involved in a
campus Bible study, fellowship, and most of all find a Bible believing
church and be involved to grow in your Christian walk with the Lord.
They all need to be supplements for your own precious time with the Lord
in prayer and meditating on His Word. If you need a Bible, please let me
know!
If you
need anyone to talk to, pray with, or study the Bible with this Fall of
September 2005, you can email me at
reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com or call me at 412-720-4579.
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
Next Devotional:
"Will you take a S.T.A.N.D?"
Express your view