AUGUST 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24-16 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

AUGUST 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24-16  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

 234 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, You Lord are the Only Begotten of the Great I AM, yet You came to earth in the form of a baby to live a life as we must live, in the flesh and dependent on God’s Spirit! Lord, we cannot comprehend God, the Truly Divine, the Creator and Sustainer of all life and all that exists in the universe and it is truly impossible for us to imagine a God that does not need anything or anyone to sustain Himself, why would so Powerful and Supreme a Divine Being conceive and execute a Plan of Salvation for a world of sinners and send His Only Begotten Son into a sinful world with the single purpose to “SAVE” the world from ourselves!?!?!? O Lord, I beg Your Forgiveness for all the times that I fail to see Your Plan for the world and Your Plan for me — You do not need us for anything but yet You present us the opportunity to “enter into Your labors” with You and by our belief in Your efforts that our sins will be forgiven and we become heirs to eternal life!!!! Lord Jesus, forgive me, for I am a sinner with no HOPE but Grace!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

AUGUST 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24-16  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)       Jesus really makes it easy for us when He asks this “power and authority” Question in terms of “baptism” being from “heaven” or “men” — there is no way to answer the question without addressing our beliefs on their most basic level. We must first admit that somewhere the doctrine of “baptism” began and we can read historians write about this era in Jewish history when a man named John lived in the wilderness off locusts and wild honey with a single purpose in life, not to gain possessions of any kind, nor to rise to any position of “power and authority”, but this single purpose which was recorded in the Holy Scriptures as “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.” (John 1:6-7) The mission of John is recorded in the Scriptures as “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:1-2) The Scriptures which were well known by the Jews of John’s generation were aware that the prophet Isaiah had written about the Messiah and a forerunner of the Messiah, saying of this forerunner, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord…” (Isaiah 11:1) John was recognized as being from God and doing the work of God for the “Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask [John], ‘Who are you?’” (John 1:19) and John knowing that they were referring to the Messiah because of the success John had with the multitudes preaching “Repentance” and that the “kingdom of heaven was at hand”, John told them “I am not the Christ” so the priests and Levites asked “why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ?” John then told the authorities that he baptized with water but that “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me … I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” (John 1:15-34) So when Jesus asks the Question built around “the baptism of John”, all Israel was aware that John was a prophet of God fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah  about the Messiah — all Israel knew that John the Baptist was sent by God to preach “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, and all Israel, especially the religious rulers knew that the multitudes had gone to John the Baptist in the wilderness “around the Jordan…and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:4-6) This Question Jesus is now asking them about the “baptism of John” could only be answered for the Truth that it was, John was not the Christ but he was “baptizing” in the wilderness of Jordan all who confessed their sins against God and preaching “Repent” and clearly stated this was all about God and the “kingdom of heaven”. So now when the religious leaders attack Jesus and demand to know “by what authority” is Jesus doing His miraculous works, Jesus makes them face the Truth of God that “baptism” and the “confession of sins” has only One True Authority, God! So when Jesus ties the “Baptism of John” together with “power and authority” and gives the rulers the choice “from heaven or from men”, the only answer that can be given is to admit that MEN HAVE NO AUTHORITY OR POWER EXCEPT THAT WHICH GOD PERMITS — TRUE POWER AND AUTHORITY COMES  ONLY FROM GOD IN HEAVEN!!!!! The rulers knew that they had to give Jesus an answer or lose all authority but they also realized, that if they admitted the Truth that they were going to lose all authority, the Master Teacher has presented the “Question” and now He is going to use a parable to give us the “Answer” and sum up the “Baptism of John” TRUTH! Do you need additional Lessons or are you ready to give Jesus an honest answer to His Question: “The baptism of John — is it from heaven or from men?”  Jesus is saying to us that “God and heaven is real, I am from God and the Truth of God is ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’”