AUGUST 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

 AUGUST 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Thank You Lord for being the Great Physician, the Great Healer, the Master Teacher. Lord Jesus You have guided those that are our earthly physicians and earthly teachers and You Lord give us the abundant life as You take us safely through the Valley of Sickness and the Darkness of Spiritual Ignorance and bring our bodies and minds back to health. Jesus, I thank You for the infirmities that You allow in our lives and I pray that the Holy Spirit will keep our heart, eyes, and mind open during these times of doubt and trials that we will always see Your Healing Hand and Teaching Spirit at work in our lives, both the physical and the spiritual. Lord Jesus, forgive me when I get caught up in the world and fail to see that everything should be used to glorify the Father instead of getting lost in self-pity — Lord Jesus, Praise, Glory, and Honor to the Son that was Obedient unto death to the Will of the Father, forgive me when I fail to honor the Father and the Son while enjoying the Abundant Life You have laid before all who will believe.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is entering Jerusalem the day after His Triumphal Entry which was met in Jerusalem with “mixed reviews” and the immediate “cleansing of the temple” did not win Jesus any friends on the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce! Jesus had cursed a fig tree outside the Eastern Gate which can only be viewed in light of all the other actions Jesus has performed in the name of God as a curse on those that would defile the temple of God, His Holy City,  and all those that were seeking to worship God “in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24). Therefore His curse was not on an isolated single fig tree but on the Sanhedrin itself, the Sanhedrin being the most influential spiritual body in all Israel and they were cursed because they were abusing their “power and authority” by defiling the command of God in order to further the “doctrines of men”! Jesus had told His disciples that the “power and authority”  He had displayed in His cursing the fig tree and the tree’s immediate destruction was a product of “Faith, Prayer, and Belief” ——— the Lesson to learn from Jesus cursing the fig tree is that God and God Alone IS the SUPREME AUTHORITY and the SUPREME POWER!!! Jesus curses the fig tree, Teaches the Lesson on “Faith and Belief” and then enters Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate — keep in mind that this is the last week on earth that Jesus will spend in His earthly form and His every action, breath, and Word will be full and overflowing with the Truth of God so it is important to consider every move made by Jesus in this most important of weeks!!! “Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?’” (Matthew 21:23)  Jesus is the Master Teacher and He always takes our questions and uses His Question to laser focus a Truth of God onto the problem at hand and at the same time Jesus will present a Question to us that will reflect that Truth of God and illuminate the solution for us. He has been demonstrating that everything Jesus does is to Teach the Truth of the One True Living God and Jesus has made it clear that He is here on earth to do the “Will of His Father in Heaven”. In this particular case, Jesus answers the chief priests and elders of the people with what I consider to be (by virtue of where and when it was asked) the summation of all the Truths of God that Jesus has spent 33 years in the flesh Teaching to all who would listen as Jesus asked (JQ#24) “The baptism of John —where was it from? From heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) By asking this Question in the temple of God in the city of Jerusalem and by directing the Question at those that had been wielding power and authority over the multitudes, Jesus has set up the ultimate confrontation between the “commands of God [from heaven]” and the “doctrines [originating from] men” — a confrontation between what God has clearly stated in His Holy Scriptures as “TRUTH” and what man in a self-assumed position of authority has defiled and manipulated and then has handed down as the “doctrine [of men]”. Not only has Jesus set up the ultimate confrontation but this Question points to the Ultimate Truth of God — God is the Living God and is still and forever will be involved in His Creation. The First Truth of God from JQ#24 is that the scriptures tell of a forerunner to the Coming Messiah and that prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist. When John came on the scene, the question was asked by the rulers and authorities, “Are you the Messiah?” John had answered “no” and said that he was there to “witness” and point to the Messiah when He arrived and then John kept preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and John kept baptizing. John then declared as he saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:15-29)  When Jesus asked about the “baptism of John”, the chief priests and elders were really over a barrel for they had to recognize the fact that “baptism” is real and they knew that John had not come to them for “approval” to baptize so there was no way that the Sanhedrin could claim “authority and power” over the actions of John the Baptist. Now what were they going to do with the “True authority and power of God” that Jesus was demonstrating in the temple of God in God’s Holy City of Jerusalem? The Question Jesus asked sitting in the temple is still of utmost relevance today, what would your response be if Jesus sat down with you and asked, “The baptism of John — is it from heaven or from men?” — what answer could you give?!?!?!?!