Baptism: A Call to Action

We have to jump forward to Matthew Chapter 4 for the next crimson conversation. This takes place right after Jesus baptism. While the style of writing in the day may not have given a hard time-line of events, we do get a good chronology of the order of the stories in Jesus life.

We are often told that as sinners the devil has no need to battle with us, as he has us right where he wants us. There is of course wisdom in this thought. That being the case, we must also recognize that when we do come to Christ, when Christ has won us over and we have confessed and given ourselves to Jesus, that the enemy then has a need to try and steal us back. He will of course do so, in any way possible.

While Jesus was always God, always divine, His baptism was a turning point in even His life, it was also the commencement service of a new stage in the life of Jesus. His ministry.

Jesus birth, and the fulfillment of tall the prophecy that came along with that event and the years spent in exile awaiting the call from the Holy Spirit to move back to Israel, the event of Jesus baptism is an significant event in not only His life, but in the historical timeline of all history. We do not know on what day Jesus was baptized, and it’s probably a good thing, as knowing man, we would have through some religious service made that day another grand event to venerate and worship in and of itself. But, we do know that it happened. And we know that it was noticed.

Jesus got baptized. The Holy Spirit fell. His ministry is inaugurated – and Satan comes a runnin’!

Doesn’t it work that way in most of our lives too? Sure, it’s easy to make a wreck of your life. Drinking, drugs, addictions of all sorts plague mankind. Debt, pride and selfishness also run amok and tend to take their toll as well. But when you hit that point, be it ‘rock bottom’ or not, that you finally make that decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is not until then that Satan has lost you. Prior to this moment, in spite of the fact that you were doing a bang-up job ruining your life all by yourself, Satan did not have to do any work to keep your life a wreck. You were searching all sorts of worldly solutions and ‘programs’ to improve everything from your “self-esteem” to your finances. But as long as you were not turning to God for solutions, Satan could play you totally hands-off. Not now. Now the fight is on, and he comes a runnin’.

Relating this somewhat to Jesus and the verses we look at today, we can make some minor correlations. Prior to this event, the baptism of Jesus, we do not see Satan himself actively involved in the life of Jesus. At least during Jesus’ incarnate life and in the manner that he attacks our lives, and will soon be attacking Jesus.

When Jesus rose from the water of baptism, things changed for Satan. Jesus was going to be actively involved in the salvation of mankind! Of course, we are told that this was the plan before the foundations of the earth (Hebrews 4:3, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:20). Yes, the plan had always been in place. Yes, the plan was been known by Satan. He knew this in the Garden. Yes Satan also knows that there was nothing he could do to stop God’s will from taking place, but this does not mean he will just sit back and watch it happen!

What changed for Satan here, is that God’s plan is not longer stagnant in the movement of history. The plan was now being put into action! Jesus was here, on earth, SATAN’S EARTH, where he had been ruling and ruining lives for millennia. But now the divine presence of God was WITH man, walking beside them, teaching them, training them, preparing them, not only for the way that their lives are going to have to change, for the influx of Grace the true means of salvation, but also preparing the people (this is US as well) to defend themselves against Satan himself.

This baptism was a call to action for Satan. In a like manner, it needs to be a call into action for us who are baptized. Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to devour your soul. Is it not just good sense to arm ourselves with the things of the spirit to defend ourselves? Of course it is. And here Jesus gives us the perfect example (how could He do any less), on how to do that.

Always begin your defense with a foundation of the Word of God. More on this next time.

Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, Heaven, Tri-What?

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

As I mentioned in previous blog postings (Tripped Up: Getting to Jesus’ First Words), all that Jesus speaks is not theological in nature. Much of what He shares with us on the roads of His ministry are practical, life application teachings. He passes on to us in such a loving way, how to live to serve each other, to love the Father and desire to do His will. But sometimes when these crimson words appear it is in fact theological, and often times it is a message that is central to the orthodoxy of Christianity. Today’s passage is just such a case.

Here, as we continue to look at the words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, we come to verse 17. “But wait! Those words are not in red!” if you are one of the people who have said or thought this, you’d be correct. They are not printed in red in those red-letter translations, but these words are no less divine.

At the baptism of Jesus we have a motley collection, not the least of which is John the Baptist himself. There is a large crowd of people at the river. As we previously discussed, the Pharisees and Sadducees are there as well. Who else is looking on? Who knows? The Jordan Valley is a central pathway to and from so many places and so many nations and peoples. Jordan, Syria, the Red Sea, Egypt are all regions that send people through the rift valley that contains the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the ports at the mouth of the Red Sea. Travelers, traders, soldiers and citizens would likely have been watching on, and were in for a surprise.

As Jesus came “up immediately from the water” (indicating the likelihood of a baptism by immersion), the heavens were opened to Him, He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and He heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Let’s clarify this scripture a little. The image of the Holy Spirit ‘like a dove’ was seen. The voice from heaven (gr. fona, from which we derive our word telephone or phone today), was audible, and was physically heard. All this took place while Jesus was standing before the witnesses.

What we have here is an example of the triune God present at this event. Jesus was there incarnate, in a physical body, fully God and fully man. The Holy Spirit manifested Himself ‘like a dove’ and was physically seen. John the Baptist was told (John 1:33ff) that this was going to happen in a prophecy and watched it come to pass. The voice of the Father comes from heaven, to be heard by all who were there. Similar to the action of creation found in the book of Genesis, all three agents of the Godhead are present at this moment.

While you will not find the word ‘trinity’ in scripture, this verse, as well as many others work together to form the dogmatic doctrine that is the theology of the trinity; ‘God in three persons, blessed trinity’, as we have sang together for so many years. The trinity is mysterious, yet amazing! We have a hard time expressing it in human terms of understanding, equating it to the relationship of H2O in water, and an egg with its three parts of shell, white and yolk. But how foolish is this? While it may help us in a human intellectual fashion, we have just compared God to an egg! So you can see where the dichotomy of human understanding and the divine omniscience of God come into play.

Suffice it to say that, without address the trinity with a doctoral thesis, scripture is sound on this teaching and doctrine. Christianity rests in part on the trinity itself. It shows itself here in our crimson conversation of the day.

God loves us. He loves us enough to suffer His Son to be a human, to take on our sin, and our pain, and our punishment. God the Father desires us to know Him and the Son and the Holy Spirit in an intimate, fresh and real way, as the real people that they are. How blessed are we?

Are Apples Crimson? Addressing the Jobs Issue...

No this is not about unemployment, or the economy. But today I do want to take a departure from the normal path of this blog. Yesterday the world lost an influential figure in Steve Jobs, former CEO and founder of Apple, and conceptual genius behind the Apple Macintosh computer, the iPod, iPad, iPhone and others. Jobs was also the founder of the NEXT Corporation and the beloved Pixar Studios, the most successful animated film production company in the world, eclipsing even Disney. A true pioneer in his field it has been said that Jobs was the Henry Ford of this generation and certainly of the personal computing world. Doing a quick count we have 6 of his devices in our home today.

Steve Jobs succumbed to a battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in what was a rather private battle with the dreaded disease. In spite of the fact that we have two men bravely battling cancer in our small church of just 30 or so people, and know some of what these men are going through, I have no idea the struggles through treatment, through physical pain, through emotional upheaval, and spiritual unrest that Steve Jobs had gone through before he passes away. I simply know he is gone, and that the world laments his passing.

I have seen varying remarks about the death of Steve Jobs. Ranging from respectful business like obituaries, to personal and mournful eulogies. But what I have also seen are comments (albeit, some of them as tongue in cheek as one can get about a death...) raising Jobs to the point of divine. Here are a couple of missives I have read and copies below:

"The world will run slower without Jobs"
"Gather your kids around and listen to wonderful words from the man who changed everything."
"Steve Jobs will create a better user experience in Heaven. RIP." 
"Jobs was beyond icon status, approaching a demi-God like mythos."

This caused me to thinking. Was Steve Jobs a Christian? I did some research and using my Journalism 101 found confirming reports from three independent sources. Jobs, was in fact a Buddhist, and during his wedding a Zen Buddhist monk presided. Steve Jobs was born to Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian Muslim and Joanne Simpson and was later adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs. His childhood was sadly all too typical for so many children born in this country today.


I am not here to judge Steve Jobs. That responsibility falls solely on our Creator God. But the facts seem to be in the open, and are not being disputed as far as I can see. While we as humans mourn the loss of any life, as Christians we consider the life of everyone in the context of eternity.

Go to most news stories you'll find on the internet this week regarding the death of Mr. Jobs, and you will find wonderful comments about his ingenuity, how he was "visionary", how his advances in technology have made our 'life experience' better, and how he 'changed everything'. From a certain point of view, these statements are true. My life, and the lives of most people I know have been touched by Apple brand products in one way or another. But bottom line, Steve Jobs was a man. Steve Jobs was a sinner just like you and me. If Steve Jobs did not have a saving relationship with His Father through the Sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then with all due respect and with the utmost common dignity due, while Steve Job's effect on humankind right now might seem to be one of significance, his effect on eternity will be ZERO.
Scripture tells us, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) Is this one of those cases? 

The Disciple Thomas is best known for his ‘doubt’. He had questions. Even after three years under the teaching of Jesus, he still had questions and doubts. Thomas wanted to see the holes in the hands and side of the risen Jesus. While he had found Jesus, he wanted to be convinced that Jesus was who He said He was. Why? Because earlier in his life (John 14:6), Jesus had a conversation with Thomas.  In our Crimson Conversation of the day, Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 I do not know if Steve Jobs has such a conversation or not. The fact that he was a self proclaimed Buddhist and that he had a Buddhist Monk perform his wedding ceremony seem to indicate that if Mr. Jobs knew Jesus, He did not believe the statement that Jesus told Thomas. Like so many others, Steve Jobs may have found Jesus, but not as his Lord and Savior.

I do not share this blog post today to in anyway degrade or bring dishonor to the life or person of Steve Jobs. He was obviously a self made and very influential man. It is said by some that he will “improve the experience of heaven”. Not hardly. It is said that he has achieved a ‘demi-god’ status, that he has changed everything. Let me tell you all something; only one man has ever changed everything, and His name is not Steve Jobs. Mr. Job’s impact seems to be worldly and not heavenly, and seems to be temporal and not eternal.

I write this today to ask one question; what will your impact be? Will it be temporal or eternal?  You could be a billionaire, you could invent the cure for cancer or AIDS, you could become President of the United States. You could become the richest most influential person on this planet, much like some say was Steve Jobs. But if you do not have that crimson conversation of confession and belief with Jesus Christ, your impact will become nothing and your work and efforts will have been in vain.

Steve Jobs funeral will be remembered by all. The good folks at the Westboro Baptist Church have promised to picket the event. “Westboro will picket his funeral. He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin,” This message was sent by the daughter of the Pastor of that church. In a moment of extreme irony, this message was ‘tweeted’ by Margie Wednesday night from her iPhone.

Don’t let your life be significant – and meaningless. Steve Jobs will be missed by many, but remember all the angels in heaven rejoice each time one person who is lost, is reunited with Christ. When this life is over what will your impact have been?

The First Crimson Conversation

For those of you who may not have picked up on the blog title, I'll take a moment to explain. In many modern bible translations, the word spoken by Jesus Himself are often printed in red. When crucified, Jesus bled on the cross, and it is through His blood that mankind has equal opportunity at salvation by faith through this grace. Red words, and red blood, also called crimson in color are key to our understanding of the gospel, and our understanding of our relationship to Christ. A crimson conversation is simply the times in scripture where the Son of the Living God speaks. And when He speaks, we must listen.

We do not have to wait long to get to the first words spoken by Jesus. Chapter 3 of the gospel of Matthew reveals the first crimson conversation. Once we arrive there and read them, we see that while in the grand scheme of things these words may seem pedestrian, simple, common words to be spoken as would be in any everyday conversation. Certainly not a sentence of divine wisdom being revealed to all of mankind in a mountain-top "thus sayeth the Lord' type pronouncement that one would expect from a deity.

Or are they?

In Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptizer is on the banks of the Jordan River. Already having put the Pharisees and Sadducees in their places for their false religion and ungodly legalism that they had enslaved the Jewish people under for nearly 400 years, going so far as to call them a "brood of vipers"

John then speaks these words,

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

These are words that pierce the side of the men in religious authority. The same men that will pierce the side of their Creator on the cross.

Even then, mixing it up with the very men John is surely aware have the power to see him thrown in prison or worse for the actions he's already made and the words he's already spoken, is keenly aware of his position. Like us all, John is subservient to Jesus, and Jesus is on His way - literally.

In verse 15 John sees Jesus coming, Jesus responds to John's attempt to balk at baptizing Jesus and asks Jesus to baptize him instead. Who among us would not have done the same? Then Jesus speaks His first words recorded in the NT:

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Like I said earlier, these words may seen innocuous.But are they really? Are they just a simple reply to John so that he understands that Jesus Himself must be baptized? I think not. I see much more to this exchange.

With these first words that Jesus speaks in the NT, we see a pattern being formed. Jesus is setting a standard. The standard is twofold:

1. Righteousness
2. The Will of the Father

Jesus states that He must fulfill all righteousness. Here the word fulfill means to perform or execute as a matter of duty, to make complete in every particular, and to cause to abound! This is what Jesus desires to do for righteousness. Up to this point righteousness has been a character largely missing from the religious leaders. It most lacking among the group that stood and watched Jesus receive this baptism from John (the Pharisees and Saducees). We do find righteous men before Jesus time. Noah was called righteous before God, Lot was called righteous by Peter, and Abraham was a righteous man just to name a few. But none of these men, or any other men could fulfill righteousness. Only Jesus could have done so, and He did.

In this is also hidden the command of the Father that is the gospel of salvation. The map has been made. The plan has been laid out, even before the foundations of the earth. Jesus the Son, and God the Father knew this day would come and that Jesus would be baptized. Jesus desire to do the will of the father is unshakable, and cannot be broken, although the enemy would try very soon following this encounter. 

Jesus will do only those things that bring and show righteousness, that are righteous. This will play itself out as we go along. He will also say in chapters to come, that He does only the will of the Father (John 5:30).

Jesus could have said anything He wanted to be the first words recorded for us to read. He could have said, "I am the awaited Messiah", and put a stop to all the rumors that would soon be floating about and be debated by such nobles as Nicodemus (called a ruler of the Jews), Joseph of Arimathea, and quite probably Gamaliel himself whom we are told was one of the greatest teachers of all. Jesus could have said, "I am not here to cause a political takeover or to crush the Romans", which would have quelled the political unrest to come and settled the hearts of such men as Simon the zealot and Judas who would betray Him, but He did not. He could have said any number of the wonderful things that He did say later on; that He is the way the truth and the life, that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord they God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.



Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” as His FIRST words. And we know He did, because one of His very LAST words was 'teleo' when He said, "It is finished". And finished it was indeed. This word teleo means, to be fulfilled, completed, to bring to pass. Thus He did. His life fulfilled righteousness for Himself, and for you and I. A greater work has never been accomplished.

So then, we are left with the discussion of application. Are you seeking God's will first over your earthly and fleshly desires? Do you place the importance of righteousness, being holy and righteous before God in all your actions over your desire to fulfill your personal freedoms even at the expense of stumbling a brother? Is being YOU more important than being like HIM?

These are hard questions that we must ask ourselves. While the answers may be even harder, the strength of Jesus Christ is able (through the Holy Spirit) to empower you to new heights as through Christ, all things are possible!

Tripped Up; Getting to Jesus' First Words

Biblical History Timeline

As I began in Chapter one of the Gospel of Matthew taking this trek through the New Testament looking at the actual words of Jesus, I was excited. Naturally, the crimson words of Jesus do not begin to appear as early as chapter 1, so I had to turn a few pages before they began to appear.

Jesus does not begin to speak to us until chapter three. But look how much we are told before we get to those first words in red. Much happens. I found myself unable to just move on to those first words in red without at least a cursory review of then things we learn about Jesus and the life of Jesus up to that point.

We read the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to Joseph. The virgin birth. The story of the wise men. Herod's radical response in the massacre of the innocents. The flight of the family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus to Egypt, and their return to Nazareth after Herod's death. Then we fast forward to the Jordan Valley to hear the voice of the one prophesied, the voice of the one crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3), John the Baptizer who, being of strange and speculative background) knew of Jesus supernaturally (and almost certainly from his mother as well), and that his cousin was the much awaited Messiah, the Christ!

While Jesus first words are spoken here, it is impossible not to consider what has to be passed over to get to these, our first crimson words in scripture.

The genealogy tells a story of its own. It takes us to times past to the promised progenitor of the line of Jesus. Called from his home to a place he knew not, or even where that pl;ace was, Abraham accepted the will of the Father by faith and left Ur for sites unseen. The names of Boaz and Ruth appear from history reminding us of the grace, forgiveness and provision of the Jesus yet to come. Jesse, father of David, and David himself, a man after God's own heart are there in the text. David, King David, who like Peter was a man of many personal failures, but yet by faith and perseverance proved his love for the Lord.Mary and the virgin birth, while not being central to the purpose of this blog and the words of Jesus is central to what is dogmatic orthodoxy for the Christian faith.

While just beginning this walk to look at the words of Jesus, on my first steps I'm tripped up. I cannot even get to those first words without first stopping and spending some time in those chapters and verses that that tell us so much that we do need to know. While these verses and the whole of this information shared outside of those crimson words are no less important because of the task before us, they do merit our attention.

In this we learn that Jesus speaks in history as well, and all throughout the bible. Crimson conversations take place in both the Old and New Testaments. While some of the words may not be printed in red, the voice of God, Jesus, the very Word Himself is present everywhere in scripture. The Old Testament is replete with the actions of Jesus, the presence of Jesus, and the history of His coming incarnation and so much more. While we will be concentrating on the actual words of Jesus in the NT, it is certainly wonderful to know, and wonderful to see that Jesus is everywhere in scripture.

Jesus Speaks in Volumes...

One of the first things I noticed when I began reading to open the trek of this project...was how long I was going to be at it!


I was immediately amazed at some really interesting things that were coming up in my review of Jesus words. The first words recorded having been spoken from Jesus (more on that later), the patterns He was setting, the placed He said them, the specific people He said them too, all brought wonderful revealing truths about Jesus. Nothing I had not read before mind you, but new in the context in which they are being read.

Beginning in Matthew, the first book of the NT it did not take long before I realized how much Jesus really has said! Sure, I passed over and made some notes from early statements and short conversations. Reading them in the context of the weight of Jesus words I was slammed in the face by Chapter 5; The Beatitudes! Thee full chapters of teaching lay right before me! And of course we know that John said near the end of his gospel that if he had written all the things that Jesus said... I'll just let you read it for yourself:

And there are also many other things that Jesus did,
which if they were written one by one,
I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that
would be written. Amen.

Folks, Jesus speaks, and He speaks in volumes! The great and wonderful result of this is that we are not left guessing. God has told us that His word is not something that is hidden or hard to understand, but that has been spoken and now revealed (Isaiah 45:19, 48:16, Matthew 10:26). 

Jesus has answered our questions before we have even asked them. We however, tend to answer them ourselves first, based on tradition, half truths, or a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of what Jesus really did say. it is for this reason that we must make it our desire to know Jesus, and know what He said.

Let's say you get asked a question, any question.To answer that question, Jesus simplifies our lives with His words. If there is a word spoken by Jesus is comes from the mouth of God. If we know what Jesus said about any topic, how He reacted to a similar situation, what He taught on any issue, we know the heart and character of God.

Jesus is the center. He is the center for a reason. Do you know what Jesus said? Do you really know? The crimson conversations in scripture will reveal so much. As we go through the postings on this blog we will be reviewing what Jesus said, word for word. Then, you will be challenged to live out what you read.

Are you ready for that?

Why Examine Jesus Words?

While the idea has been floating around in my head for some time, it was not until the 28^th of September, 2011 during a Wednesday night mid-week bible study in my home that the thought or design in my mind had really been called to be more than just a pattern of reasoning bouncing around the mostly empty walls of the inside of my head. Studying through the gospel of Luke, I came upon Luke 6:46 where Jesus peaks the following words:

"Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things I say?" 

In putting this question to the disciples to whom he was speaking, Jesus put the group on notice. IF you are going to be my followers, you do not have the choice but to follow me. Do as I do, walk in my path. Hear what I say and follow my example.

In the art of debating, if you are losing the debate and being bested by another, you can't get mad at the other person for besting you, or at least you shouldn't. The right person to be angry with is yourself for not having been as prepared as you should have been. We often feel that we are completely prepared for a situation, only to find out that we are far from ready to face it.  Instead, our human nature relishes in the idea that through our own power and intellect, we are completely prepared for the argument in the debate or the trial we are about to face in life. 

In apologetics so often we fail in the same way. We think we are preparred to defend out faith, to stand firm on His word and so on. Like politics, when talking about faith we have such personal feelings about the subject that emotion sometimes rules the day, and reason and intellect are thrown out thew window in favor of screaming. 


being faced with an argument against your faith or how you personally feel about God there are several ways that we can react. We might simply listen, and not respond at all. While there is some merit in this response in that it will most certainly not be escalating the discussion into levels of rudeness and anger. Yet at the same time, you have to understand that this is not defending your faith. 


You might react with bitterness or sorrow. When faced with a faith question you cannot answer pride often gets in the way and we lash out because we are made to feel belittled. Then again, you might break out into a seasoned argument using scripture to defend your position. Doing this in love is a fantastic way to interact with those people who would debate the things of faith and God. It shows them that you believe strongly in your faith, you are willing and able to defend it, and if done properly, that you really do love the person to whom you are exchanging points of view. The problem with many of these reactions and discussions by Christians is that many of their arguments are based on personal feelings or assumptions or things they thought were true or that they had been taught about scripture, and not the facts or truth of scripture. 


To know all of scripture, let's face it, is next to impossible. And, even if you could recite the bible, word for wor, from beginning to end, that alone would not make you a "knower of all facts" regarding the bible or Christianity. So how do we get the basics? How can we take scripture and compress it into a cliff note format that we can remember and make sense of?


In examining Luke 6:46, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of what should be our resolve in the defense of our faith. It's all about Jesus. We need to respond to the world in the same way Jesus did. Answer the way Jesus answered. Imitate Jesus in all that we do. to do this, we must simply know Jesus which IS the root of the Christian faith. What better way to know Jesus than to study what He said. What better way than to know as well as anything in scripture, the Crimson Conversations that took place on the fields of Israel and were divinely placed on the pages of our bibles in red ink? 


I can't think of one.