Jesus is Introduced to the World

Isaiah 11:1, 2

1 — “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”

2 — “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

Luke 3:21, 22

21 — “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized, and while He prayed, the heaven was opened.”

22 — “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.

John 1:29-36

29 — “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'”

30 — “‘This is He of whom I said, after me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'”

31 — “‘I did not know Him, but that He should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water.'”

32 — “And John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.'”

33 — “‘I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'”

34 — “‘And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.'”

35 — “Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.”

36 — “And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!'”

Mark 1:9-14

9 — “It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.”

10 — “And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.”

11 — “Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'”

12 — “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.”

13 — “And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

14 — “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.”

Notes on Scripture: by tkbrown

Reading through the scriptures above, we see that John had not met or seen Jesus prior to this event. God had instructed John that His Son would be The One upon whom the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove — and remained upon Him. By this, John would recognize God’s Son.

When Jesus came to the Jordan River to hear John preach, there was a specific purpose for His appearance. This would be the beginning of preparing the public for Jesus’ ministry. When John saw the Spirit descend as a dove and remain upon Jesus, he knew this was the Son of God for whom he was sent to clear the way. He first mentioned Jesus’ presence without introducing Him. After this, Jesus approached John and asked John to baptize Him.

It shocked John to be asked such a thing of the Son of God. He pointed out his need to be subject to, and baptized by, Jesus rather than the other way around. John asked, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

Jesus reminded John of the need to fulfill prophecy, and then was baptized by John. Upon coming up from the water after baptism, God recognized His Son publicly when His Voice from heaven said, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Thus, Jesus’ introduction to the world was complete.

Rather than confuse the message presented in this lesson by including Jesus’ lineage now, I will cover His roots in the next lesson. Both this lesson and Jesus’ lineage are long enough to cover separately . . . and each has specific value separate from the other. As I develop these lessons, I am listening to my heart song when I am urged to ‘stop here.’ I had intended to cover these lessons more quickly, but Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection are too important. It is necessary to limit the lessons to specific subjects rather than a cumulative presentation. The reason for this new approach is to aid those who choose to study in being able to ‘rightly divide the word of truth.’ While the reasoning may not make sense now, it will after the study is complete. Thank You for stopping by, studying, and listening with ‘your’ heart. Have a Blessed Week!