JESUS IS BAPTIZED
This story is in the desert box. So many important things happened in the desert that we need to have just a small piece of it.
The desert is a strange and wild place. At night it is very cold, but in the day it is burning hot. There is almost no water at all. The desert is always changing. The wind comes. And as it blows it shapes and molds the sand. So, the desert is never the same. John the Baptist lived in the desert… near the Jordan River. The people of God came out to the desert to listen to John. John said, “Get ready! God is sending someone special.
The special Son of God is coming!” But the people did not know how to get ready. So John said. “Change the way you live. Do the Ten Best Ways to Live. And I will baptize you with water. You will be clean and new again.”
And John took the people through the water and baptized them. Then one day Jesus came to John and said. “Baptize me, too.” So they went through the water and John baptized Jesus. Then the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God came to Jesus and the voice of God said. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” After Jesus was baptized, he went across the Jordan River into the desert. He stayed there for forty days and forty nights to learn more about who he was and what his work was going to be.
I wonder what part of this story is most important?
The Lord be with you!
This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Epiphany, and the color is green. This is the time of the year when we read or hear stories about Jesus as an adult, going out to do the work his Father has given him to do. This story is with John the Baptist; he was a cousin of Jesus. He lived in the desert. He ate locusts and drank wild honey. And people thought he was a wild man. But the people of God listened to him because he told them the kingdom of heaven was near. Have a good week.
