As you know, symbols are important in scripture. I was reading in Matthew this morning and looking at the familiar story of Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan River. It’s important to remember that John’s baptism was a call to repentance from sin. It carried the symbolism of cleansing as John administered baptism to the hundreds and thousands who were being touched by his preaching.
Because it was a baptism of repentance, John objected when Jesus, the sinless one, came to be baptized. However, Jesus insisted that John immerse him in the muddy waters of the Jordan to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus insisted on obeying the command of the
Father to be baptized because Jesus was not only the chosen representative of God but also of man. Jesus submitted to baptism as our representative not because he needed to turn his heart toward God but because we needed to turn our hearts toward God.
The Jews were not unfamiliar with symbolic washings in water. The priests were washed as a sign of cleansing before entering the temple to minister. Gentiles who came to faith in Jehovah and converted to Judaism went through cleansings by immersing themselves in water also as a sign of purification. These ceremonial cleansings were performed by the priest or the convert by squatting down in a pool of water until they were completely covered and then rising on their own. But now John was administering baptism. For the first time, cleansing was not something a man could do for himself by his own efforts but it was something he must receive at the hands of another.
As Jesus was lifted from the water, Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove and remained there. As I read that, my mind always goes back to the Genesis flood when man had become so alienated from God and so saturated with evil that God determined to destroy man except for Noah and his family. As the flood receded from the earth, Noah sent a dove out from the ark to see if he would find a resting place or return because the water still covered the earth. The first time Noah released the dove he returned. The second time he came back with a fresh olive leaf in his beak and the third time he was sent out, the dove did not return because the judgment of God was passing away.
For millennia, the sign of peace has been a dove with an olive branch in his mouth. It was a sign that God has made peace with man. Noah and his family were able to step out of the ark and receive the blessing of God once again on dry land. Matthew gave us a picture of Jesus standing waist deep in the Jordan with the sign of peace resting on him. Through Jesus, God was making peace with man once again. When Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah, he called him the “Prince of Peace.”
I don’t know about you, but as I grow older I long more and more for peace – peace in my environment but even more for peace within. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit that I want more and more but it only comes when I am certain that I have peace with God. That certainty only comes through faith in what Jesus has done for me and that my heavenly Father welcomes me and delights in me even in my imperfections.
As Christmas day came and passed, there were still wars and terrorism raging in the world. Israel was retaliating against sniper fire from Muslims across their border. Car bombs were still exploding in Bagdad and Egypt. Threats were still being issued against Christians in hostile nations and believers were still being beaten for their faith in China.
The world continues to seek political solutions to war, poverty, and racism. But you can’t give want you don’t possess. The problem is that man has no internal peace. He is restless, angry, bitter, and unforgiving in his fallen nature. All those feelings manifest in war, murder, divorce, or seek to be medicated by drugs and alcohol. The solution is still and only Jesus, the Prince of Peace. When I have truly made peace with God through his Son, them I can make peace with men. Through Jesus, God has offered each of us the olive branch – his peace. That is really what all men are seeking to find without knowing what it is.
The dove landed on one man – Jesus. He did not land on many or on several. He landed on one. No man can come to the Father except through his only begotten Son. We will need to remember that in 2014. There will be more wars, greater calls to accept the legitimacy of many faiths as roads to salvation, and more promises for political solutions. But only Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the holder of the olive branch from heaven. I want to seek him more and more and point others to him as well. I encourage you to do the same in this coming year. Be blessed today in the peace of God through Jesus Christ