In Matthew Chapter 3 verse 15 Jesus says, "Suffer it to be..." I wonder, what did he mean? Well, the Greek word for Suffer, in this passage, is G863 and the word is Aphiemi. It means to send away, to let go or to abandon; to leave so that what is left will may remain; or to depart from a person and not take him as a companion. “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John, his own cousin who lived in the wilderness, shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God!" John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, why do you come to me?" But Jesus responded, with “Suffer it be." "Aphiemi arti gar houto prepo esti hemin pleroo pas dikaiosyne tote aphiemi autos." Arti in Greek is G737, which comprises the phrase "it to be so now." What Jesus meant is that there would be a suspension in time, this present moment would be raised up again. Jesus gave consolation and comforted John with the words, "for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” The Greek word for "it becometh" is prepo which is to stand out in eminence through a recognized superiority. John must have known that what Jesus says is true, for He can not operate outside of the Spirit of Grace and Truth. And Jesus spoke of their unity when he used the pronoun "hemin" to declare "us, we and our." It's the same "us" that Jesus said, when he asked the Pharisees where the baptism of John came from. After much deliberation, they said to themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it was from. And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Luke 20:1-8 So John consented, and agreed to fall in line, for he trusted and believed the order and timeline set by God. And the reason why it had to be so orderly was because all righteousness would be given to whosoever believes. The Greek word for all is G3956, "pas" represents both individually and collectively. "Each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone and everything; all things, always, and whosoever believes." Then there is righteousness, which can only be found through Christ. The Greek word is dikaiosyne which means the condition acceptable to God. G1343 is a noun which means integrity, virtue, and purity of life that comes from correct thinking, feeling and behaving. In the broader sense, it means the state of him who is as he ought to be, and in the narrow sense, it means justice or the virtue which gives each his due. "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately as he came up from the water, the heavens opened up, and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove; and behold, the voice of God from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” All at once, there was perfect unity. Father, Son and Spirit - the Face of our Triune God - 3 persons in One. I used to believe that Jesus was being kind to John by offering him the opportunity to baptize Him; but now I see that John the was the eminent domain upon which Jesus could stake His claim. “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand” was proclaimed by a man who had the Spirit of God upon him. All set ahead of time, perfectly fitted and perfectly planned. So much wisdom can be found in the response that Jesus said to John; “Suffer it now so, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” - perfectly timed and perfectly planned. You see, Jesus and John were conceived, simultaneously; joined together - by the faith gene. Created purposely, to bring life back to humanity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2022
|