Reflecting on Mark 1:1-8“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)
As a Jesus follower, I am seeking the Spirit and not just the water.
Water is a symbol of God’s overflowing love.
The Spirit is the actual experience of that love.
Water represents religion, and outward symbol of something deeper.
Spirit represents relationship, an inward of experience of the real thing.
John was an old covenant prophet, pointing towards the coming Messiah.
The Messiah was God’s promised anointed one, anointed with God’s Spirit.
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord — and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-3)
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)
The unveiling of this good news occurs when Jesus appears.
Jesus comes with the Spirit, not just with water.
Jesus changes the inside, not just the outside.
Jesus releases me from my inner struggle, bondage, fear and guilt.
Jesus bestows a crown of beauty, the oil of joy, a garment of praise.
This does not come because I go through the proper religious rituals.
This is mine because the Spirit of God and Jesus is in me.
I’ve been religious all my life, receiving and following the symbols.
But like a road map, they point the way, they are not the destination.
My longing and need is to be in relationship with God, through Jesus, by the Spirit.
This is the good news revealed in Jesus, and available to all of us.
But we need to let go of the map and step into the destination.
We need to look beyond the symbols to the reality they represent.
Am I being immersed (baptized) in the fullness of God’s love?
Am I simply accepting the good news that I am God’s and God is mine?
Am I trusting the good news that I am with Jesus, and Jesus is with me?
As a Jesus follower, this is the reality that I long for, and need.
And the good news is that in Jesus, this is the reality that I have!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, the good news is that there is nothing I need to do to make this good news true. It is true, and it is mine. Like the air all around me, Your Spirit of love surrounds and fills me, and I just need to breathe it in.
Set me free from the emptiness of religion, and overwhelm me with the blessing of relationship!
The people came to hear John the Baptist. I too come and hear the Word of the Lord by not only reading it, hearing it but I also need to do it. Spirit driven. Like the disciples following their Rabbi/Jesus, living in His presence, trying to become like Him, I too need to become like Him to all I meet and greet. I need daily to pracice His presence in my life and that is only a possibility when I am Spirit led. Lead on O King eternal and help me daily to be Your instrument of peace.