This is the beginning of the wonderful news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It starts with Isaiah the prophet, who wrote: Listen! I am sending my messenger ahead of you and he will prepare your way! He is a thunderous voice of one who shouts in the wilderness: “Prepare your hearts for the coming of the Lord YAHWEH, and clear a straight path inside your hearts for him!” John the Baptizer was the messenger who appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the complete cancellation of sins. A steady stream of people came to be dipped in the Jordan River as they publicly confessed their sins. They came from all over southern Israel, including nearly all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. John wore a rough garment made from camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and honey. And this is the message he kept preaching: “There is a man coming after me who is greater and a lot more powerful than I am. I’m not even worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals. I’ve baptized you into water, but he will baptize you into the Spirit of Holiness!” One day, Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth and had John immerse him in the Jordan River. The moment Jesus rose up out of the water, John saw the heavenly realm split open, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.
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4 Days
Tony Evans gives you a book summary for each of the Gospels in this four-day reading plan, helping you to gain a broader understanding of this important section of the Bible.
Perhaps the greatest thing that we often neglect about John the Baptist is that he lived his whole life and ministry in the shadow of someone greater than him - Jesus Christ. Yet despite this, we are never told of any feelings of jealousy or resentment. Just as John the Baptist’s ministry was gaining traction, it was cut short, presumably to make way for Jesus, someone greater than him. From his birth to his death, John the Baptist lived in the shadows of Jesus. But fulfilled his ministry and pleased the Lord. This devotional is an amended extract from an upcoming book by Jean Kabasomi.
Who was Jesus? In our modern imaginations sometimes He appears as a teacher with good advice, a revolutionary who sticks it to the Empire, or as a relaxed friend who wants us to take it easy. But these caricatures are far from the truth. Join us in this four-day plan as we explore Jesus: Messiah, sacrifice, God and giver of life.
6 Days
Do you ever feel that Mark skipped a crucial part of Jesus’s story? Without telling of Jesus’s miraculous birth, can we still see the reality that God became a person? The answer is yes. In this video Bible study, created in partnership between RightNow Media and Francis Chan, Francis asks us, “Have you really considered the immensity of that statement—of the event in which God became a man?”
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