Doing what is fitting
”Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Matthew 3:13-16
Jesus did not need to be baptized, symbolically or otherwise. Baptism indicated acknowledging sinfulness and repenting of it. Jesus was sinless and needed no repentance. Not only He did not need to be baptized, He was the object of baptism. Those who were getting baptized were responding to John’s call to repent. It was a preparatory symbol, because the Messiah was coming. Yet, Jesus insisted and chose to get baptized. The only possibly meaningful thing in the act of baptism of Jesus is the emphasis on His humanity, His willingness to identify with us, and the affirmation of the act of baptism. When asked by John, He said that His baptism was fitting to fulfill all righteousness. In other words it was the proper thing to do. Fitting? What made it fitting? Baptism was a symbolic act, it was full of meaning, yet it was a human act, a tradition. You would think that Jesus would decide what was fitting, not tradition dictate what was fitting. Whatever “fulfilling all righteousness” may mean, one thing is clear: Jesus submitted to what was corporately fitting even when it was not individually necessary. And, He did it simply because it was a proper thing to do. Jesus embodied the humility of heart, and respect for that symbolic act in getting baptized. I think there is a lesson in Jesus’ action for our age to hear.
We have a tendency to refute anything that threatens our individualism. We love to denounce tradition simply because it is tradition, and reject something simply because it is old. Even in the specific case of baptism, numerous people have mentioned to me that they did not want to get baptized, because it was not a prerequisite for salvation. It is true that tradition has its dangers. It can be given an inordinate status. It can be very detrimental when the action becomes more important than the reason behind the action. For instance, some have mistakenly assumed the act of Holy Communion as an act that imparts salvation. Instead we participate in Holy Communion in recognition that He is our Savior. “Do this in remembrance of Me”, He said. It is an effect, not the cause. When effect becomes the cause, the letter has superseded the spirit. The Pharisees in the Bible had that problem, and Jesus rebuked them “you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone”.
In our day I think we stand at the threshold of an opposite danger. I am afraid that the sin of the Pharisees was that they were given to the letter of the law at the expense of the spirit of the law. We are now in the danger of interpreting the spirit of the law to an extent where the letter means nothing. They had stripped the message of its meaning by making the methods sacred. We have stripped the message of its power by methods that are impure in their motivation. They would not allow Jesus to heal on Sabbath. We expect Jesus to heal on demand! They made going to the temple so important that why you went did not matter. Today we have made going to the temple so irrelevant, as if the Lord did not deserve anything more than right intentions. The emphasis on individualism is just as prideful as the pride of the Pharisees in their tradition. We give respect only when it is deserved, we assemble together with only the believers we like, we participate in corporate worship only if it is convenient and pleasing, we serve only if it suits us. It has become close to heresy to comment on fitting attire, fitting language, and fitting behavior. The answer is almost always, “Where does it say so in the Bible? God looks at my heart!” While it is true that God does look at the heart, it is out of the heart that flow the issues of life. When we do what is fitting we embody the godly heart in that fitting action.
My prayer is that we return to realizing that while we have the freedom, by submitting to what is fitting, we are only imitating our Lord!
Danesh Manik
________________________________________________
"A Soul’s Anchor” is a daily inspirational message prepared to challenge your mind, inspire your heart, and motivate you to anchor your soul in the person of Jesus Christ.
If you know a friend who would enjoy receiving "A Soul’s Anchor" in their email box each day, tell them they can sign up by emailing us at subscribe@asoulsanchor.org . The messages may also be read at our website, http://www.asoulsanchor.org. To unsubscribe, please email, unsubscribe@asoulsanchor.org with your email in the subject line. To change to a weekly instead of a daily subscription, email weekly@asoulsanchor.org with your email in the subject line. For receiving messages by mail, please write to us at A Soul’s Anchor, India International Church, 3654 Okemos Rd., Okemos, MI 48864
Jesus did not need to be baptized, symbolically or otherwise. Baptism indicated acknowledging sinfulness and repenting of it. Jesus was sinless and needed no repentance. Not only He did not need to be baptized, He was the object of baptism. Those who were getting baptized were responding to John’s call to repent. It was a preparatory symbol, because the Messiah was coming. Yet, Jesus insisted and chose to get baptized. The only possibly meaningful thing in the act of baptism of Jesus is the emphasis on His humanity, His willingness to identify with us, and the affirmation of the act of baptism. When asked by John, He said that His baptism was fitting to fulfill all righteousness. In other words it was the proper thing to do. Fitting? What made it fitting? Baptism was a symbolic act, it was full of meaning, yet it was a human act, a tradition. You would think that Jesus would decide what was fitting, not tradition dictate what was fitting. Whatever “fulfilling all righteousness” may mean, one thing is clear: Jesus submitted to what was corporately fitting even when it was not individually necessary. And, He did it simply because it was a proper thing to do. Jesus embodied the humility of heart, and respect for that symbolic act in getting baptized. I think there is a lesson in Jesus’ action for our age to hear.
We have a tendency to refute anything that threatens our individualism. We love to denounce tradition simply because it is tradition, and reject something simply because it is old. Even in the specific case of baptism, numerous people have mentioned to me that they did not want to get baptized, because it was not a prerequisite for salvation. It is true that tradition has its dangers. It can be given an inordinate status. It can be very detrimental when the action becomes more important than the reason behind the action. For instance, some have mistakenly assumed the act of Holy Communion as an act that imparts salvation. Instead we participate in Holy Communion in recognition that He is our Savior. “Do this in remembrance of Me”, He said. It is an effect, not the cause. When effect becomes the cause, the letter has superseded the spirit. The Pharisees in the Bible had that problem, and Jesus rebuked them “you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone”.
In our day I think we stand at the threshold of an opposite danger. I am afraid that the sin of the Pharisees was that they were given to the letter of the law at the expense of the spirit of the law. We are now in the danger of interpreting the spirit of the law to an extent where the letter means nothing. They had stripped the message of its meaning by making the methods sacred. We have stripped the message of its power by methods that are impure in their motivation. They would not allow Jesus to heal on Sabbath. We expect Jesus to heal on demand! They made going to the temple so important that why you went did not matter. Today we have made going to the temple so irrelevant, as if the Lord did not deserve anything more than right intentions. The emphasis on individualism is just as prideful as the pride of the Pharisees in their tradition. We give respect only when it is deserved, we assemble together with only the believers we like, we participate in corporate worship only if it is convenient and pleasing, we serve only if it suits us. It has become close to heresy to comment on fitting attire, fitting language, and fitting behavior. The answer is almost always, “Where does it say so in the Bible? God looks at my heart!” While it is true that God does look at the heart, it is out of the heart that flow the issues of life. When we do what is fitting we embody the godly heart in that fitting action.
My prayer is that we return to realizing that while we have the freedom, by submitting to what is fitting, we are only imitating our Lord!
Danesh Manik
________________________________________________
"A Soul’s Anchor” is a daily inspirational message prepared to challenge your mind, inspire your heart, and motivate you to anchor your soul in the person of Jesus Christ.
If you know a friend who would enjoy receiving "A Soul’s Anchor" in their email box each day, tell them they can sign up by emailing us at subscribe@asoulsanchor.org . The messages may also be read at our website, http://www.asoulsanchor.org. To unsubscribe, please email, unsubscribe@asoulsanchor.org with your email in the subject line. To change to a weekly instead of a daily subscription, email weekly@asoulsanchor.org with your email in the subject line. For receiving messages by mail, please write to us at A Soul’s Anchor, India International Church, 3654 Okemos Rd., Okemos, MI 48864
posted by Danesh Manik | 2:21 PM
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