HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Three Fold Discussion -- Verse 11

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Continuing on to discuss verse 11 of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Three, and the animation Matthew's Three Fold .

Verse 11 Gospel Text New International Version

¹¹”I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with spirit and with fire.

Verse 11 HESUS JOY CHRIST / Matthew's Three Fold animation text

¹¹“I acknowledge your death with rebirth, but after me will come one whose shoes you will wear. His holy spirit will acknowledge you with spirit;

Verse 11 Discussion

John did not see himself as worthy of grace. He saw only the sinful nature of people, including himself, and tried to get people to scrap everything and start over, repenting of their sins and being baptised into a new start. His baptism was one of repentance, not rebirth. Joan on the other hand, acknowledged death with rebirth. This is accepting the wrong of our sins, and dieing to them, to be reborn to a new life and world. This was not accomplished by Joan, but rather by the individuals themselves before God. The individuals would be the sole witness to their rebirth, which they would bring to Joan for acknowledgment, or something like that, as the animation does not go into much detail about the mechanisms Joan actually implemented.

John does not consider anyone worthy of grace, by his statement that the one who is more powerful than him would not appreciate John carrying that persons sandals. This may be true, and likely is, but it sets God and Jesus at a distance from John and us, and does not dare to have a loving intimate relationship with God, Jesus or any infinity. Joan on the other hand, says we will walk in his shoes. This is a play on the expression “Do not judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes”.

Jesus commissioned his followers to follow him and serve. This means taking up Jesus' work and doing what he did ourselves. He did not come for us to just listen and learn – he wanted us to follow him and do as he did. We are to take up our crosses and follow him. We are to walk in his shoes. We will wear his shoes.

Whether one is a man or a woman, we all have some sort of awareness. This awareness will die and be reborn many times in our life. We must take up our crosses, suffer, die and be buried, and then awake to the new world that is presented to us. This is not just true for men – women have awareness too, so it is true for everyone.

In a marriage, both spouses have awareness, and any awareness will die and be reborn. This will happen most dramatically and effectively in the marriage relationship. Jesus led the way into the ugknown of the opposite world and taught how to succeed in such a venture - practice forgiveness. He may have been strongly influenced by his mother, Mary, but there were limitations to that relationship which do not hinder a marriage relationship. Regardless of whether one's skills are stronger in whole or partial, everyone has an awareness that will die and be reborn. We all must take up our crosses and follow Jesus, primarily into a marriage relationship.

We must cultivate an intimate relationship with God and Jesus, and follow where it leads. God is not an absent Father. He is as present as an infinite goal is always present in everything anyone does. We are not worthy of God but God is worthy of us. And God does choose to have an intimate personal relationship with each one of us, if we do not limit our world in such a way as to exclude him. Jesus was in an intimate relationship with God and the Holy Spirit, and this is the nature of a marriage relationship – the person of Christ. This spiritual relationship exists between spouses and we are shown how to behave by how Christ behaved. We take on the person of Christ when we enter into a marriage relationship and the relationship speaks to us as Christ spoke to the world. We will still experience death and rebirth, but a marriage is the most appropriate place for our efforts. We may not be worthy of our spouse, but our spouse is worthy of us.

Christ is present in a marriage relationship, and indeed is present in any relationship that has a balance of whole and part, and we will walk in these relationships as he walked in the world – in his shoes. The animation is much better at expressing this idea, if one is willing to consider it, and does not get lost in circular rambling discussion such as this.

The next part is about being baptized with spirit and with fire, as opposed to a holy spirit acknowledging with spirit. Many people are filled with spirit, which drives them to accomplish what they desire. A Holy Spirit is a wholly spirit, and will drive you to accomplish what you will. Many people have a spirit that they feel justifies their actions, and I agree that this is true. Extreme actions that are challenging to others, may be considered evil, but once again the way to deal with evil is to forgive, for the proponent is likely professing, I confess.

None of this is that radical. Especially a Holy Spirit acknowledging with spirit. Everyone decides they must be married based on how they feel, which I would say is how the spirit directs them. So it is not that radical that a spirit will acknowledge a persons actions or situation.

So the acknowledging is by rebirth and by the presence of spirit. This is how you know you have been reborn. This also acknowledges that you were faithful in your death, by maintaining your integrity, and that you have dealt with your demons and begun your new life. This is basically common sense. One suffers many challenges in their life, which take their toll as they accumulate, but one may overcome the burden of such failures by making lemonade with the lemons ! I know, where is the sugar for all these lemons suppose to come from ?! You get the idea. There can be an overwhelming joy if one can come to peace with their life so far. And don't forget that our mistakes are our greatest learning opportunities and experiences.

Fear is a serious thing. Fear can control one. Fear is ridiculous though. Does anyone really expect to live to 400 years old? The strain on the retirement system would be enormous ! So if we all know we will die what is there to be afraid of ? Fear of suffering is another thing. This is a little trickier because it can go on for so long. A weak moment is more likely to occur over an extended period of suffering. But than if we know we are forgiven than what is there to fear ! God loves us and knows all our shortcomings, so go out and live ! This is even more thrilling if one chooses to live a spiritual life full of spiritual challenges and growth. And marriage is one of the most spiritually challenging endeavours out there .

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Sunday, May 15^th,2011

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