Friday, January 25, 2019

The Holy Spirit decended like a dove... and alighted...on him: Jesus Baptism Temptation, Hovering Birds and The Abiding Presence of God by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:12-4:11, Acts 19:1-6)


I have experienced a lot of birds hovering over my head this summer, in particular Pied Stilts, or Poaka. On the ground or out on the mud flats they seem fragile, peaceful and almost whimsical. When they are in the air they are graceful, yet somewhat comical as they trail their long slender legs, which look out of proportion to their bodies. When they hover, they almost look like a ballerina… Up on her toes, wings like arms outstretched and their tail feathers forming a tutu.

But I didn’t know till this year they are very territorial.  When you walk towards them or walk anywhere near where they are nesting, they get aggressive. They take flight, hoover at a distance looking all innocent, squarking a warning, and then they swoop at you at great speed.  So close that a few times I felt the wind as they came past below head height. Think maverick buzzing the tower in the film “top gun”. They will keep on doing it till you go away. They will not rest till you are gone.

What does that have to do with the Bible passage that we are looking at today? What does it have to do with Jesus baptism and his temptation in the wilderness from Matthew’s gospel? Well with that experience of birds fresh in my mind… I read through the scripture and was about to put an image together  for the service today. A dove flying down, the one behind me which I found on the internet. It’s a great photo, but I stopped myself because while it was like all the other images and art work I’ve seen associated with Jesus baptism, the words of the scripture spoke to me. The Spirit of God descended like a dove and alighted on him. It didn’t just hover, it came to rest on Jesus, it didn’t remain in the air it landed and came to dwell in and with Jesus, and we have the declaration from Heaven “this is my Son, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased”.  

In the passage we had a look at last week, John the Baptist had said, that while I baptise with water the one who comes after me will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. In Jesus baptism we see that happen and start. The Holy Spirit comes and alights it doesn’t just hover, it alights on Jesus, It is what Jesus promised would happen with us, as we have turned to Jesus and been washed clean by his death and resurrection, the Spirit comes and alights on us it makes it home with us. The Artwork and images that are associated with Pentecost in Acts 2, have the tongues of fire being above the heads of each of the disciples, probably for dramatic effect, but the text says they came to rest on each of those gathered there, and as it came to rest they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in tongues and prophesy. Not out there, but in here with us.

I Sensed God say that I have that hover mentality when it comes to the Holy Spirit, God is near, with us even, so close that we can occasionally feel the wind… but out there… when the amazing truth is that the Holy Spirit rests with us, and dwells with us.   I tried to capture that in the image I did use for the service of a Kereru, wood pigeon that had alighted that was at rest. A Kereru because its as close as we get to a native dove in New Zealand, and in the Maori translation of the Bible  (Paipera Tapu) the word used for dove in Matthew 3 is Kkupa, which is another name for woodpigeon. It takes it from the there and then, first century Judea to the here and now twenty first century Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s at rest, its not hovering, its not in flight but has come to alight… in the Scripture the spirit alights on Jesus and promise of Jesus is the Spirit does on us as well. I want to explore that today.

But first let’s just go through the bible reading… 
Jesus comes to John the Baptist to be baptised, and John is reluctant to do it. He realises that like all of us he needs the baptism Jesus will bring, that indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that fire that will cleanse within as water washes the exterior. But Jesus insists. It is to fulfil all righteousness.

People often wonder why Jesus needed to be baptised, as we read in Acts 19, Paul says John’s baptism was for the forgiveness of sins. The theological question is why did Jesus need to be baptised for the forgiveness of sin? The first answer is that Jesus identifies with us in submitting to this Baptism, he is humbling himself before God, and identifying both with our need for forgiveness but also the other side of repentance as well that wanting to turn and to live out what it means for to be God’s people. Secondly  in Matthew 16 Jesus talks of his crucifixion as a baptism. His baptism here at the start of his ministry foreshadows that willingness to identify with us in death, so that our sins can be forgiven. Jesus is aware right from the start that the way of the Kingdom is obedience, service, and self-sacrificial love. In response we hear God’s affirmation “Here is my son, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased”, the Father acknowledges who Jesus is and his willingness to do God’s will, to fulfil his unique mission.

Then Matthew tells us that the Spirit leads Jesus off into the wilderness for forty days and nights to be tempted by the devil. Matthew as a first century Jew paints Jesus life as a fulfilment of the Old Testament, and with his baptism, its like Jesus passing through the red sea, leaving Egypt, the wilderness experience is where Israel were forged into God’s people. They faced different trials, and while they failed them, Jesus is able to be victorious. Jesus temptations reflect Israel’s, they have to do with identity and with trusting in God’s goodness. Will Jesus keep on being focused on the Kingdom of God.

The first temptation is can Jesus trust God for his needs, can he trust God to provide. It is the temptation of turning stones to bread. The Israelites seemed to complain at every turn about food and water, but Jesus quoting scripture says “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” He will put God’s Kingdom First and trust God to take care for everything else as he tells his followers to do in the sermon on the mount.

The second temptation concerns can Jesus trust God with his security and his life? If you throw yourself off the temple height surely God will save you the devil says, this time even quoting scripture. Jesus responds with an affirmation of trust, “do not put God to the test.” When we later see Jesus face the cross it is with the great assurance that even if he is to suffer and die he can trust God to do what he has said. At the cross “into your hand’s do I comment my spirit”.

In the third temptation the devil offers Jesus all the nations of the world if he will but worship him. Jesus is aware that he is about the coming of the kingdom of God, God’s reign in the world, will he be tempted by this instant gratification, or be willing to trust in the way that God has planed the road of servanthood and self-sacrifice. Jesus again declares his trust in God “ it is written you shall worship the Lord, your God and serve him only.”

Each of these temptations challenges Jesus identity and his call and his trust in God. The same temptations Israel faced and we face. Jesus faces and triumphs in each temptation with the scripture and reaffirms his trust in God. The passage finishes with Angels coming and ministering to him. Satan is defeated, and Jesus now is prepared and ready for ministry and as we will see as we continue through the gospel.

With all that in mind I want to go back and focus on the abiding presence of God in the Holy Spirit, that rested, alighted on Jesus at his baptism, and that in Christ, as God promised, has alighted  and rests on us.

The first is like with Jesus, the presence of the Holy Spirit is a mark of our identity in Christ. John 1: 12 John says that all who believe in the word made flesh, in Jesus Christ are given the right to become the sons and daughters of God the most high’ the seal of that is that God’s spirit comes and dwells within us. In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Paul says, Christ has anointed us with the Holy Spirit as a seal a sign that we belong to God. In Ephesians 1:14 the presence of the Holy Spirit is like a guarantee of our inheritance, AS God’s children.

The hovering birds were a sign that they were angry I had encroached on their territory and I was not welcome, the spirit lands and alights and rests on us to say we are  welcome… we belong… we journey  together.

Secondly, when we have a picture of the Holy Spirit hovering around, when we have wilderness experiences in our life it can lead to thinking that the Holy Spirit has left us… That God has flown the coup. Jesus temptation tells us otherwise. Just like with Jesus the spirt leads us into wilderness times, but does not leave us. It’s interesting that in Matthew the word for tempted in Greek means both attempting to lure away, but also it means tempered or tried, made stronger, or like a metal purified for use. It’s like in the book of Job, you get this dichotomy between the accuser, who wants to show that Job’s faith is false and God who allows Job’s faith to be tested because he knows it is strong and true. That God’s purpose in allowing our trials.

Jesus didn’t face his trials with his own superhuman strength rather Jesus as totally human faced them with the same resources that we have. God’s word and the presence of the Holy Spirit. AS a Jewish man Jesus would have been immersed in the scriptures of the Old Testament, these are the things that came to mind and allowed him to defeat the devil. In John 16 Jesus says that when the advocate, the trusted friend, another name for the Holy Spirit, comes he will teach us to remember all that Jesus has taught, and bring it to mind, often when we face temptation there is that small still voice that answers the luring whisper or shout.   Like Jesus we can trust God to provide for us, watch over us and lead us through the process to achieve his purposes for us.

It is the Holy Spirit that also leads us to those places where angels, divine or human, can minister to our needs in the midst of the long dry and hard periods in our life. 

Lastly it is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that enables us to minister to others as well. We going to look at Jesus ministry in a couple of weeks. His teaching proclaiming and healing ministry. Jesus does those things in the strength and enabling of the Holy Spirit, and so do we. In our lives and action and reactions the abiding presence of Spirit enables us to witness to Jesus Christ and be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. It’s not just that the Spirit turns up on special occasions. In Acts 19 the passage finishes with the believers in Ephesus speaking in tongues and prophesying. We can get sort of caught up in those manifestations. But remember in Acts speaking in tongues is always a sign of the Spirit’s presence and a sign that the Kingdom of God is for all people everywhere, it’s a sign that the mission of God is to all people. Prophesy is always linked to the presence of the Spirt it is peaking forth the word of God, it is the Spirit that enables us to do that.

Maybe I am bird brained and I easily forget, I forget the abiding presence of God by the Holy Spirit. I know that the devil who tempted Jesus wants to tempt us to forget and be like those people in Acts 19 who didn’t know there was a Holy Spirit, maybe to think “well it’s just for the birds!” But as I came to look at this passage, after a summer of birds, I found it encouraging, renewing and refreshing to be reminded that Jesus baptises  with the promised Holy Spirit,  that the Spirit does not just hover out there somewhere, an impersonal force,  but like with Jesus the Spirit of God  has come to alight… to rest… on all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. I hope as we start of 2019 that is encouraging, renewing and refreshing for you. You are God’s beloved children and he has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in and to fill you with the presence of his beloved son Jesus Christ, even in the deepest driest desert times,  to lead and to guide, to enable and empower, as a guarantee of our belong to God.  

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