These thoughts are my own. I do not claim to have any special wisdom and certainly no divine revelation. Although I sometimes use the word “God” in what follows and with the pronoun “He”, I do not like the word. I believe it stands for something/someone that cannot be defined. If the extent of the known universe is beyond comprehension, then “G-O-D” must be even more so. Jesus used the word “Father”, so I prefer to use that simple image.
I am intrigued by Jesus. I no longer have an orthodox Christian faith, but I do believe there is something more to human beings than the chemical, biological and physical processes of our bodies, complex though these are. The "something more” concerns our moral being, our ability to love sacrificially and the sense we have of a spiritual dimension just out of reach - what Emily Dickinson refers to as the “tooth that nibbles at the soul”.
Jesus’ baptism
Jesus was about 30 years-old when he began his brief teaching ministry. There is one story recorded in Luke of Jesus at the age of twelve conversing with scholars in Jerusalem but otherwise nothing is written in the New Testament about the first 30 years of his life.
Luke also records that Jesus’s mother, Mary, had a cousin Elizabeth who gave birth to a son a few months before Jesus was born. The son was named John. It is almost certain the two boys knew one another as they grew up. Both young men would have attended the synagogue and would know the Jewish scriptures. They were both radicals and discontented with the status quo. It is likely they discussed these things together, so much so that John recognised in his half-cousin someone exceptional. When John could no longer stay silent, he began preaching against the authorities, calling for repentance, and baptising people in the River Jordon.
Account in Matthew’s Gospel:
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptised 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 fulfil all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
1st Temptation - Man shall not live by bread alone
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the Tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
Jesus must have been shocked by the voice he heard at his baptism. To Jews the God of Israel was remote and fearful. They did not speak his name. He was Almighty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The closest intimate image was that of a shepherd and his flock. But Jesus hears himself called, "beloved son". This is unheard of and Jesus needs to get away with no distractions and think what this means, so he heads to a wilderness.
He is in a place of mental conflict; two Kingdoms are vying for supremacy in his mind, the Kingdom of The World, materialistic and self-seeking, and The Kingdom of the Father, altruistic and sacrificial. Is he to follow in the footsteps of his carpenter father, having a wife and children, or to follow the voice he heard at his baptism? For 30 years he had lived a normal life among his neighbours. Later, when he preached to them ....
“,,,, they scoffed, “He's just the carpenter's son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” (Matthew 13:55-56 New Living Translation)
Now in the wilderness Jesus distances himself from the world and fasts, prays and meditates.
“Beloved Son” - was that really the voice of God?” “Has He spoken to me as he did to Samuel”? “What does it mean?” “What am I to do?”
He begins to understand the road that lay ahead and the message he needs to preach. But as the days pass and he became weaker, another voice begins to nag him. “If you are the Son of God…“The word “If” casts doubt. How can you be sure that was God? Perhaps you are deluded. Is there a way to be certain? Perhaps there is. “If you really are the son of God, you must have creative power; those stones can be turned to bread. God will surely feed you just as he sent ravens to feed Elijah and manna to feed the tribes of Israel in the desert.”
Our bodies need food to survive but so do our souls - bread for one and the quiet, interior WORD for the other - the "still small voice"
That voice had called him "Beloved Son". Now the voice comes again, words to feed his spirit. Later he would teach:And he would teach his disciples to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread" - food to feed the soul not the body.
Mankind shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father.
"He who has hears to hear, let him hear."
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