Daily Devotion

To those who were learning to regard Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one of God, these words would come as a bleak shock. They regarded the Messiah as conqueror, king, and the Messianic age as golden time. In Jewish thought that fire is almost always the symbol of judgment.Jesus regarded the coming of His kingdom as a time of judgment. The Jews believed that God would judge other nations by one standard, and themselves by another; that the very fact that a man was a Jew would be enough to absolve him. To eliminate the element of judgment from the message of Jesus is impossible.

 

Some translations state verse 50 this way: "I have a baptism to be baptized with." The Greek verb baptizein means to dip. In the passive, it means to be submerged. Often it is used metaphorically. For instance, it is used of a ship sunk beneath the waves. Above all, it is used of a person submerged in some terrible experience-someone who can say, "All the waves are gone over me."

 

That is the way Jesus uses it here. "I have," He said, "a terrible experience through which I must pass, and life is full of tension until I pass through it, and emerge triumphantly from it." The Cross was ever before His eyes. How different from the Jewish idea of God's King! Jesus came, not with avenging armies, and flying banners, but to give His life a ransom for many. This poem says so well: "There was a knight of Bethlehem, Whose wealth was tears, and sorrows, His men-at-arms were little lambs, His trumpeters were sparrows. His castle was a wooden Cross On which He hung so high; His helmet was a crown of thorns, Whose, crest did touch the sky."

 

His coming would inevitable mean division; in fact, it did. That was one of the great reasons why the Romans hated Christianity---it tore families in two. A person had to repeatedly decide whether he loved his parents. and family more than Jesus. The essence of Christianity is that loyalty to Jesus must take precedence over the dearest loyalties of the earth. A person must be prepared to count all things, but loss for the excellence of Jesus Christ.

Life Application: Have you given up all your worldly desires to choose the walk with Jesus? When you let go of earth He puts into your hands Heaven and all that is included.

 

Praise/Prayer: "Blessed be the Lord God Almighty!" Dear Father, how can I thank You enough for sending Jesus. Jesus, how can I ever thank You enough for coming, and being willing to die for me. I know You died for all mankind, all over the world, and for all that would be born. I know that You came, and died for all who today are dying all over the world. I pray that people around the world will make their decision today to follow Jesus. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done!" Amen!