Source: newsthemegh.com
In Luke 3:21-22, we are told, when John the baptist was baptizing all the people in the community, Jesus also went to be baptized. Immediately after the baptism, Jesus said a short word of prayer and suddenly, the heavens opened, the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove upon Him and a voice came from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
This week, I am directed by the Spirit of God to tell us that, we must be humble in remaining in the queue because, it would invoke the divine attestation we need to connect us to our greatness. John was baptizing people in a whole community. The process would certainly be tiring and slow. Given that Jesus was not the first to be baptized, we can be certain that He had to remain in a long queue for long hours to be baptized too.
There are many lessons for us. Lesson one is that, in life the queue may be long. It may look like all others have gone ahead of you to achieve successes and breakthroughs. Wait till your turn. It will get to you before you die. Your time will come. Just wait, as Jesus did.
Lesson two is that, Jesus was and is still bigger than John the baptist and actually, He, being sinless, never needed that baptism. But he waited patiently for a long time in the queue for His turn. He never jumped the queue. He never used any protocol. He didn’t yell at the people, asking whether they knew who He was. He was just quiet in the queue.
This is a simple show of humility and simplicity by the man who is God Himself, and had a higher status than all in the queue and the one baptizing Him. We must not jump the queue regardless of your high status. Today, every V8 driver jumps the traffic to show the status of the one in the car. Jesus’ status cannot be compared to those of mortals sitting in metal or aluminum entities called vehicles. Yet he never jumped the queue.
Lesson three is that it is only humility that will take us far. So, let us stop the “bigities” and “big-manism” when we start counting dollars or get promoted or appointed to higher positions in life. Stop asking “Do you know who I am?” Go to the mortuary and see. Our earthly powers and riches would all end in the grave and so we must never see ourselves as too important than all others.
In lesson four, we must notice that it was after Jesus had demonstrated the humility of remaining in the queue even with sinful people who actually needed the baptism, that the heavens opened for Him and a divine attestation and recommendation about Him, came from God. Sometimes you may have all the qualifications but heavens would be closed to you. Qualifications, Experience and Competence do not open heavens. Again, you may have all the qualifications and competence and yet lack the right person to give a simple recommendation for you to be appointed to a position of favor for all men to see. It was the open heavens and divine attestation about who Jesus was, that made Philip and Andrew abandon following John and started following Jesus. Similarly, it is our humility that would open heavens for us and force others to give that one touch-tongue of good report about us that may bring our breakthrough. We may not be there to speak for ourselves to justify why we should be selected over other competitors, but our humility before God that opens heaven for us, would speak in our favor even in our absence.
In lesson five we note that, for God to say, “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”, suggests that He must have compared Jesus to at least two others. It is possible He compared Jesus to Lucifer who had been well made and given powers of Cherubim to defend and protect. Lucifer was a powerful angel but became arrogant. God may have also compared Jesus with Adam who was made by God Himself. We were all born, but Adam was made. Adam is the only creature who made God to bow. God bowed to breath into Adam’s nostrils to make him a human being and gave him dominion over all things. But Adam also disappointed and wanting to be like God, he arrogantly disobeyed .
But Jesus was humble. He had all the powers but He never rushed out of the queue. He stayed in the queue with sinful people till it got to His turn to be baptized. It can be theologically suggested that it is the display of this kind of humility that caused God to give the kind of attestation He gave to Jesus.
Finally in lesson six it is noted that staying in the queue patiently does not only show humility. It also prepare us for greater things. John the baptist stayed in the wilderness which was his own queue until his day of showing forth. If you rush to appear you will disappear. Take your time and train to gain an experience. What you are going through is only preparing you for a greater life. David didn’t know that his encounters with bears and lions were preparing him to defeat Goliath.
So, this week and beyond, may we emulate Jesus Christ in humility. For this is the only way we would be prepared for greater blessings through open heavens and divine attestations that showcases us for better opportunities. Amen!