What a Day

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHAT A DAY

John 1:32-34

32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

NIV

John’s testimony does not include that of others who also indicated they heard the voice of God testifying that Jesus was his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased. In another account the voice said that Jesus was his Son, listen to him. However, John leaves this out and yet he still testifies that Jesus is the Son of God because he saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Jesus. We would think the whole of all the people present would have dropped to their knees or fallen prostrate on the ground being in the presence of the Son of God. But we have no record of that happening, whether it did or didn’t. it makes is sound like the people were just sort of spectators without any personal involvement in the moment. Was it because John was this weird person, this wild short of man, garbed in camel’s hair, with a diet of locust? Maybe because of this the people thought John was off his rocker a bit. But still they must have seen the Spirit coming down from heaven and remaining on Jesus and according to the other accounts, they must have heard the voice of God. How could they not fall on the ground? And yet here we are going to church, meeting with the living God and we sit there like bumps on a log. Are we afraid someone will think us a little weird if we raise our hands, and worship the living God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Son of God? What about in our daily life? Do we live as though we are in the presence of the Son of God? Have we become too casual in our relationship with God? Have we become lazy in our relationship with him? Is our relationship sort of ho hum?

This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God himself in the flesh, who came and lived among his creation and died on the cross to take away our sin, to make us holy and blameless in the eyes of the Father. This is Jesus Christ who was buried, but on the third day was raised from the dead, and who also ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God. This is Jesus, who make s intercession before the Father, all the time. How can we just sit and be still? How can we not live with the excitement that we to shall die in this body, but we too will be raised from the dead and we too will ascend into heaven to be at the right hand of God. What a day that will be, when my Jesus I will see. When I look into his face, the one who saved me by his grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me to the Promised Land, what a day, glorious day that will be.