Originally published Friday, 24 August 2018.
"Permit it to be so." These words were spoken by Jesus to John the Baptist. Why would the Lord, a holy deity, make such a statement to a mere man?
Jesus was coming to be baptized by the baptizer - John the Baptist. John thought that Jesus should be baptizing him, after all, in John's mind, Jesus had more significance than him, and he was the Way that John was preaching about. However, Jesus saw things differently and said, "...Permit it to be so."
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Matthew 3:13-17 [NLT]
Two things happened here:
- Jesus chose to obey the will of His father by being baptized.
- John chose to obey Jesus and baptized Him.
In choosing to obey, both John and Jesus were partakers in what can only be called a supernatural experience. The heavens opened and the Spirit of God was visible. Then a voice spoke declaring God's pleasure with his Son. This happened to Jesus, but John witnessed it. To observe the supernatural is as close as you can get to partaking in it. To witness the Spirit of God descending on anyone, let alone Jesus is transformative. To hear that God was well-pleased defies words. But this is what happened.
When you, "permit it to be so" in response to Jesus, amazing things can happen for you also.
Permit it to be so.
If Jesus could permit it to be so, why can't you?
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