{"id":2443,"date":"2023-03-15T07:28:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T11:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2443"},"modified":"2023-03-15T07:28:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T11:28:19","slug":"matthew-316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/15\/matthew-316\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 3:16"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.

Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at one of the \u201c3:16\u201d verses of the Bible, spotlighting some of the significant theological statements that happen to fall on the 16th<\/sup> verse of the third chapter of a number of Old and New Testament books.\u00a0<\/em>

\u201cAs soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.\u00a0 At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.\u201d (Matthew 3:16)
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March Madness is upon us.
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That means college basketball fans will once again have the opportunity to savor the remarkable bandwidth of creative school nicknames and their accompanying goofy mascots.
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It\u2019s not a surprise that a number of schools identify with intimidating animals.\u00a0 Over the next few days we\u2019ll see the Razorbacks, Bulldogs, Longhorns, Bison, Rams, Bruins, Bears, and Wolfpack.\u00a0 Colleges also have a thing for ferocious felines: Tigers, Panthers, Bobcats, Wildcats, Catamounts, and Nittany Lions.\u00a0
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Then there are the animals that, frankly, seem more cute than threatening:\u00a0 Terrapins, Horned Frogs, Antelopes, Owls, and Blue Jays.\u00a0
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Some of this week\u2019s competitors are named for conditions that might make you want to take cover (Cyclones, Hurricanes, and Crimson Tide), while others identify with characters you wouldn\u2019t want to meet in a back alley after midnight: Musketeers, Raiders, Norse, Spartans, Trojans, Blue Devils, Jayhawks, Boilermakers, and Ragin\u2019 Cajuns.\u00a0 \u00a0
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And of course there\u2019s always a handful of names that defy easy categorization: Paladins, Gauchos, Aggies, Gaels, Golden Flashes, and Hoosiers.\u00a0
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What you won\u2019t see in this year\u2019s March Madness \u2013 or any other year, for that matter \u2013 are doves.\u00a0 There will be no Fighting Doves or Pugnacious Pigeons taking the court this week.\u00a0
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That\u2019s because doves are among the gentlest of creatures.\u00a0 They don\u2019t threaten, intimidate, or \u201cmake things happen.\u201d\u00a0 Instead, things tend to happen to them<\/em>.\u00a0
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Christ-followers have associated the descending dove with Jesus\u2019 baptism for so long that we rarely stop to wonder why this humble creature represents God\u2019s Spirit. \u00a0After all, it\u2019s possible to imagine a different choice.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit might have descended upon Jesus in the form of an eagle.\u00a0 There is a rich treasury of eagle verses in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Note Exodus 19:4, where God says to Israel concerning their escape from Egypt, \u201cI carried you on eagle\u2019s wings and brought you to myself.\u201d\u00a0 And there\u2019s Isaiah 40:31, where those who hope in the Lord \u201cwill soar on wings like eagles.\u201d
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Or the Spirit could have emerged from the bullrushes of the Jordan River and come alongside Jesus in the form of a lion.\u00a0 No one in the crowd would ever have forgotten that<\/em>.\u00a0 They would remember that Proverbs 28:1 tells us that \u201cthe godly are as bold as lions.\u201d\u00a0 And one day Jesus the Messiah will be described as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5).\u00a0
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But Matthew 3:16 tells us that the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus \u201clike a dove.\u201d\u00a0
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The dove is powerfully evocative, too.\u00a0 In Genesis 1:2 we\u2019re told that the Spirit is \u201chovering over the face of the waters\u201d of creation.\u00a0 A few chapters later, as the deep waters of Noah\u2019s Flood recede, a dove flies away from the ark, then returns with the sprig of an olive tree in its beak.\u00a0 Thus, in the minds of those familiar with God\u2019s Word, the dove represents new beginnings.\u00a0 Peace.\u00a0 Hope.
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All those things are on display at Jesus\u2019 baptism.\u00a0
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His ministry is just beginning.\u00a0 And it\u2019s going to be what we might call a Dove Ministry.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to spearhead a military or political revolution, but will launch a kingdom that targets the interior of human hearts \u2013 winning people by persuasion, not coercion.\u00a0 \u00a0
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Historically, when Jesus\u2019 followers have become excited about the possibility of establishing an Eagle Ministry or a Lion Ministry \u2013 calling God\u2019s people to rule the cultural skies or roar like the King of the Jungle \u2013 things do not go well.\u00a0 We look back in sorrow on the legacies of the Crusades and the religious wars of the 17th<\/sup> century.\u00a0
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A number of American congregations at the end of the 20th<\/sup> century began to imagine that a militaristic spirit might be the only way to win the culture wars.\u00a0
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Jerry Falwell, the dynamic Baptist preacher who founded the Moral Majority in 1979, exhorted his flock to engage in a spiritual version of the battle of Iwo Jima.\u00a0 \u201cThe local church is an organized army, equipped for battle, ready to charge the enemy.\u00a0 The Sunday School is the attacking squad.\u00a0 The church should be a disciplined, charging army\u2026 I\u2019m speaking of \u2018Marines\u2019 who have been called by God to move in past the shelling and encounter the enemy face-to-face, one-on-one, and bring them under submission to the gospel of Christ, move them into the household of God, put up the flag and call it secured.\u201d\u00a0
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It may be exhilarating to hear such sermons.\u00a0 But we never hear such counsel from the lips of Jesus.\u00a0
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Instead, as we look at the course of his ministry, Jesus doesn\u2019t treat others as \u201cthe enemy\u201d \u2013 even those who fiercely oppose him.\u00a0 He habitually identifies with messed-up people.\u00a0 The man who will wind up crucified between two thieves begins his public life in the river, surrounded by sinners.\u00a0
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Perhaps the greatest application we can make from this \u201c3:16\u201d verse is to ask God to help us, by means of his Spirit, to win the hearts of our neighbors through patience and grace \u2013 not to \u201cwin the culture wars\u201d by assaulting and overcoming our perceived enemies.\u00a0
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Before we leave this scene, it\u2019s worth noting that all three members of the Trinity are present.\u00a0
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God the Father speaks from the skies in the very next verse: \u201cThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased\u201d (Matthew 3:17).\u00a0 God the Spirit descends like a dove.\u00a0 And God the Son comes up out of the water, ready to pursue the purposes for which he has come into the world.\u00a0
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At the end of Matthew\u2019s gospel, Jesus entrusts to his disciples the so-called Great Commission.\u00a0 They are to make more disciples, \u201cbaptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit\u201d (Matthew 28:18-20).\u00a0
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Notice that Jesus says \u201cthe<\/u> name<\/em>\u201d \u2013 instead of the plural \u201cnames\u201d \u2013 suggesting that these three Persons have a connection with each other that is like no other.
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That\u2019s a verse worth remembering the next time you hear someone say, \u201cI sure wish there was a simple text in the Bible that points us to the reality of the Trinity.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0
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Now it\u2019s time for us to turn to Jesus\u2019 recruitment of his dozen apprentices, which is where we\u2019ll go tomorrow.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here. Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at one of the \u201c3:16\u201d verses of the Bible, spotlighting some of the significant theological statements that happen to fall on the 16th verse of the third chapter of a number of Old and New Testament books.\u00a0 \u201cAs soon as Jesus was… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[571,573,492],"class_list":["post-2443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-316-verses","tag-baptism","tag-trinity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2445,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions\/2445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}