Chapter 10: In the Wilderness of Judea
I liked this chapter too! I love that John the Baptist was kind of a non-conformist, living in the wilderness, eating locusts and honey, and wearing "rough desert garb". I can see him now, looking a little like a wild man and preaching with energy and enthusiasm, he must have been quite a sight! He was clearly a very effective preacher, there were those who thought he was the Messiah. He called for repentance and charity and prophesied of Christ.
Jesus came to John to be baptized and John tried to turn him away, saying "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?". Jesus answered, "suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness". What must it have been like to be there? to witness this conversation?
The next part of the story is after Jesus is baptized and the Spirit of God descends like a dove while God speaks from above. We believe this is evidence of the separateness of the Godhead. We believe they are separate physical beings, but one in purpose. Our belief that the Godhead is made up of three separate individuals is one of the reasons that many people do not believe Mormons are Christians.
The last thing this chapter talks about is the temptations of Christ. This is a part of Christ's life that I really haven't given much thought to before now...of course, I'm familiar with the basics, that he went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and then Satan tempted him...but that's about it. So this was a good refresher and went into it in more depth than I remember studying it before.
I never thought about why Jesus spent 40 days fasting in solitude in the wilderness, but Talmage points out that he had a lot to think about...duh...I should have thought of that! Of course he had a lot to think about, he had some major events ahead of him. I'm sure he needed to mentally prepare for what he was sent here to do - to atone for the sins of the world. No small task and definitely not an easy one. Then, to be tempted...
The last thing this chapter talks about is the temptations of Christ. This is a part of Christ's life that I really haven't given much thought to before now...of course, I'm familiar with the basics, that he went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and then Satan tempted him...but that's about it. So this was a good refresher and went into it in more depth than I remember studying it before.
I never thought about why Jesus spent 40 days fasting in solitude in the wilderness, but Talmage points out that he had a lot to think about...duh...I should have thought of that! Of course he had a lot to think about, he had some major events ahead of him. I'm sure he needed to mentally prepare for what he was sent here to do - to atone for the sins of the world. No small task and definitely not an easy one. Then, to be tempted...
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