Jesus Christ, Ordinary Man

“There was John the Baptizer, standing in the shallows, wearing his camel skin clothing, looking kind of wild and unkempt. His eyes had a strange glow. He was so interesting. He talked very loud and I could tell that some of the people didn’t like what he was saying. When the Pharisees and Sadducees stepped forward to be baptized he shouted at them instead of pouring water over them. He shook his finger in their faces. It frightened me. He shouted at them. Matthew 3: 7-10 ’You brood of vipers! Who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Give some evidence that you mean to reform. Do not pride yourselves on the claim, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire!’ “There was fire in his eyes and ice in his voice. I was hypnotized there at the water’s edge. Matthew 3: 10- ’I baptize you in water for the sake of reform, but the one who will follow me is more powerful than I. I am not even fit to carry his sandals. He it is who will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear the threshing floor and gather his grain into the barn, but the chaff he will burn in unquenchable fire!’ “Then the Sadducees and Pharisees went away, angry, muttering to each other, and John baptized others who came to him. I watched more. He was so certain of the coming of one who was greater than himself. I was fascinated. I hunkered down and continued to watch. “Later that day, a man I hadn’t seen before, came and stood at the edge of the river. He didn’t look any different than anyone else and I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, except that the baptizer dropped everything he was doing and just stared at the man for a long moment. That man was Lord Jesus, but I didn’t know it at the time. He told the baptizer in a quiet voice that he wanted to be baptized. “Baptizer shook his head. He looked stunned. Matthew 3: 14-15 ’I should be baptized by you, yet you come to me!’ Jesus answered him, ’Give in for now. We must do this if we would fulfill all of God’s demands.’ “I didn’t know at the time what that meant, but I became very interested, as the man dressed in camel hair slowly nodded his head and prepared to baptize this man who had come. It was strange to me to see that the Baptizer had great respect for, and deferred to, this other man who was not a king, a Lord, a priest, or a soldier. “So John gave in and baptized this man, but his voice shook as though he was overwhelmed. He seemed almost afraid to touch Lord Jesus. After the baptism, He comforted the baptizer with a smile and a touch. Then he came out of the water right in front of me. He began to leave the river. He wasn’t more than two steps before me when suddenly it was like the sky came open. A dove came down through the opening. It was bright and colorful like a rainbow. It was like the spirit of God was descending and coming to rest over Lord Jesus! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then a voice came out of the tear in the sky. It was a booming voice and the sound filled my entire body. It said, Matthew 3: 17 ’This is my beloved Son! My favor rests on him.’ “Everyone who was there was in shock. No one moved. Not a sound was made. Then the dove was gone. The voice was gone. The sky closed up. It was like it had never happened, except that Lord Jesus still stood there. Then Lord Jesus looked straight at me. I must have been squatting there with my eyes and mouth wide open. He smiled at me and put his hand, still wet, on my head as He blessed me. Then He walked on past. There has never been anything in my life that compares to the touch from Jesus the Christ, and the voice of Father God in my own ears.”