Why did John baptize Jesus?

To be honest, I don't really know, but then no one else really seems to either. However, Jesus' baptism turned out to be very significant despite that. Clearly the gospel authors thought so, because this is one of the few events that all four mention. If we look at Matthew's account and what John wrote about it, then we see that at first John the Baptist didn't quite recognize Jesus when he turned up in the queue to be baptized. They were cousins, but John had lived in Judea and Jesus grew up in Galilee. John also moved to the desert once he had become an adult. Therefore, it is likely that the two had met only infrequently and probably not very recently - and the last place that John would have expected to find Jesus was in the queue to be baptized to show repentance. He made it very clear to Jesus, once he had worked out who he was, that it should be the other way round, but Jesus insisted that John do this for him.

Jesus explained that it was necessary to fulfil all righteousness and then John relented. This is not an easy phrase to interpret. It could be that in order to embrace our humanity fully Jesus needed to identify with our need to be baptized, but the precise nature of what that means remains a mystery. Obviously Jesus eventually took our sins upon himself on the cross, so perhaps this was a first step to taking responsibility for our guilt, although not personally receiving our sinful nature.

However, baptism clearly was necessary for Jesus: God the Father turned up and spoke to those present, declaring that Jesus was his Son, and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove, and remained on him. This latter sign was what John had been told would identify the Messiah definitively, although he wasn't expecting it to be in a baptism ceremony.

In being baptized, Jesus demonstrated the humility, obedience, and dependence upon his Father and the Holy Spirit that was to be the hallmark of his ministry.

Various people had been told that Jesus was the Messiah at his birth, but then things seem to have gone quiet, apart from the incident in the Temple when he was 12. Once Jesus had been baptized and there was an audible and visual coming together of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Jesus' ministry began. God the Father launched this for him by making it clear to the relatively few people who were around at the time (compared to the enormous crowds who followed him at the height of his Earthly popularity) who Jesus was. He himself didn't go in for such public announcements to any great degree, so this was a separate initiative of his Father - a third-party endorsement of his ministry at the outset.

However, Jesus didn't capitalize on this: "Did you hear that everyone? I'm the Son of God, so come here and worship me." The important thing was that he had now received the fullness of the Holy Spirit and was ready to do what he was told. The first thing that the Holy Spirit wanted him to do was go into the wilderness on his own. This perhaps seems to be missing a major opportunity to strike while the iron was hot, but we shall see in a later post why the Holy Spirit did this. For now we note that Jesus wasn't too proud to be baptized, he waited until he received the endorsement of his Father and the filling of the Holy Spirit before starting his ministry, and he was then obedient to his Father and the Spirit in all that he did, rather than taking human opportunities to get the crowd on his side. Right at the point when he was starting out, Jesus gave this early example of how we should live: in humility, obedience, in step with the Father and filled with the Spirit.

Are you probably here?

You are here - or at least there. I know that, because you're reading this. However, many, if not most scientists have a bit of a problem with that. Apart from the fact that the Universe exists, which is a problem in itself, what does exist is so carefully set up that it seems to be crying out for an explanation. Physical reality at a fundamental level is based on two main theories: the Standard Model of particle physics and Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which encompasses gravity. A few other things have to go into the mix, including some numbers to allow quantitative predictions of physical phenomena, i.e. how large or small they are. These numbers are called fundamental constants and can't be predicted exactly, but have to be measured. It's the values of these constants, coupled with the basic laws of physics, that determine if material objects can exist at all, let alone if intelligent life could have developed.

There are several numbers that need to have values very close to their actual ones for life to be possible. If the Universe just appeared randomly, why should all these values come together in the way that they do, such that we can exist to know about it? On the face of it, that seems very highly unlikely. It is very improbable that the Universe is such that you can possibly be reading this, or that I could have existed to write it.

One example is the strength of gravity. Although we feel it quite strongly and end up bumping ourselves quite nastily at times if we fall down, it is actually a very weak force. However, if it were only slightly weaker or slightly stronger in comparison to electric and magnetic forces, stars would operate in such a different way from how they actually are that life as we know it could not exist. Equally, the strength of the force which holds neutrons and protons together in the nuclei of atoms could not be very different from its actual value for the different chemical elements to exist, at least in large enough quantities for us to be around. There are many other examples of crucial numbers and laws which combine in a very precise way to make life possible at all. This is known as fine tuning.

The chances of intelligent life existing in a Universe that was not designed are so small that it almost seems scientifically as if it was designed for us.

Physicists worry about fine tuning. Why is it as it is? If the Universe were created by a designer (God) then it could all be explained. Otherwise, we have to find some other way around it. This is a big issue for scientists and philosophers alike and huge amounts have been written about it. One main explanation is that we necessarily have to be in a universe which allows us to exist, otherwise we wouldn't know about it. This is known as the weak anthropic principle and essentially says that we do exist, so we shouldn't worry too much about it. Given the inquisitive nature of scientists, that isn't really good enough for many of them, so there is another version - the strong anthropic principle. This says that the Universe has to be such that intelligent life would exist in it at some point; therefore, fine tuning must be as it is.

The strong anthropic principle as it stands implies that the Universe was designed for intelligent life, or even that it was pulled into reality by the need for intelligent life to exist. This seems to get very close to saying that the Universe was designed (by God). I have to keep putting God in parentheses because a lot of scientists and philosophers who hold even the strong anthropic principle still don't allow for his existence. One of the major ways around this is to suggest that there are vast numbers of parallel universes (together forming a 'multiverse'). Then every possible combination of values for fundamental constants and variations of physical laws will be found in one or other of these universes. Therefore, it is natural that we find ourselves in the one which allows for life as we know it.

That's great, because it means that we don't need to resort to talking about God to explain fine tuning - if the multiverse could have been created by itself, of course, which is unlikely in itself. However, the big problem with all of this is that there is no direct evidence of a multiverse and no obvious way of finding any. It's a great idea coming up with a theory that no one can disprove, but the whole basis on which scientific theories develop is that they have to be testable in a way such that they can be disproved if they are wrong. The multiverse, certainly at the moment, cannot really be considered a scientific theory in that sense: it is just a rather bizarre idea that can possibly be linked to the inflationary model of the Big Bang, but that's rather tentative itself, even scientifically speaking.

There is so much evidence that points towards the fact that the Universe and everything in it was the work of a creator God and that evidence tends to grow as we learn more. Therefore, there are also more and more complicated arguments developed to explain it away, but it never really does go away because God actually is the creator.

How many times do you want God to forgive you?

"How many times does God forgive you?" That's effectively the response that Jesus gave when he was asked how many times we should forgive someone. In fact, Jesus said that we don't need to forgive an individual just seven times (in response to the exact question posed), but seventy times seven (Matthew chapter 18, verses 21,22). So that's 490. Hurrah! I can stop forgiving after the 490th time! No, actually not: after making this statement, Jesus went on to explain the spirit behind it, using a parable. To start with, in the sermon on the mount Jesus told us that forgiveness is essential. In fact, to be forgiven, we have to forgive others, as he taught us in the Lord's Prayer and his subsequent comments (Matthew 6:12-15). He then gave the parable of the servant who had been forgiven a vast debt owed to his master, but who then was not willing to let go of a small sum owed to him by someone else (Matthew 18:23-35); the master was not pleased, to say the least.

OK, so God forgives us everything, unconditionally, so much so that he went to the cross for us - and proved that he was successful by rising from the dead. Why then do we need to forgive others in order to be forgiven? We are forgiven and that's it - nothing else to add. It all comes down to grace. It is indeed by grace that we are saved (Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8,9). If we are saved, though, we have given our lives to God and the fruit of his Spirit grows in us. If that is the case, then we shall forgive others. If we don't forgive, then his grace is not working in us, so perhaps we have not actually given our lives to God. Of course, grace is about making mistakes and being forgiven every time, but it is also about being equipped to move on and develop, so that we make less mistakes, which includes forgiving more.

If we don't find ourselves becoming more forgiving, then there is something wrong in our spiritual lives. If we really want to emulate Jesus in the way that we live, then we need to be willing ultimately to come to the point where we forgive everyone else for everything that they've done, whether they forgive us in return or not. I'm not suggesting that this is easy. However much we know that God has forgiven us everything, there are still those little, or maybe quite big, injustices that we have suffered at the hands of others. And we might not really want to let go of them until we have seen some justice appear. That's very natural, part of being human - and that's why Jesus had to tell the parable.

Jesus forgave everyone everything; he wants to teach us to do the same.

Jesus didn't have that attitude. He was willing to go to the cross after an unfair trial and not defend himself (Philippians chapter 2, verse 8). Reading through the passion stories in the Gospels, how often have you kind of been willing Jesus on to justify himself? He starts to say a bit about himself at times, but never a simple statement to Pilate about where the truth lay, that would perhaps have seen him released - Pilate was almost begging him to do that. Jesus even asked his Father to forgive those who were crucifying him.

This doesn't mean that justice goes out the window. There are still consequences for what we do, but through Jesus' death and resurrection we all have forgiveness for everything that we've done. If we give our lives to him, then we can appropriate that for ourselves and know the joy of walking free of guilt with a sure hope of eternal life in God's presence. If we have given our lives to him, though, we shall also be learning to live like him and become forgiving to the outrageous extent that he was. Justice remains, but grace (mercy) overcomes judgment (James chapter 2, verse 13); we must uphold justice, but it is not for us to condemn others personally in the process. Justice remains, but we should never require it out of unforgiveness or bitterness, only out of love.

The more we come to know God's forgiveness, the more we shall reflect that in our own attitudes to others. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans chapter 8, verse 1). Nothing that we have ever done has a hold on us once we have surrendered all to Jesus in repentance. Once we really grasp that, we shall truly be free to forgive others and hold no condemnation towards them. As we start to choose to forgive, we find that it becomes easier. We also might find that there are deeper layers of forgiveness that we had perhaps not appreciated at first. This can be painful, but we need to allow God to deal with our emotions as they are triggered. Forgiveness is sometimes very difficult, but we are not alone in it - God has been through the process and is there to help us too.