Chapter 9
Samuel’s
niece, Miriam, was getting married. He was excited beyond himself! His flock
was prospering, and he was glad to take a few days off to attend the
celebration. Samuel’s older sister, Esther, lived in the region of Galilee to
the north. Samuel had been to her house a few times, but this was something
special. Miriam was the oldest daughter of his older sister. Since Miriam’s
mother was a couple of years older than Samuel, Miriam was only a few years
older than Samuel. He had always been close to Miriam, and was honored to take
part in the wedding.
When Samuel
arrived in the town of Cana preparations were well under way. Samuel’s sister,
Esther, had everything under control. He could tell that she wanted him to “get
out of the way”, and he was glad to “get out of the way”.
Samuel had an
idea. He would go over to the Jordan River valley to hear John the Baptist
preach. Years ago, just before Old Zacharias had passed away, the old priest,
had told Samuel about his son John. John had made quite a name for himself as
an itinerant preacher. He lived off the land and preached boldly the gospel of
repentance.
Samuel liked
John’s style. Samuel had told his shepherds, “That man tells it like it is! He
holds nothing back. If he were down here in Judea, those uppity Pharisees would
have had him stoned. But up in Galilee, John is right in his element among the
country folk. He speaks the truth! You boys should listen to him!”
So early the
next day, Samuel left Esther and Miriam to their wedding preparations and
slipped off to pay the wild preacher a visit. But Samuel wasn’t the only
curious seeker. Along the way, Samuel was joined by others who were going to
see the prophet. By the time they arrived at the Jordan where John was
preaching, the crowd had grown to almost a hundred! John even looked the part.
He was dressed in a rough camel hair tunic down to his knees with a leather
waistband holding his robe together. John evidently didn’t worry about his
looks; he worried more about preaching the truth.
John shouted,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Messiah is coming, and you’d
better get ready!”
A couple of
people stepped forward and accepted John’s call to be baptized. By their
baptism, they were signifying their repentance and belief in John’s message.
But then a murmur went up. Samuel heard a man whisper that Jesus was in the
crowd. Immediately, John recognized his younger cousin. Everyone strained to
get a look as John spoke, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of
the world!”
Wow! What a
bold statement! What a true statement! Samuel knew exactly what John was
saying. Samuel had taken hundreds of lambs to the Temple as sacrifices to pay
for sins. But those lambs only paid for the sins for one more year. Those sins
had to be paid for over and over and over again! But Jesus … Jesus was the
perfect Lamb of God. Jesus was the Savior that the angels had spoken of!
And then
Jesus stepped into the waters with the others. John tried to protest. John
said, “This is backwards! I need to be baptized of you, Jesus.” But Jesus was
trying to set a good example for others to follow. Jesus insisted that John
baptize him. So, John gave in. John put Jesus under the water, and as John
lifted Jesus out of the waters, a dove descended and landed right on Jesus’
shoulder. And everyone heard a booming voice saying, “This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.”
Samuel
thought, “I have never heard the voice of God, but that must have been Him!”
John hugged Jesus and Jesus hugged him right back. What an awesome moment! They
clapped each other on the back and smiled and talked. As Samuel watched Jesus
walk to the shoreline, he felt a shiver. Samuel thought, “Somehow, I think that
I’m going to hear a lot more from Jesus.”
And he did.
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