Next Door Savior by Max Lucado

Author:Max Lucado
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2012-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

John’s reluctance is understandable. A baptismal ceremony is an odd place to find the Son of God. He should be the baptizer not the baptizee. Why would Christ want to be baptized? If baptism was, and is, for the confessed sinner, how do we explain the immersion of history’s only sinless soul?

You’ll find the answer in the pronouns: “Jesus answered, ‘For now this is how it should be, because we must do all that God wants us to do’” (Matt. 3:15 CEV, emphasis mine).

Who is “we”? Jesus and us. Why does Jesus include himself? It’s easy to understand why you and I and John the Baptist and the crowds at the creek have to do what God says. But Jesus? Why would he need to be baptized?

Here’s why: He did for us what I did for one of my daughters in the shop at New York’s La Guardia Airport. The sign above the ceramic pieces read Do Not Touch. But the wanting was stronger than the warning, and she touched. And it fell. By the time I looked up, ten-year-old Sara was holding the two pieces of a New York City skyline. Next to her was an unhappy store manager. Over them both was the written rule. Between them hung a nervous silence. My daughter had no money. He had no mercy. So I did what dads do. I stepped in. “How much do we owe you?” I asked.

How was it that I owed anything? Simple. She was my daughter. And since she could not pay, I did.

Since you and I cannot pay, Christ did. We’ve broken so much more than souvenirs. We’ve broken commandments, promises, and, worst of all, we’ve broken God’s heart.

But Christ sees our plight. With the law on the wall and shattered commandments on the floor, he steps near (like a neighbor) and offers a gift (like a Savior).

What do we owe? We owe God a perfect life. Perfect obedience to every command. Not just the command of baptism, but the commands of humility, honesty, integrity. We can’t deliver. Might as well charge us for the property of Manhattan. But Christ can and he did. His plunge into the Jordan is a picture of his plunge into our sin. His baptism announces, “Let me pay.”

Your baptism responds, “You bet I will.” He publicly offers. We publicly accept. We “became part of Christ when we were baptized” (Rom. 6:3 NCV). In baptism we identify with Christ. We go from tire kicker to car buyer. We step out of the shadows, point in his direction, and announce, “I’m with him.”

I used to do this at the drive-in movie theater.

Remember drive-in movies? (Kids, ask a grown-up.) The one in Andrews, Texas, had a Friday night special—a carload for the price of the driver. Whether the car carried one passenger or a dozen, the price was the same. We often opted for the dozen route. The law would not allow us to do today what we did then. Shoulders squished. Little guy on the big guy’s lap.

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