The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 314: My Beloved Son (2023)

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

Fr. Mike elaborates on the significance of the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. He points out that the location of the Jordan River is particularly noteworthy because it's the same river that Joshua crossed over to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, signifying that Jesus will bring about a new exodus. Additionally, it's the lowest spot on the planet, symbolizing Jesus' humility. Finally, Fr. Mike emphasizes that when we are baptized, we are adopted as beloved sons and daughters of God because what belongs to Jesus by his nature is given to us by God’s grace. Today we read Luke 3-5 and Proverbs 25:27-28. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 314. We're reading from Luke chapter 3, 4, and 5. We're also reading Proverbs chapter 25, verses 27 through 28. As always, the Bible translation

I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also, if you're interested, subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. Okay. There are some who for convenience sake, they do not subscribe. There's others who have a good reason not to subscribe for whatever reason. It's a good reason, I'm sure. And there's a third kind of people who are probably more like me. It's because I keep telling you, hey, you can subscribe. I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just telling you, you can, but you know, we're sometimes us contrarians. You know,

we just, because you told us that we need to, or you want us to, or because you told us that most people are doing it. I'm not going to do it. I understand. I get it. I get it. So I'm praying for you because I know what it's like. I'm the same way. As I said, today is day 314. We're reading Luke chapter three, four, and fiveverbs chapter 25, verses 27 and 28. The Gospel according to Luke. Chapter 3. The Preaching of John the Baptist. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Echiria and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, in the high

priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. And he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low. And the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the multitudes asked him, What then shall we do? And he answered them, He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him,

Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than is appointed you. Soldiers also asked him, And he said to them, As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, But baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming,

the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. So with many exhortations, he preached good news to the people. But Herod the Tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all,

that he shut up John in prison. The Baptism of Jesus. Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. The Ancestry of Jesus Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jani, the son of Joseph,

the son of Matathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nehum, the son of Esli, the son of Negai, the son of Maath, the son of Matseli, the son of Negai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Sama'in, the son of Josek, the son of Jodah, the son of Joanan, the son of Rasa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Sheltiel, the son of Niri, the son of Melki, the son of Adi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Adi, the son of Kosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Ur, the son of Joshua, the son of Eleazar, the son of Jorim, the son of Matat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Meliah, the son of Manah, the son of Matathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Eliakim, the son of Meliah, the son of Manah, the son of Matathah, the son of Nathan,

the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salah, the son of Nashon, the son of Amenadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Sarug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainam, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaliel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Chapter 4. The Temptation of Jesus.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you then will worship me, it shall all be yours.

And Jesus answered him, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered him, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. Jesus begins preaching and teaching in Galilee.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And he went to the synagogue, as was his custom on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read, and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to

say to them, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And all spoke well of him and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is not this Joseph's son? And he said to them, Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself. What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country. And he said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months. And there came a great famine over all the land.

And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath, and they rose up and put him out of the city and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, that they might throw him down headlong. But passing through the midst of them, he went away, the man with an unclean spirit. And he went down to Capernaum, a city of

Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, Ah, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed, and said to one another, What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And report of him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Healings at Simon's house. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they asked him about her. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she rose and served them.

Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, You are the Son of God! But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. Jesus preaches in the synagogues of Judea. And when it was day,

he departed and went into a lonely place. And the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them. But he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Chapter 5. Jesus calls the first disciples. While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, put out

into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing. But at your word, I will let down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish, and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished in all that were with him at the catch of fish which they had taken. And so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were

partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Jesus cleanses a leper. While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will be clean.

And immediately the leprosy left him, and he charged him to tell no one but, Go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people. But so much more the report went abroad concerning him, and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. Jesus heals a paralytic. On one of those days, as he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,

but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, Man, your sins are forgiven you. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven

you, or to say, Rise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise, take up your bed and go home. And immediately he rose before them and took up that on which he lay and went home glorifying God. And amazement seized them all and they glorified God and were filled with awe saying, We have seen strange things today.

Jesus calls Levi. After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, Follow me. And he left everything and rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous,

but sinners to repentance. The question about fasting. And they said to him, the disciples of John fast often and offer prayers. And so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. And Jesus said to them, can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them. And then they will fast in those days. He told them a parable also. No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, the old is good. The book of Proverbs chapter 25 verses 27 and 28. It is not good to eat much honey, so be sparing of complimentary words. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much.

Thank you for this day. Thank you for this second day of the gospel of Luke. Thank you for showing us your love manifest, your love incarnate in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is the second person of the Trinity, who comes with power, who's anointed with the Holy Spirit in today's gospel, who comes from you and is spoken over by you. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Lord God, help us, help us to get near to your son. Help us to get near to the one with whom you're well pleased. Help us to receive your spirit as well in an even more abundant way. Gosh, Lord God, please help us to love you and follow you, to say yes to you with everything we have and with the power that comes because of

Jesus Christ and comes to us in the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. I'm going to get back to the gospel in just a second, but occasionally there are these proverbs that just knock you on your tail. And this is one of those, chapter 25, verse 27. It is not good to eat much honey, so be sparing of complimentary words. There's something about that that just thinks, oh, yeah. Do you know anyone who over compliments? When it comes to love languages, you know, there's the five love languages.

There's words of affirmation. There's gestures of affection or physical touch. There's gift giving. There's acts of service and quality time. Those are kind of generally speaking the five love languages. And I really appreciate words of affirmation. And I think I'm the kind of person who likes to give them as well. And yet I know that there are times when it's like, okay, that's a little too much. Like honey is good, but going on and on and on, like too much honey is not great.

You ever do that? Maybe honey on peanut butter. If you've never done that before, it'll change your life, but not as much honey as there is peanut butter, because that will also change your life and you will not like it anymore. There's something about a little bit is great. Too much, it becomes, as he says, be sparing of complimentary words. But the next proverb is the one that I just think, ah, this is what a gift. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Isn't this completely true? You know, I remember years ago I was speaking with this woman. Her name was Anastasia. I just remember her name because that's such a unique name. Her name was Anastasia. And at one point she was asking her own dad about how do I choose a man to marry, you know, when it comes down to that. I'm

not sure how old she was when she asked him this, But her father said this piece of advice I thought was so wise. He said, find a man who can fast. I said, find a man who can fast. There's something about this that obviously every single person that we know is broken, right? Every single person that we know is made good, but has fallen. And so we're all going to struggle and no one's going to be perfect. Even someone who prays regularly, even someone who tithes well, even someone who, you know, shows up again and again. And so none of those things, right, are guarantees that a person is going to be virtuous. And in fact, there's nothing because we recognize that any given moment we can fall down flat

on her face, even if we're pursuing the Lord with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. And yet there are certain markers. And one of those markers is the ability to say no to oneself, the ability to fast. And so her dad saying, find a man who can fast is very similar to this proverb. This proverb that says, you know, a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls, like completely defenseless. If I don't have self-control, then I'm going to be defenseless against any attack. Today, you might find yourself in a place like, gosh, I am without self-control or I'm in a place where I'm open

to attack. And maybe it's always the same place. But actually the reality most likely is that where Satan has attacked you is going to be the same place again and again. You know, sometimes I'll talk to people who say that they're so frustrated, they have to go to confession for the same thing over and over again. My word of encouragement is take comfort in that. Take comfort in the fact that you have to bring back the same sins to the Lord for forgiveness every single time. Why? Because it would be really frustrating. It would be incredibly discouraging if every single time there was a whole new set of sins. I always use the example of, say, someone who's a batter in baseball or softball. Imagine that, yeah, it says, you know, always drop mail. I always use the example of say someone who's a batter in baseball or softball. Imagine

that. Yeah. It says, you know, always drop my, I don't know anything about this, but I'm just going to say, um, I always drop my elbow. Your coach is always saying, oh, you're dropping your elbow again. You're dropping your elbow again. That's good because you can focus on keeping your elbow high or whatever the thing is you need to do. It'd be horrible if one day it was you're dropping your elbow. The next day is you're not leading with your hips. The next day is that you do whatever the thing is. That would be frustrating because how in the world do you ever work on something like this?

But when it's the same thing over and over again, when it's not, there are no walls, but when it's, ah, the enemy always attacks me through this one part of the wall. It's always this one weak spot in the wall surrounding my heart that the enemy always attacks. Then you can be prepared for the attack. I think that's wisdom, right? It seems to me to be wisdom.

And it's really interesting because here's Jesus who also is attacked today. Now, this is the fourth gospel that we've gone through. So we've already seen the temptation of Jesus, but I want to highlight a couple of things. One is the preaching of John the Baptist leading into the baptism of Jesus. One of the things we recognize is not only is Luke situating the arrival of John the Baptist and the arrival of Jesus in time, right? Chapter 3, the first line is, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being the governor of Judea, etc., etc.

What Luke is telling us, right? He's a Greek and he wants us to know this is when it happened. This is not a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This is not once upon a time. This is in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. We can nail it down. This is the time and this is the place. John the Baptist appeared in the region about the Jordan.

Now, why would he go to the region about the Jordan for baptism? Well, we know that there was a number of different Jewish groups at the time of John and Jesus. There were the Sadducees. We know that. They were the ones making up most of the Sanhedrin, like the Council of Jews. There were the Pharisees and the scribes, and also the Essenes. So in the Dead Sea area, which is just south of where John was baptizing, John was baptizing on the Jordan River. Now, if you know anything about geography, you might see this in the back of your Bibles,

if you have the Great Adventure Bible or any other Bible that has maps in it. You have the Sea of Galilee, also known as this Lake of Gennesaret in Luke's Gospel here, the Sea of Galilee that then has the Jordan River flowing from the southern part, flowing south, as things do often, not always, flowing south down to the Dead Sea. At the very top of the Dead Sea, that's the spot, roughly, just to the west of that is Jericho, and just the right of that is the plains of Moab. Right there on the top of the, almost just north of the mouth into the Dead Sea was the spot where John would baptize.

And this is really critical because this is also the spot where Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan River, dry shod, going into the promised land. Remember, they attacked Jericho first, so we know that this is the location. We know a number of things about this that are worth noting. One, this is the lowest spot on the planet. This is the lowest spot on the planet. This is the place where Jesus chooses to get baptized. Why?

He reveals to us humility, but secondly, he reveals to us the exodus, that Jesus is about to bring about a new exodus, a new release from captivity, a new bringing into the promised land, a new chapter, a new life. And this is going to be absolutely critical because tomorrow we're going to hear about the transfiguration. I think it's tomorrow where Jesus is fully transfigured and he's talking to Moses and Elijah about what? Talking about his exodus that he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Jesus is the new Moses. He's the new Joshua, Yeshua and Joshua, same name. And there's this, we need to understand this really, really clearly because Jesus is about to reestablish not only the kingdom,

not only a new and eternal covenant, but he is about to bring about a new exodus among the people, and which is just phenomenal, phenomenal, right? We also noted this in the past, and I'll note it again. I want to note two things, and then we'll conclude this because what a gift. One is what the Father says over him. The Father speaks over his son and he says these words, you are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased. Now, those are words spoken over Jesus and they belong to him, right? They belong to him. That's what the father said over Jesus, his son. And so we can't take them away from him. But one of the realities is when you're baptized, when you're baptized, you're made into

a son or a daughter of the father as well. And there's something that the father speaks over you. I know that, you know, sometimes when I pray, I say dad to the father because Jesus taught us to call God our dad. And I know that there's some who hear that and it jars them and it hurts them because they have wounds from their own dad. And so father is safer for them. And I understand that. But here's what's true about you. What's true about you is that when you were baptized, you were made into a daughter of our dad in heaven. You're made into a son of our dad in heaven. And so this is the dad, maybe not your dad on earth, but this is the dad who says, you are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. With you, I am well pleased. Again,

those words are for Jesus, but he shares them with us because he shares his own dad with us. He lets us be adopted alongside of him. What belongs to Jesus by his nature is given to us by adoption, by grace. And so the father, the dad, I mean, I invite you to hear these words and to allow the image of our father in heaven to be transformed. Again, many of you, many of us have had great dads. And so this is, this is easy, an easy transition to make, but many of us have had dads who've wounded us, but this is still not an easy transition to make, but it's a necessary transition to make, but many of us have had dads who've wounded us, but this is still not an easy transition to make, but it's a necessary transition to make, to be able to say, God, you are my dad, and when you see me, you say, you are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter, with you I am

well pleased. And last thing here is that then Jesus goes into the wilderness, and why does he do this? Because this is what kings do. Jesus is anointed a priest, prophet, and king here at his baptism. And he does exactly what kings are supposed to do. He immediately goes out into the wilderness and he does battle with Satan. He does battle with the evil one, the enemy that tries to attack your heart and my heart. And what Jesus shows us is he recapitulates what happened to the people of Israel, right? In their wilderness, they doubted the Lord. They complained against God. and Jesus does the opposite. He trusts in the Lord and he loves and

obeys his father in heaven. And it's so good. It is such an incredible thing to realize that not only does Jesus share his sonship, he not only shares his father with us, he also fights for us. Today, Jesus fights for you. This is not just a one-time thing where he went into the wilderness for 40 days. He continues, he continues to fight for you and for me. So today could be a tough day. Today most likely is a tough day, but the Lord fights for you.

He loves you. And the father looks upon you and he says the words, you are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. With you, I am well pleased. I'm praying for you. Please, please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.