Red Letters – Love & a Dove – April 7

RED LETTERS
April 7, 2021

Love & a Dove

Luke 3:21-23a, ‘When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with You, I am well-pleased.” Now Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph…’ (NIV)

Luke 4:1-2, ‘Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild. For forty wilderness days and nights He was tested by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when the time was up, He was hungry.’ (MSG)

It is interesting to me that the same Spirit that lighted on Jesus like a dove and spoke lovingly to Him, also filled Jesus to overflowing, but then led Him into a wilderness place, a deserted space, of testing. This is the same Spirit that had seen the formless, emptiness of the deep and had hovered over the waters at the beginning of time. He has fallen on the Son of Man, filled the Son and is faithful to see the Son through the test.
I wonder if it reminds you of a test you might have been given. Not that any test I have ever taken compares in any way to what the Son of God withstood during His wilderness forty-day exam, but I imagine perhaps a test that was of great importance to me that I pass. Sometimes we are given initiations; maybe it is your learner’s permit; could it possibly be even a chance by your parents once to see the limit of trustworthiness through a curfew or a first date? I even think in my own life that the Lord tests my faithfulness in order to know what tasks He can entrust to me. How can I be faithful with much, right, if I cannot even be trusted with a little. In the same way, I think the Spirit falls on us too, fills us with Himself and then is faithful to see us all the way to the end if we will persevere and be obedient. Just like Jesus.
So, full of the Spirit, Jesus is led into the wild by that same Spirit and Satan plays Sport with Him. He tests Him, challenges Him, taunts and teases Him, trying to get Jesus to stumble and fall. But at every turn, Jesus responds quoting the Word of God and standing strong on His Father’s commands. Upon failure to cause Jesus to compromise, we see the devil slink into the background, lying in wait for future opportunities.
And Jesus, well, Jesus returns to his hometown, and when He arrives, He opens the scroll handed to Him, and reads, ‘“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me and has anointed Me to be hope for the poor, healing for the brokenhearted, new eyes for the blind, and to preach to the prisoners, ‘You are set free!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.” After He read this, He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone stared at Jesus, wondering what He was about to say. Then He added, “Today, these Scriptures came true in front of you!”’ (Luke 4:19-21, TPT)

I’ve been reading RED LETTERS all my life, but never with my heart.
During the month of April, let’s JOURNEY where JESUS journeyed
and listen with our hearts to all He came to proclaim.