As you know, I was in Israel for 2 weeks last year. We went all over the place, looking at so many stories and passages in the Bible in the original context. As we went along, we would have these moments where things would just click like they never had before. We called them AHA moments, because that was the word that came out of our mouths when we learned mind-blowing information. Seeing where these stories happened caused a lot of those AHA moments. From seeing where David and Goliath fought, to going to the stream where God sent most of Gideon’s army home, to where Jesus walked on water on the Sea of Galilee. Seeing it all was more incredible than I can justly put into words. One of these such moments happened on the Temple Mount at Jerusalem.
Now, if you go to Jerusalem today, to the Old City, you will notice it’s split into different sections. There are 4 quarters- The Jewish Quarter, Christian Quarter, Muslim Quarter, and Armenian Quarter. The Temple Mount sits in the Muslim Quarter, which sadly means no Jew can go onto the Temple Mount, which is what makes the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) so popular. It’s the closest point on the Temple Mount the Jews can get compared to where the Holy of Holies was in the Temple. It’s quite the sight to see. Luckily for us, tourists are welcomed onto the Temple Mount to look around and take pictures, and so we did. And as we finished up our exploration, our leader, David, led us to the steps that lead down Temple Mount. They are the Southern Steps.
I don’t know how much you know about the Southern Steps, but they aren’t all that important in most of Scripture. However, they play a key role in the beginning of the church. We all know Jesus was raised from the dead on Easter Sunday. He then hung around for the next 40 days, teaching his disciples before He ascended to Heaven. Pentecost, 10 days later, God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in the disciples, leading people to think they were drunk, as the disciples were speaking in all different languages. Understandably, the people were shocked, and Peter stood up to address what was going on. He gave the first sermon of the church age, explaining who Jesus was, why he died and was resurrected, and what it meant for everyone. Acts 2:37 tells us that the people were cut to the heart and wanted to know what to do. Peter tells them to repent and be baptized, and 3000 people were added to the church that day.
This whole story took place on the Southern Steps. It was where people would have entered Temple Mount. As such, there were mikvahs lining the entrance. A Mikveh was a ritual cleansing bath. You would have had to wash yourself before entering Temple Mount. The same was true for synagogues. So, what better place for 3000 people to get baptized than these hundreds of mikvahs readily available? And the story of the church was well underway.
We are about 2000 years removed from this story. We don’t know what it would have been like for that to happen. We don’t know if there was a celebration going on, or if it was a more solemn time. We do know, however, that in Luke 15, Jesus tells us that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Every son or daughter of God that chooses to come home to the Father warrants a celebration.
I have been blessed since coming here to RCC to be able to see many young men and women choose to be baptized and commit their lives to following Jesus. We had 2 more such baptisms this summer. Spencer Poe was baptized at camp in June and Bella Courtney was baptized at church a few weeks ago. These two have their names written in the Book of Life, and have eternity with God. I can only assume that the angels threw the party for each of these two as we welcome them into God’s family. I hope we can rally beside these two, celebrate with them, and help them on their journey with Jesus as we all strive to be more like Him.
Kenny and I have talked about the hardships of working in ministry before, trying to lead God’s people well. It’s not always easy to make the right decisions, and we worry at times that we’re doing the right things. From my experience at other churches, this is a common theme among ministers. But times like these, where we see people, young or old, get baptized and choose life with Jesus is what makes it all worthwhile. God is good even with our weaknesses, and He works in marvelous ways through our shortcomings, and it’s beautiful to see. So while life goes on, and work can get stressful and conflicts arise in our relationships, and money may get tight from time to time, I hope we as a church can make time to celebrate when another human being chooses Jesus, and etches their name in the Book of Life in Heaven. It’s a marvelous thing.
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. -Hebrews 9:11-12 (NIV)
