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| Why didn't Jesus baptize? |
John 4:2 - (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Why did Jesus not baptize people Himself? There is a wonderful answer to this question that
gives us great encouragement as the Lord’s servants:
God chooses to give His children the privilege of taking part in other people
coming to Christ.
Could God do it Himself without our help? What would have happened if a few of
the disciples turned Jesus down after He said ‘follow me’? Suppose Peter said
‘no Lord I want to keep fishing’. What would have happened? Jesus would have
found another person to do the work, and Peter would have missed out on the
greatest calling a man can have.
God chooses to use men in His work. It is truly a privilege and blessing to have
the honor of taking part in the Lord’s work. He
can do it without us, but He
chooses to use us.
There was a very wealthy landowner who owned a mansion, and land as far as the
eye can see. He had servants, and would be very well off for the rest of his
days. One day as he was riding down the street in his carriage, he saw three
orphan children on the street begging for food. They were skin and bones, and as
if that wasn’t enough they didn’t even have any shoes on in the chilling cold
weather. The landowner saw this and had compassion on these children. He
befriended them, and offered to adopt them as his own. They jumped for joy as
their lives were turned around in an instant. Some days passed and these
wonderful children grew in love and devotion to their new father. He then told
them; I want you to do something special today… each of you go out into the
streets and find as many poor orphan children as you can and bring them here so
they can live with us. The children were ecstatic. They jumped at the
opportunity to do this so their other orphan friends could share in the joy
they’ve found. All they had to do was to tell the good news to others. The day
flew by and they labored diligently to grab as many as they could and when the
day was done, dozens of children had a new home with a very generous father.
Just as this man gave those children the great opportunity to share what they
had with others, so the Lord has given us the calling and the great privilege to
share the gospel, evangelize, baptize, to preach, to prophesy, and to take part
in all His works that are done under the sun. |
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