Week 2

This week I had the opportunity to study Christ's birth and His baptism.

As I read about the Savior's birth I was overcome by the feeling of how simple everything was. At first glance, His birth doesn't seem simple. A new star appeared and angels came down and people traveled years to go and see Him, but as I thought more on the circumstances, I realized that those things were peripheral. He was born in a room full of animals and the scriptures don't actually say anything about his birth. 

Matthew 2:25- she...brought forth her firstborn son

Luke 2:7- she brought forth her firstborn son and, wrapped him in swaddling clothes

I don't know about you, but to me, these simple words don't scream "son of God" or "Savior of mankind." I love this about the accounts of Jesus Christ's birth. He came into the world quietly and as a simple baby. He is our example of humility.

Jesus Christ's baptism causes the same sense of wonder and simplicity. He was perfect; He is the only one who has ever walked this earth or who will ever walk this earth that is without sin. We, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (as well as many other churches, I imagine) get baptized to become clean of sin. The same is true of the ancient jews. This is why it is so strange that Jesus, a perfect man, would be baptized.

Christ was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). This means that He was baptized to be the example to us.

This being said, I believe that Christ's baptism was very simple. He was immersed in the water and brought up again. This is the same way that we get baptized. I love that; I got baptized in the same why that Christ did.

This week's study principles:

Questions-  I learned that asking questions is an imperative part of learning the scriptures. We have to ask questions so that we can make sense of what we're reading.

Principles- We find principles in everything we read in the Bible and other books of scripture. When we find these principles, we have to apply them to our lives so that we can become like the people in the scriptures. (The good ones, of course :P)