The Great Inauguration

The headlines of the past week focused on the Inauguration of Donald Trump to begin his term of office as 47th President of the United States. Watching this every 4th year, Constitutionally mandated inauguration, led me to compare that event with Jesus’ baptism, His inauguration to begin His ministry as Messiah.

The Presidential inauguration had been preceded by many campaign stops and news coverage, followed by the well-publicized election. The 20th amendment to the Constitution specifies that the term of the elected President will begin at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. The amendment moved the date from the original March 4 to minimize the ‘lame duck’ period, made possible by advances in transportation and communication that reduced travel times to and from Washington. Prior to The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court administering the oath of office at noon, this year, two well-known clergy offered Invocational prayers, asking God’s blessings for the soon to be President. To conclude this ceremony, several other clergy representing various faiths, gave benedictions, endorsing the President with further words of prayer.

In our First Gospel Reading, Matthew describes Jesus’ Great Inauguration to begin His ministry as Messiah, revealing some interesting parallels and contrasts with the Presidential Inauguration. Jesus had been born for this ministry, with the campaign of prophecy beginning long before His birth, before any would know His physical identity, although prophecies had foretold the where and hows of His Coming. The prophecies of His coming were 100% accurate, unlike the inaccurate prophecies of the pollsters and media we saw. The Messiah would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, and introduced by a voice in the wilderness, preparing His way. His birth was announced by angels, but to a limited audience of mostly shepherds. His final campaigning by John the Baptist, more resembled the Trump campaign than the Harris campaign. The Harris campaign defended the current leadership, projecting a future for the status quo, while the Trump campaign, like any challenger’s, pointed out the failures of the current leadership with warnings about the future without his presidential leadership. Similarly, John is seen chastising the religious leaders of the current regime, calling them a brood of vipers - highly poisonous snakes who inflicted deadly spiritual venom on the people they governed. Their claim to righteousness was their ancestry from Abraham, but John ridicules their self-righteousness, telling them God could raise stones as sons of Abraham. He warns that their sinfulness, the lack of good fruit from their lives, was already being targeted by God for destruction, the ax about to cut down the tree.

But John offers hope with the Messiah’s coming. He would be more powerful and righteous than John, who wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying His sandals, a task for a lowly servant. But as a warning to all, the Messiah would also be ready to separate the good wheat from the useless chaff to be burned.

Although the people of that time were well aware of the prophecies of the Messiah and had hope in His Coming, they didn’t know Jesus’ messianic identity as He stepped into the Jordan to be baptized by God’s Chief Justice, John, who had been born for this honor. Jesus’ oath of office was administered by being anointed with the water of baptism, anointing Him to assume his appointed, not elected, position of Messiah. Following that ‘oath of office’, came the concluding, endorsing benedictions, first by the Holy Spirit, descending on Him with the power He would need to perform His duties as Messiah, then by His Father, verifying He was His Son, whom He loved and was well pleased.

Following the Presidential inaugural ceremony, the now President gave his remarks, promising actions during his term of office to an audience of specially invited guests who had supported him. It came as no surprise that his remarks were somewhat arrogant, but bold and assertive, but it was the persona he had displayed throughout his campaign. The President followed his remarks with a time of signing Executive Orders, wasting no time in putting some of His campaign promises into actions as proof of his worthiness to be President.

Jesus’ actions following His inauguration were much in contrast. His immediate action to prove His worthiness was to be led into the wilderness, a deserted wasteland, to fast forty days and be tested by His strongest adversary, Satan, for His ability to resist sin. Failure, by sinning, would show that He was unworthy to be Messiah. But the outcome was never in doubt, Jesus had already been anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit for success; testing would only prove His worthiness. Our only question might be who would have witnessed it, and made aware of this forty day test. (Yet another question to ask when we meet Him in heaven.) The test proved Satan’s inability to defeat Jesus. Afterwards, Satan seems more obsessed with harming God’s creation, turning them away from Jesus, than defeating Jesus, at least until the last battle at the Crucifixion.