DAY_3 Creation of Land and Vegetation
“Look! The Lamb of God…”
“And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.” (Genesis 1:9-12)
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.” (John 1:29-32)
On the third day of Creation, God calls forth solid ground to appear and plants to grow. Before this, the song of Genesis 1 implies there has only been water ever since. Stirring seas were a symbol of the chaos of the void that God ultimately brings order to.
The “third day” of John 1:29-34 has the first appearance of Jesus since “the Word became flesh”. John the Baptist sees Jesus and praises him as the Lamb of God. Then, the Baptist recounts the story of Jesus’s baptism that we see repeated in the Synoptic Gospels. It’s his testimony of how the Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove.If we survey one of the early scenes in Genesis 8:11, we see that Noah sends out a dove from the ark to find dry land after the rain waters cease. The dove brings back an olive leaf as a sign that there is dry ground coming up from the water.
The similarity here is that in both Genesis and John, a firm foundation has appeared. Jesus, the promised One, has arrived and been announced. He comes up from the waters of baptism full of the Spirit. He is just like good ground needed to dig roots into. This theme of growth continues into the next day when two of John’s disciples decide to follow Jesus.
