Luke 12:50 says, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed until it is accomplished!” The Greek word for pressed has a wonderful meaning that is hard to express in translation. Although the Chinese translation is somewhat clear, it is still far from the original meaning. The original meaning of this word refers to a person being confined in a house or put into a box and therefore feeling constrained and pressed, not freed or released.
The Lord said that He had a baptism to be baptized with and that He was pressed until it was accomplished. He had a baptism to be baptized with, and this baptism was His death, the death on the cross. Many who do not know the mystery of Christ’s life think that the Lord Jesus was afraid to die on the cross. However, this verse shows us that the Lord was very eager to die on the cross. Why? He was eager to die because there was a powerful, unlimited, and eternal life concealed in Him, and He strongly wished that He could release it.
Christians often use the term everlasting life, which is the eternal life. In their understanding, the meaning of eternal is only with respect to time. Hence, to them, the eternal life refers to the life that lasts forever and ever. In the Scriptures, however, eternal means “infinite,” not only with respect to time but also with respect to space. The eternal life is the infinite life. Such a life transcends the element of time because time has no way to encompass or measure this life. In the same way, space also cannot encompass this life because it is eternal and unlimited. Just as God is infinite, so His life is also infinite. He transcends both time and space; He transcends all things because He is the infinite God.
One day this infinite God came into a small man who, on the contrary, was finite. Do you know how much space each one of us occupies? All those who have built a meeting hall know that each person occupies a space that measures only 3.75 square feet. You occupy no more than two square feet when standing up and no more than ten square feet when lying down. Man truly is too small and too limited. Not only so, when you are in Taipei, you cannot be in Tainan, and when you are at home, you cannot be in the meeting hall. You are too restricted. Please bear in mind that the finiteness of man is just the opposite of the infinitude of God.
What is incarnation? Incarnation is God’s coming into man and mingling Himself with man. God is infinite, whereas man is finite. Incarnation is the mingling of the infinite God with the finite man. If you put me into a 3.75 square-foot box, I will feel constrained, pressed, and bound every second. If I were there for only one minute, I would be pressed for the entire minute.
All those who know the Bible and the mystery of Christ’s life say that although God is the infinite God, one day He came into Jesus the Nazarene, limiting Himself in this finite man for thirty-three and a half years. Just as a man is lowly, so also was He in His appearance. Previously He was infinite and unlimited, but now He had become limited in His human flesh. When He was in Galilee, He could not be in Judea; when He was in Peter’s home, He could not be in James’s home. He was very much under restriction every day that He was on the earth. In the beginning He transcended both time and space. However, in order to enter into man, He came into time and space. Every day that He lived as a man was a day of limitation. Hence, He said that He had a “baptism to be baptized with,” which referred to His death. He was pressed to accomplish this matter.
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