DECEMBER 16
MATTHEW 3:13–4:17
Jesus is the eternal Son of the Father who came
to give his life as a ransom for many.
​
I remember the first time we visited Northern Ireland. As we
drove on those ribbon roads, I was in awe of the beauty all
around me. There really were forty shades of green. White sheep
made it look as though God had painted polka dots on the ground.
White limestone cliffs dropped down to the sea. The rain seemed
to enhance, rather than detract from, the created glories we were
trying our best to take in. I thought, “I don’t care if it’s raining.
Sometimes you need to stop, pause your journey for a moment,
and take in the beauty.” The north coast of Ireland displays a bit of
God’s glory for his creatures to relish.
The beginning of Matthew presents us with a majestic one-time
moment in history that you shouldn’t run past in your desire to
complete your daily Bible reading. God has recorded and preserved
it for you because he wants it to leave you in gratitude and awe.
And that awe is meant to capture your heart with such force that
it changes the way you think about who you are and how you live
your life. This scene, the baptism of Jesus, is in the Bible because
God loves you:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be bap-
tized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to
be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered
him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized,
immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens
were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven
said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
(Matt. 3:13–17)
Pay careful attention to the tenderhearted and loving beauty of
the voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased.” With these words you are invited to witness the eter-
nal love relationship between the Father and the Son. Who is Jesus?
He is not just a man from Bethlehem; he is the loved and pleasing
Son of the Father. But there is something else here. Why would
Jesus need to submit to the baptism of repentance? He had no sin.
But here Jesus nevertheless humbly and willingly identified with
those for whom he had come to suffer and die. In the beginning
of his life he identified with them, and at the end of his earthly
life he took their sin on his shoulders. Here is your Jesus. He is the
Son of the Father and the Lamb of sacrifice. He’s the grace of God
in the flesh. Prayer
​
Prayer
Triune God, when I attempt to comprehend your perfect love
from all eternity, my mind cannot grasp the depths of this real-
ity. I am left in wonder over your love for one another. And I am
awestruck that you would extend this love to sinners such as I—at
the great cost of Jesus’s willingness to identify himself with sinners
through his baptism and death. Thank you for this amazing truth.
In Jesus’s name, amen.