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Matthew 3:13-17 – Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized 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.”
Dear John! How hard it must have been for him to do what Jesus asked him to do. Baptize the very Son of God come in the flesh? Put the Savior of the world—and your own Savior, too—through a public action designed for sinners? When you know perfectly well your positions ought to be switched, as it’s you who needs His cleansing!
But John goes through with it—of course he does, Jesus tells him to. And you don’t say no to Him, however uncomfortable it makes you! So John obeys Him, and Jesus takes yet another step forward as He binds Himself to sinners, as He joins the broken human side of creation—the side that so desperately needs Him, even though we don’t deserve Him. He walks into that water not because He is a sinner, but because we are—and He is coming to us, so that He can bring us to Himself.
And Jesus will never undo this move—no, He will keep going, all the way to Gethsemane, to the cross, and to the empty tomb. He is coming to get us—to bring us out of the broken mess we have made of our lives, of our world, and make all things new. He will join us to Himself, so that we go through death and resurrection with Him in our own Baptisms. And because He loves us so dearly, we will be with Him forever.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for always being there for us. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- Tell about a time when someone came to get you, and you were glad.
- Why do you think that, of all the words God could have chosen to describe Jesus, He calls Him “Beloved”?
- Would you choose that word too, or a different one?
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