Read: Mark 1:9-11
What is the best way to get people’s attention? To kick off his public ministry Jesus gets dunked in the river. Then heaven itself opens up, the Holy Spirit descends and God the Father audibly affirms Jesus’ identity. The text is actually unclear who all heard this voice; obviously Jesus heard it and John describes what he saw in John 1:29-34. But we don’t know if the gathered crowds around saw this miraculous event with all three members of the Trinity present. Wouldn’t that have been spectacular? Imagine seeing the clouds peeled back, getting a glimpse into heaven, and hearing the audible, undeniable voice of the Father!
Historically Jesus’ baptism is celebrated today (January 6) and it is called the Feast of Epiphany. In the ancient church it was a feast bigger than Christmas! This event has also lead people to get their theology mixed up, believing that Jesus was born just a regular human and was only adopted as God’s son at his baptism. One theory for how Christmas came to be is that it was instituted to combat this heresy and celebrate Jesus’ birth as fully God and fully man. Today obviously Christmas has eclipsed Epiphany for a variety of reasons.
One question that needs to be asked is why was Jesus getting baptized in the first place? Remember John was imploring people to stop sinning and get dunked as a commitment. But Jesus was without sin so what was he doing there? John was borderline uncomfortable with the whole situation and Jesus was not one who just went along with what the crowds were doing. In his baptism Jesus was identifying himself with sinners, which is a foreshadowing of his end goal at the cross. Interestingly, when we get baptized we identify with Jesus. But Jesus was identifying with us! A beautiful reciprocal relationship.
God the Father says to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” On day 1 we talked about the Christian being adopted into God’s family as true children of God. So if you are a Christian, God is saying the same thing about you. He is truly pleased with you regardless of what you have done.
Questions for Reflection
• At his baptism Jesus was anointed and empowered for his ministry. What task has God given you? Remember God wants to help you.
• Take some time today to reflect on your own baptism. Was it a meaningful day in your life? If you haven’t been baptized it would be a good day to ask why.
• Since God is already pleased with you because of Jesus, how does that change how you relate to him?
• Spend time today praising God that he came to identify with us! Remember to celebrate that God became known to us that he might save us!
If you enjoyed this series I would love your feedback! What did you learn? What was the best line? What would you change?
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