DAY FOURTEEN | Matthew 3:13-17 by Abigail

Then Jesus left Galilee to come to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But when he waded into the water, John resisted him, saying, “Why are you doing this? I’m the one who needs to be baptized by you, and yet you come to be baptized by me?”

Jesus replied, “It is only right to do all that God requires.” Then John baptized Jesus.And as Jesus rose up out of the water, the heavenly realm opened up over him and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove. Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying, “This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him.” the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Reflections from the River Banks

As I was asking God what to write about for this passage, I felt like I was supposed to write about something that I am learning currently. This feels a little different than other things that I have been writing, but I want to share it. This feels really new, and very raw.

This story is such a big moment in Jesus’ life. I mean, this is a turning point in His ministry. At this time, there was obviously no movies or special effects, so people would have no grid for what they were seeing. The scene is set on the banks of a river, and John the Baptist is preaching a message that people should repent and get ready for the coming of the Messiah.

In verse 11, John has just said, “But there is coming a Man after me who is more powerful than I am. In fact, I’m not even worthy enough to pick up his sandals. He will submerge you into union with the Spirit of Holiness and with a raging fire!”

Then, along comes John’s cousin.

I wonder what the people thought when they saw that it was Jesus, a carpenter. Then John baptizes Jesus, and they all witness a great work of God, a voice saying that this is His beloved Son, who is His delight.

I am guessing they would have all told their friends about this carpenter, who had the Holy Spirit descend on Him in the form of a dove. I have always thought about how amazing it would be to have seen that, and to know what Jesus would have felt like as God the Father was telling Him that His greatest delight was on Him. And see the heavenly realms open and the Holy Spirit come on to Him.

A few weeks ago, our family had the amazing opportunity to have someone we had meet at a conference a few months ago come to see us. While he was with us, he led us through a workshop that his father made. A part of that workshop is an exercise called “The River of Life” that comes out of Ezekiel 47:1-5.

We made an imaginary river that flowed from our kitchen into our living room. As we all stood in our kitchen (which is very small) our friend was explaining that river was flowing under the doors of the temple. It started so shallow that we could splash around, then waist deep at the entrance to the living room and finally, we were in over our heads once we got to the end of the living room.

The point of the exercise was to recognize that walking with God is a journey, and that we will be at different places in the river depending on where we are in our journey with Him. Our friend described the “Over our heads” part as being totally submerged in God’s presence. The waist depth was where you could feel some resistance. And where the river started, he said, “This is where God says, ’This is my Son (or daughter) whom I am well pleased’.”

We were supposed to find where we thought we were in the river, and I was asking Jesus where I was? I felt like Jesus was saying that I was at the banks, by the beginning of the river. I was sort of confused about that and asked God about it. During the exercise, God began to answer my questions Since then, He has slowly been giving me more, and I want to share some of that with you. (Here is where the “Raw” part comes in.)

When my friend had said the phrase, “This is where God says ‘This is my Son (or daughter) whom I am well pleased”, it really stuck with me. He repeated that statement several more times as we did the workshop, and it just wouldn’t leave my head. Little by little things have become less confusing and recently, Jesus gave me the clearest part of the answer so far.

He told me that He is teaching me what is means for Him to say, “You are my daughter in whom I delight in”. I have been really struggling with self confidence lately, and knowing what Jesus says about me. This is why I am at the banks of the river for now. Jesus wants to teach us that we have our Father’s love and He delights with us and in us.

My prayer for you, and for me as well, is that we can follow Jesus and be still on the banks of the river, waiting for the Father to speak His words of over us. This is a part of the process of learning what He thinks about us. We are God’s children, and Jesus invites us to share with Him in knowing that our Daddy delights in us.

JOURNALING QUESTIONS // LINK TO PLAYLIST

Examine – How would you describe what this passage reveals about the life of Jesus?

MindShift – Is there anything about what you read in this passage that challenges the way you think about what it means to follow Jesus?

Prayer Focus – Is there any prayer that you can pray to co-operate with Holy Spirit to see your mind renewed to become more like Jesus?