“After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17
This just might be one of my favorite moments in the life of Jesus. Matthew witnessed some incredible moments throughout his account of Jesus, but the first couple of chapters take readers on such a journey. We get an eyewitness account of the moments before Jesus officially stepped into his ministry on earth.
The air had to be filled with a nervous anticipation as John proclaimed the coming of someone special. In John’s words, this someone would be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. I mean, with that sort of preface, who would not be interested in this person! Little did humanity know that at that moment the Savior of the world was stepping onto the scenes of history to spark a movement. A movement marked by love, value, grace, and relationships, rather than power, titles, and abuse.
Matthew’s account revealed Jesus’ step into ministry started with affirmation of his identity. Jesus was baptized by John, and suddenly, a Fatherly voice pierced the sky and declared Jesus as his beloved son. It’s easy for us to brush past this but why would God make it a point to speak these words over Jesus?
Jesus made a commitment to be fully human during his time on earth, which should be considered unfathomable for deity. As we know, being human means we have plenty of voices trying to get us to question who we are. The voices from the world and the enemy want us to wrestle with whether we are loved, cared for, or valued. Unfortunately, we are prone to giving these voices some influence in our lives if we are not secure in who we are.
God, being a Heavenly Father, wanted to speak over his son, and prepare him to step into his ministry. Shortly after Jesus was baptized, he went into the wilderness for 40 days. During Jesus’ time in the wilderness, he was tempted 3 times by Satan. Notice how Satan started some of his temptations, “If you are the Son of God…” Satan knew who Jesus was, yet, that did not stop Satan from trying to get Jesus to question who he was.
Satan tried that on Jesus, and he tries that on us. If Satan can get us questioning who we are, we are more prone to temptation. Jesus knew who he was because he listened to the voice of his Father. He may have recalled the words that he was God’s child, and the Spirit within him was the seal of the promise.
The same is true for you and me. There are several voices trying to get us to question who we are. But there is no greater title than to be God’s child. To be God’s child allows us to trust that we are loved completely, cared for perfectly, and are immeasurably valuable.
When Satan tries to ask you, “If you are a child of God…” you can boldly and confidently answer, “absolutely.” How can God’s declaration over you change how you approach the temptations that life throws at you?
Prayer: Father God, You call me Your child. As your child, I can trust and lean into the truth that You love me, and You are so pleased with me. Lord help me to walk and live as if that is true, and when any other voice tries to convince me otherwise, I will run back to You. Thank you for loving me so well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
