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“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
– Jesus to John the Baptist on the occasion of His baptism (Matthew 3:15)

Jesus always sought to do His Father’s will. Even as a twelve-year-old boy left behind in Jerusalem, He desired to be in His Father’s house and about His Father’s business. Although John the Baptist considered himself unworthy to baptize his Messiah, Jesus insisted that the event take place so as to fulfill all righteousness.

In that moment of baptism, God the Father announced His approval of His only Son. The heavens opened up and His voice echoed from the skies, declaring to Jesus and those around: “You are my Beloved Son! With You I am well pleased!” As Jesus came up out of the water, God’s Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove, in a breathtaking moment of quiet majesty. The Father found complete satisfaction and great delight in His beloved Son.

No matter how much we may be appreciated by others, or how much we have felt loved by our own parents, God our Father looks down on us and sees us just like He saw Jesus that day. As we come out of the baptismal waters, He sees us through the window of His Son’s righteousness – and with certainty and delight, He tells each of us the same thing: “You are my beloved child! In you I find my delight!” He no longer sees our sin and failures, our competing desires and lusts. He sees us as we are in Jesus Christ.

This kind of fatherly adoration on behalf of God towards us may make us uncomfortable, since we cannot comprehend having such support from our Heavenly Father. Yet He, with paternal love and pride, looks down and sees us washed in the blood of our Savior. We are represented in God’s eyes by our Messiah! At that crucial and holy moment of baptism into Jesus, the curtains of heaven are drawn back, and the Father sees us fulfilling our first step of obedience. It is our act of devotion that prompts His words of delight.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

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