This is my son

As soon as Jesus was baptised, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and landing on him. Then a voice said from heaven, ‘This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.’ (verses 16,17)

Read Matthew 3:13-17

The local cricket team had been languishing. What they needed was a talented player to rescue them. Rumours started to circulate about a new young man who was keen to play. The first match of the season arrived. As the new man strode to the crease, his father beamed with pride. He had always wanted his son to take up the game he himself loved. The young man scored a century. After the match his father proudly said, ‘This is my son’.

God, the Father in heaven, was pleased too. His Son, Jesus, was embarking on an earth-changing event. It was something the Father very much wanted his Son to do, and it had been planned since the fall into sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. God was happy to say, ‘This is my Son’.

When you were baptised, your Father in heaven happily said about you, ‘This is my son/daughter’. Be thankful that you can be the child of such a kind and good Father.

By Grace Bock, in “Refreshment for each day” (LCA, Openbook Publishers (2003)

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