God revealed in the Jordan River
by Rev Dr Noel Due
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’ (Mark 1:11).
Read Mark 1:4–11
The most basic and important truth in Christian theology is that God reveals himself.
Apart from that, we would have no idea of what God is like. We would be stuck in a completely lightless cellar, creating god or gods out of our imaginations – making idols instead of knowing God as he really is.
Yet, thankfully, God has revealed himself. He has done that through his acts in history, his relationship with great Old Testament figures, such as Moses and Abraham, the prophets, and his law. But most completely and fully, God has revealed himself in his Son. In Jesus, we see God fully as he is. As Archbishop Sir Michael Ramsay once said, ‘God is like Christ, and in him is no un-Christ-likeness at all’. Jesus said, ‘If you have seen me, you have seen the Father (John 12:45; 14:8).
That stunning revelation of God’s presence with us is amazingly clear in the passage before us today. Jesus’ baptism was not merely an earthly event. He was baptised by John in the Jordan River. And he was also baptised with the Spirit, as his Father declared his love for him, so that all history might know who Jesus was and is.
This passage reveals Jesus in our midst being baptised for us, to stand with us. It also reveals God, the Father who sent him. And God, the Holy Spirit, who filled and empowered Jesus to do the Father’s will.
You will not read many devotions this year containing a Latin phrase. You don’t have to remember it! There is no test at the end, but the phrase is ‘opera Trinitatis ad extra indivisa sunt’.
What does that mean? It means that every action of our Triune God involves all the persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are each fully involved in creating the world, sustaining the world and redeeming the world. And embracing you.
You live in the middle of a three-fold embrace.
That can never be undone.
Because they can never be undone.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for revealing yourself to us in your Son Jesus. Thank you for sending him into the world by the power of your Spirit for us and our salvation. Thank you that, through Jesus, you have gathered us in your arms, and we are fully loved, embraced and secure. We pray in the grip of the Father, Son and Spirit. Amen.
Noel is currently spending his retirement serving as the Intentional Interim Pastor of the Top End Lutheran Parish. He lives in Darwin with his wife, Kirsten, a medical doctor who mainly works in remote Indigenous communities. He also serves as a professional supervisor for a number of pastors, chaplains and others.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
