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Matthew 3: Kingdom Trailblazer (6)

Pray Psalm 85.7-9.
Show us Your mercy, LORD,
And grant us Your salvation.
I will hear what God the LORD will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to folly.
Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.

Sing Psalm 85.7-9.
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
LORD, show us Your love; restore us, we pray!
And help us to hear the words that You say.
Speak peace to Your people; in truth let us stand.
We fear You; let glory and grace fill our land.

Read Matthew 3.1-17; meditate on verses 16, 17.
Why did God speak at this time?

Prepare.
1. To what did Jesus emerge from His baptism? 

2. What did God say concerning Him?

Meditate.
When Israel came through the waters of the Jordan, her fight had just begun. Securing the promised land would take many long years of battle. Only then would the people know God’s rest (Josh. 21.43-45). Yet even then, that rest would be fragile and fleeting (Heb. 4.8-10).

By contrast, when Jesus emerged from the waters of the Jordan, heaven opened to Him; the Spirit of God alighted on Him “like a dove”; and God declared His pleasure in His Son. It was as if He had already accomplished His great work, had already been anointed as King, had already fulfilled His mission, and was already putting His enemies under His feet. The reference to Psalm 2 is unmistakable; and the pleasure of God—that Jesus should accomplish the redemption of His people and the saving of the world—was as if it were already a done deal.

Much work remained to be done, of course. But the Word from heaven assures us that, whatever Jesus would have to face in the days ahead, He is God’s Son, and God is pleased with Him.

We can know the same assurance (Jn. 1.12). We are the children of God through faith in Jesus. He is well pleased with us, because we are in Jesus, and already the heavens have been opened to us. But there is much work to do, and there will be many struggles before we obtain all that God has promised and Jesus has secured for us. We look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to help us run our race (Heb. 12.1-3). The Spirit that descended on Him dwells in us, and He will see us safely through every challenge and struggle to our eternal home, where Jesus already reigns, and is even now preparing a place for us.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
This dramatic scene set the stage for all of Jesus’ ministry years.
For thirty years He had been a perfect Son, the perfect Brother, a perfect Neighbor, a perfect Carpenter, a perfect Friend. But now, He is shown and proclaimed to be the perfect Son of God!

“When He had been baptized,
Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold,
the heavens were opened to Him, and 
He saw the Spirit of God 
descending like a dove
and alighting upon Him.
And suddenly a Voice came from heaven, saying,
‘THIS IS MY BLEOVED SON, 
IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED’” (Matt. 3.16, 17).
The One of Whom it is written,
“YOU are MY SON,
today I have begotten YOU.”
And the One for Whom God warned the world,
“Kiss [MY] SON, lest [I] be angry, 
and you perish in the way, 
when MY wrath is kindled but a little” (Ps. 2.7, 12).

All present heard the words of God.
All present were held accountable for what they heard.
We have heard these same words.
We are held accountable for what we have heard.

The correct response—worship Jesus.
See Him as King of His Kingdom in heaven and on earth.
Do His bidding. Plain and simple.
For we do not want to anger His Father. Or displease Him.
Or seem unappreciative for what He has done for us.

For “blessed are all those who put their trust in Him” (Ps. 2.12).

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart; wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, and make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies, no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no op’ning skies; but take the dimness of my soul away.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King? All, all Thine own, soul, heart, and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross—there teach my heart to cling: O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh; teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh; teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love, one holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heav’n descended Dove, my heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.
(George Croly, 1854)

All ready! 

Reflect.
1. What are the implications of the Spirit of God having descended on you?

2. How do you experience the Spirit’s indwelling Presence.

3. In what sense has the Spirit made you “all ready” to serve the Lord today?

Here then we have the Trinity presented in a clear way: the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the dove. This only needs to be barely mentioned, for it is so obvious for anyone to see. Here the recognition of the Trinity is conveyed to us so plainly that it hardly leaves any room for doubt or hesitation…This ineffable Divinity, abiding ever in itself, making all things new, creating, creating anew, sending, recalling, judging, delivering, this Trinity, I say, we know to be at once indescribable and inseparable. Augustine (354-430), Sermon 2.1-2

Pray Psalm 85.10-13.
Mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace have all come together in Jesus! Praise the Lord for sending His Son for our salvation, and ask Him to bring His goodness to light in all your words and deeds today.

Sing Psalm 85.10-13.
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
In Jesus God’s grace and truth are combined;
both goodness and peace in Him do we find.
Truth springs from the earth as He walks in our midst,
and righteousness flows from the heav’ns as a gift.

The LORD by His grace will give what is good;
our land will produce abundance of food.
And righteousness will go before the LORD’s face,
and make of His footsteps a way in this place.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from If Men Will Pray. Our Crosfigell teaching letter begins a new series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column begins a new series on the Church. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.