Category Archives: Daily Reflection

As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:16-17

The first half of the Lent term for me is full of Parents’ Evenings. I had two Year 8 Parents’ Evenings last week, and I have a Year 6 Parents’ Evening next week. These events are usually fine; yes, I probably would rather be at home with my wife, but there is something quite nice about being able to sit down with the parents’ of one’s pupils and discuss their son or daughter’s progress with them. This is especially true if their child is performing well, but is even the case if they are not; Parents’ Evenings are a great opportunity to discuss potential problems and work on a resolution. It is always fun, too, to watch pupils’ faces as they sit down; they are usually well aware of if they are about to receive high praise, of if the interview is going to be a little more awkward for them. It is an absolute delight to watch the faces of pupils who receive praise; they are so happy to be told that their teacher is pleased with them and that they are doing well.

In the verses above we witness the moment when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. John baptised him with water for repentance, even though he knew Jesus to be entirely free from sin and blameless in the eyes of God. He pushed him beneath the waters of the river Jordan, which represented cleansing from sin, and rebirth into God’s kingdom. As Jesus was symbolically ‘born again’ and came up out of the waters, three incredible things happened.

Firstly, ‘heaven was opened’. The borders between the kingdoms of Earth and God’s heavenly kingdom, which had been closed since the fall of humanity were reopened. Jesus was installed as God on Earth, as Immanuel, as he began his work to draw humanity back to God and enable humankind to enter God’s kingdom. This foreshadowed the work that would be completed by Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday and his subsequent resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Secondly, the Spirit of God, taking on the appearance of a dove, descended from heaven and landed on Jesus. Jesus had always been both fully God and fully man, a consequence of his parentage, but at this point, in case there was any doubt at all, the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus as the one sent from heaven.

Finally, God proclaimed from heaven, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’. God the Father identified Jesus as his son, declaring that Jesus was indeed the Messiah that had been promised through the ages. The Messiah was not merely a representative of God, however, as many had thought. The Messiah was in fact the son of God, God born into the world as a human being to live and work amongst us. The message of love, of hope, of eternal life was too important and too earth shattering to be entrusted to any ordinary human being; the message that God wants his people to hear is so important that he sent his son to preach the Gospel.

Not only that but God so desperately wanted to restore humanity to its pre-fall condition that he was willing to sacrifice his only son to redeem the world. And God knew that Jesus would do this, and do this well. He did not need to wait for Jesus to act in order to lavish praise upon him.

God did not love Jesus for anything that he had done, but for the simple virtue that he was his son. At the time of his baptism, Jesus had yet to perform miracles, heal the sick, teach the crowds, and certainly had not yet been nailed to the cross, died, and risen to life again. Yet just for being his son, God was proud to state that Jesus was his own and to declare his love for him. Unlike my pupils who I tend to praise after the event, God praised his son right at the start of his ministry.

There is so much for us to take in within these two simple verses. We see Jesus identifying with us in our sin, and choosing to be baptised. We see Jesus anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Son of God. And we see God proclaiming his love for Jesus, a love based solely on Jesus’ identity, and not on his actions. We begin to see the Trinity of God at work.

There are important lessons for us, too. If Jesus, free from sin as he was, chose to be baptised, we should take this rite very seriously, and if we have not been baptised, consider whether this is something we should do. If we have been baptised we are reminded of the importance of our baptismal vows, that we have renounced sin and turned to follow Christ. Do we live in a way that reflects this? Finally, do we love our families, our friends, and our fellow people simply because of who they are, or do we base our love solely on their actions? True, unconditional love has no limits or restrictions. What an important reminder that is this morning!

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’

Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’Then John consented.

Matthew 3:13-15

I’m always slightly nervous doing something when I know that there are people around who could do it better. When I played my flute in a church ensemble in Colchester, I was very aware that the other musicians around me were much better than me. The violinist I sat next to had a PhD in music, after all! I feel the same when I’m preaching in church; there will always be people in the congregation who I know could do a far better job than me. Indeed, I feel the same way posting my Biblical reflections onto the internet; there are many, many people out there who could do a much better job of explaining God’s word than I can. You may be one of those people!

I imagine that John the Baptist may have felt like this to an extent in the verses above. He had been baptising people in the river Jordan in recognition that they had repented of their sins and determined to live a better life for God. All the while John had been speaking of a more powerful person who would come after him, who would baptise not with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire. Then, who should turn up, but the very person he had been speaking of – his cousin, Jesus, the Son of God, the promised Messiah. I imagine that on seeing Jesus he as only too happy to stand aside and let him take over. John knew that whilst he was only a prophet, Jesus was God himself.

John was understandably shocked, therefore, when Jesus told his cousin that the reason he had come to the river was to be baptised – by John! John tried to argue with Jesus, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ He was incredulous at Jesus’ request. He knew that Jesus had no need of baptism. He had baptised with water for repentance. Implicit within his baptism was the idea that people were sinful and needed to repent. Yet Jesus, the Son of God, was free of sin. He had no need to repent, and therefore the symbolism of baptism was unnecessary.

Jesus told John that yes, John should baptise him, and that he needed to do so right now. He told John, ‘let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness’. Jesus knew that if he was to fulfil the role that God had marked out for him, he needed to identify himself fully with his people, the ordinary sinners of the world. How else would he be able to take the sins of the world on his shoulders and die to save humanity if he had not fully identified with us in our sinfulness? What we see in Jesus’ request was his foreknowledge of what was to come. He knew and understood his principle mission, and he knew that this would lead him to death on the cross.

In these few verses we get our first glimpse of Jesus as an adult. And we already see him determined to identify himself with ordinary people – the people he had come to save. Jesus was ‘Immanuel’ – God with us. Here, right at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is keen to identify himself with the rest of humanity, sinners who have turned their backs on God. What a remarkable picture that is, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, passionate to know and understand us in our sin.

I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Matthew 3:11

My wife recently took me to see Noah and the Whale perform at the Brixton Academy in London. She had managed to keep it a surprise and I was thrilled when I found out that we were off to see one of my favourite bands perform live. Noah and the Whale have produced some brilliant tunes in recent years, and once I’d found out who we were going to see I couldn’t wait for them to take to the stage. Unfortunately, before they appeared we had to sit through forty minutes from the support act. Now, they were okay, don’t get me wrong, but they had neither the talent nor the music of the main act.

John the Baptist often often gets overlooked as merely the support act, warming up the crowds before Jesus appeared. That is perhaps a little unfair; he was an incredible prophet who came bearing the news that the long-awaited messiah was shortly to arrive! And that is what we see in today’s verses. We see John at the river Jordan baptising the crowds in anticipation of what was to come. A baptism by John was by no means meaningless; after all, in the verses that follow, Jesus himself chose to be baptised by John. John’s baptism was an important sign; by being baptised a person was showing that they had repented of their sin, had turned to follow God, and begun a new life of service to the Lord, the creator.

John is happy to share that Jesus’ baptism would be even more significant. “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” he proclaims. Baptism by Christ, or baptism into Christ – the baptism that we celebrate in the Church to his day – signifies not only that a person has chosen to repent of their sins. Baptism is a sign that shows that they have asked the Holy Spirit into their lives. It is symbolic of accepting the power of God himself into every aspect of their person, their hearts, their minds, their souls. Baptism signifies that they have pledged to follow Christ, and to allow God to work in them, and to guide their thoughts, their words and their actions. Baptism in Christ is symbolic of a complete transformation of a life. A baptised person is demonstrating to the world that they have opted not to live a life dictated by their own whims and desires, but have pledged that they will make a concerted effort to live the life that God has marked out for them.

Baptism is also a sign that a person has been marked as one of God’s people. The baptised person, therefore, will be safe from God’s judgement. By dedicating their lives to following Christ, God’s holy fire has cleansed their soul and purged it of sin. As a consequence, a Christian will not face the fire of damnation, but can be assured that they will instead experience eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom.

John had a clear understanding of baptism. His words should serve as a reminder to those of us who have been baptised of the transformation that our lives should have experienced. Are we still dedicated every day we live, every breath we breathe, every word we say, every action we take, every thought we think, to serving Christ? Or have we become stale in our inaction? For those who have not been baptised, John’s words could perhaps serve as a call to seek out baptism. Perhaps it’s time to take the plunge?