Seriously. Who was this Jesus? (Luke 3:21-22)

Luke 3:21-22 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Pictures my son took this summer at the site
where some claim that Jesus' baptism took place.

Some extraordinary things happened the day that Jesus was baptised. First the heavens were torn apart and God broke into our world and our time in way that doesn't happen every day.  It must have been a spectacular sight.  Secondly, the Spirit of God - described like a dove - descended on Jesus.  And then the voice of God spoke claiming Jesus as his beloved son. 

The testimony of those closest to Jesus was that he was more than just a good man.   More than just a wise prophet.  He was both fully human and fully God - the son of God.  Nice orthodox theology, but how does this kind of faith in Jesus influence how we live?

One of the most spiritual people I have ever known was an elderly congregant - a man who had migrated from India to Guyana to the United States.  He had the habit of daily going into his bedroom and telling his wife not to let anyone bother him while he prayed.  He would light a candle and pray for an hour or more.  He told me that these times spent alone with Jesus were more real to him now than the physical world.  I asked him how he came to believe in Jesus.  His parents had taught him the Hindu religion and he had great respect for them.  But he said as a teenager he became curious about all of the religions of the world and studied them each in depth.  I asked him what it was about Christianity that made him commit his life to Jesus.  He said, "I wanted to worship the son of God."  No one else claimed to be the son of God. He said that he also wanted to worship one who was not dead.  He could not have a relationship with a dead prophet, but he could have a relationship with Jesus who had risen from the dead.  So without even knowing many Christians, he started to follow Jesus.

Followers of Jesus believe that Jesus is the son of God.  This sets us apart from religion and puts us into a relationship.  Following Jesus is not participating in a religion or taking on a good philosophy.  It is entering into relationship with God through his son.  Through Jesus we can walk with God.  This changes everything.  It takes us away from religion where the focus is right theology, rule keeping, and doing good deeds.  Instead, we come to depend on Jesus to lead us.  Those things integrate into our lives through our relationship with Jesus, but they no longer control or define us.  Instead we are defined by Christ himself.     

Embrace the living son of God this day!

*** The other accounts from the other gospels...

Matthew 3:13-17 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Mark 1:9-11 ⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

John 1:29-34 ²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ³¹ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." ³² And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."