His Best
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”
15 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
One of the things I often wrestle with when I write the Village Daily Blog is whether to go back over material from Sunday. I wonder, would it be helpful for people to hear the same thing again or should I explore something I couldn’t get to in the sermon.
Well today, we are going somewhere I didn’t go in the sermon.
I think the meaning of verse 15 is that Jesus didn’t need to be baptised for His own sin, but that He will be baptised for our sins. He will be/is our substitute. He will go through death and resurrection on our behalf. But I reckon this verse leads us to another thought.
You know, something I’m not real good at is going the extra mile. I’m great at doing just enough. Ask me to clean something - I’ll do a job. But it won’t be an amazing job.
Jesus doesn’t just do enough. He doesn’t need to be baptised. But He submits Himself to John’s baptism for our sake.
He could have gotten away with doing only a few miracles. Or only suffering a few whips. He could have shortened His ministry to one year instead of three. He didn’t. He didn’t come to just give us His most basic efforts but His best.
Can I encourage you. I reckon when we think of serving Jesus. We often think in terms of bare minimums. What’s the least amount of money I could give and still be considered generous? I’ve served a fair bit recently, I reckon I’ll have a week off. Or, I just couldn’t be bothered to listen today or sing or talk to people.
Do you ever think like this? Let’s remember Jesus, He didn’t think like that. He gave us everything. Surely, we can give Him more than our bare minimum.
For Today:
Pray:
15 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
One of the things I often wrestle with when I write the Village Daily Blog is whether to go back over material from Sunday. I wonder, would it be helpful for people to hear the same thing again or should I explore something I couldn’t get to in the sermon.
Well today, we are going somewhere I didn’t go in the sermon.
I think the meaning of verse 15 is that Jesus didn’t need to be baptised for His own sin, but that He will be baptised for our sins. He will be/is our substitute. He will go through death and resurrection on our behalf. But I reckon this verse leads us to another thought.
You know, something I’m not real good at is going the extra mile. I’m great at doing just enough. Ask me to clean something - I’ll do a job. But it won’t be an amazing job.
Jesus doesn’t just do enough. He doesn’t need to be baptised. But He submits Himself to John’s baptism for our sake.
He could have gotten away with doing only a few miracles. Or only suffering a few whips. He could have shortened His ministry to one year instead of three. He didn’t. He didn’t come to just give us His most basic efforts but His best.
Can I encourage you. I reckon when we think of serving Jesus. We often think in terms of bare minimums. What’s the least amount of money I could give and still be considered generous? I’ve served a fair bit recently, I reckon I’ll have a week off. Or, I just couldn’t be bothered to listen today or sing or talk to people.
Do you ever think like this? Let’s remember Jesus, He didn’t think like that. He gave us everything. Surely, we can give Him more than our bare minimum.
For Today:
- What aspects of life do you often give the bare minimum to?
- Do you think these ways about giving/serving or some other aspect of Christian worship?
- What is one area of worship where you could give Jesus more of yourself?
Pray:
- Praise the Father that He gave us His only beloved Son.
- Give thanks for Jesus who gave us His whole self for our salvation.
- Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others give more than the bare minimum in your response to Jesus.
Posted in Matthew
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