Lent Day 2: Ministry Begins

Pause

To focus your heart, prayerfully listen to your favorite worship song. Tell God about any worries, fears or concerns that may distract your attention from His Word and ask Him to teach through His Spirit.

Read & Journal

Read Matthew 3:13-17 and John 1:29-34. Consider these questions in your journal:

• How are these accounts similar? How are they different?

• What do these passages reveal about Jesus and his purpose?

• Compare Matthew 3:17 to Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. Why would God the Father confirm Jesus’ ministry with well-known words from the prophet Isaiah?

Ponder

The words spoken at Jesus’ baptism are a confirmation of His ministry. Using portions of Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, God the Father stresses Jesus’ role as “divine Son and Suffering Servant,” which provide a deeper understanding of His mission.1 Psalm 2:7 details the enthronement of a king, and by recalling the words at Jesus’ baptism, God the Father confirms and commissions Jesus’ public ministry.

A Note from Mandy:

During the Lenten season, we're revisiting this reading plan written as I prepared to launch The Bookery. The whole idea for the plan was that over the 40 days of Lent (plus weekends) we'd meditate on Jesus' interactions with different people throughout his earthly ministry. Today's verses focus on Jesus' baptism, the event that seemed to mark the beginning of his public ministry and a commissioning of sorts.

While that is still the goal of this reading plan, as I pondered these verses again this year, I found myself focusing on a couple of phrases from each passage. "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John declared in John 1:29. Earlier today I read God's instructions in Exodus as the Israelites prepared for the first Passover. It was going to be a dark and deadly night, as the Israelites slaughtered lambs and brushed the blood on the doorframes of their houses and even later, when the whole land of Egypt echoed with mother's wails as the final plague took shape, the death of the firstborn. The blood of the lamb covered and protected the Israelites, and when John saw Jesus, he recognized the same truth. God Himself had come to make a way for his people through the precious blood of the Lamb, his Son.

In Matthew's description of Jesus' baptism, I found myself pondering God's words: "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." Jesus' public ministry was beginning—and through Christ, God would make salvation possible, and the life, death and resurrection of his son caused joy to well up in the heart of God. Right now, you may be in a season where life feels hard and joy seems far away. But the life of Christ tells us that somehow, in God's upside-down economy, there can be joy intermingled with sorrow, hope with sacrifice. Always it seems, even on the darkest days like that first Passover or the happiest like the day of Jesus' baptism, our God has been showing us that life, hope and salvation can be found in him alone. May we stop looking for it in other places today and turn to Jesus!

1. Craig L. Bloomberg, The New American Commentary: Matthew. Broadman and Holman Publishers: Nashville, Tennessee, 1992.