Matthew 3 Devotional

Standing in the Beloved

“And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!””Matthew 3:17 (BSB)

John appears in the wilderness with a blunt message: turn back to God, because the kingdom of heaven has come near (3:2). Crowds confess their sins and are baptized (3:6). To the Pharisees and Sadducees he offers no shelter in their ancestry, since God could make Abraham's children out of stones, and the axe is poised at the trees (3:9-10). A stronger one is coming, ready to clear his threshing floor (3:11-12).

Then that stronger one arrives and asks to be baptized. John protests that their places should be reversed (3:14). Jesus answers that this is the fitting way to fulfill all that is right (3:15), and he steps into the water alongside people confessing their sins. As he comes up, the Spirit descends on him, and the Father declares his delight in his beloved Son (3:16-17). Paul says God pours out his grace on us in his Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). The judgment John announced is real, but there is a place to stand: in the Son the Father loves.

To think about: When you think about standing before God, what are you tempted to rely on instead of the Son he loves?