Luke 3:21-22

Luke 3:21-22

And it became – in the day that all people were being baptized and after Jesus was being baptized and while Jesus prayed – the heavens were made to be opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are my beloved Son.  In you I took pleasure.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The heavens were being opened.  I don’t know what this means in terms of physical appearance.  I would have loved to have been there to see what exactly it looks like when God makes the heavens to be open.  But I can definitely speak to this on a spiritual level.  The heaven’s being opened is a concrete spiritual sign to the people that God had come to earth.  The barrier between heaven and earth was torn open by God and He has come to give access to Him.

Why is it important to see that God opened heaven and came to us?  Why could we never have opened heaven and gone to Him?

Second Thought:

The Holy Spirit descends.  We can pick up on this point where we left off on the prior point.  Heavens are open.  God is accessible.  But the dove descends upon Jesus to make sure that we all understand exactly who is God.  The Spirit descends as a dove upon Jesus.  God wants it to be clear.  It isn’t John who is the center of God’s plan, it is Jesus.  This should be true of all of us, too.  When God does something extraordinary in our proximity it is not us who are important.  It is God who is the central figure.

Do you ever like to be the center of attention?  Have you ever been guilty of taking the attention away from God?  What are the benefits of letting God be the central figure?

Third Thought:

Finally, we have a voice.  God’s voice.  Just in case we don’t think the things that came before are big enough, God makes it absolutely clear.  Jesus is indeed God’s Son.  Jesus is the one in whom God takes pleasure.  Jesus is the man.  He’s the central figure of God’s story of salvation.  He’s the one to whom we should pay attention.

What do you think it must have been like to hear an audible voice of God?  How do you think you would have responded?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 3:23-38