[175 words]
“And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’ Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry…” (Luke 3:22-23).
After many convincing proofs from His birth and childhood about who Jesus was, Luke, writing from his investigations and eyewitness accounts, ties in John’s role as a forerunner to the Messiah’s ministry and then gives the biggest endorsement of all: the Father’s seal of approval. Without that, Jesus would have just appeared as a carpenter from Galilee who, either through deception or lunacy, was going around Judea declaring Himself to be the Christ. But He, at thirty years of age, was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and publicly declare who He was and what He was about. This was not done in secret. The crowds that John was ministering to are well attested to earlier in the chapter. There were many who Luke must have spoken to who were there when Jesus stepped down into the water, who saw heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descend like a dove, and who heard the Father’s voice declare Jesus to be His Son. Perhaps that was why they began to follow Him. Do you follow God’s Son?
Doug Kashorek
Plattsburgh, NY