“Finally, we’re a family!” Mary Grace exclaimed, when Dale and I were finally able to bring her baby brother, Reagan, home from the hospital. Not even 3-years-old and already exhibiting a flair for the dramatic, Mary Grace expressed her relief that finally Reagan was home, along with Mama and Daddy, and we were reunited as a family once again. In utero, Reagan suffered from duodenal atresia - his stomach and intestines were not connected - requiring immediate surgery to repair once he was born. Unfortunately, we did not know of his condition until several hours after he was born. Dale’s parents had come with Mary Grace to the hospital to meet Reagan and she had even sat in the hospital bed with us while we read The Little Pigs, complete with piggy and wolf ears. (Did I mention that Mary Grace was dramatic?) So imagine her confusion the next day when she expected us all to come home, but that didn’t happen. Instead, we were transported to Children’s Hospital of Atlanta where we stayed for several weeks and Mary Grace stayed home with Grandmother and Grandaddy.
When I remember the situation and sweet Mary Grace’s excitement, followed by confusion and disappointment, her having to wait far longer than her two-year-old self had ever had to wait before, her exclamation, “Finally, we’re a family!” seems perfectly appropriate! Today, in our reading, Luke allows us into a holy moment as the Trinity is reunited after 30-years of waiting and boy, is it sweet!
Read Luke 3:21-38
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! After everyone else was baptized, indicating their sin and hopelessness and desire to repent and not miss the coming Messiah, Jesus also was baptized! But Jesus was not sinful or hopeless. He did not need to repent or turn back to God. Yet in this act, Jesus was identifying with His people - not with their sinfulness, but with their humanity. Jesus was ready and willing to obey His Father in every way, even when unnecessary and frankly, inappropriate. Even John was highly uncomfortable when Jesus came forward for baptism. This was the One John had described as the unblemished Lamb of God, come to take sins of the world; the One whose sandals he wasn’t worthy to bend down and untie. In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism when John refused to baptize Him because of these legitimate reasons, Jesus explained that it was critically important that they fulfill the prophets and all righteousness through this baptism. (Matt 3:13-14)
The Trinity Reunited
The next scene Luke describes beautifully captures the moment Jesus had been waiting for. “As He was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the physical appearance of a dove. And voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.’” (vv 21-22) The Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - were reunited at this moment for the first time in over 30 years. What a joy for Jesus! While He was able to commune regularly with his Father through prayer, the physical manifestations of the Trinity’s glory through the Spirit taking on the form of a dove and the Father’s voice literally spoken from heaven had to have been such a boost for Jesus. And not only for Jesus, but for John and those having just been baptized as well. To hear God call Jesus his Son through the heavens sent their faith through the roof!
Jesus was thought to be the son of…Joseph…
Luke captures two proclamations by God of Jesus being His Son. First, His voice declares it so, but then through the detailed genealogy that follows, His intentionality in growing the entire human race! Luke traces Jesus’ human lineage 75 generations, starting with Joseph. Because the Old Testament writers were so detailed in their ancestral accounts, Luke was able to trace Jesus’ family lineage all the way back to:
* Judah’s exile and return from Babylon - Zerubbabel and Shealtiel (v 26)
* Israel’s King David, a man after God’s own heart (v 30)
* Israel’s patriarchs - Jacob, Isaac and Abraham (v 34)
* The great worldwide flood survivors - Shem and Noah (v 36)
* The first family - Seth and Adam (v 38)
* God
Jesus would break the curse of sin originating with Adam. He would be the true and better Adam. the One who experienced every temptation, just as Adam did, and yet did not doubt God’s goodness and rebel. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:18-19, sin originated with the first Adam and was passed onto all generations, but the power of sin was broken through the second Adam, Jesus, as He overcame sin, death, hell and the grave!
Big Picture Questions for Today:
* Think back to a sweet reunion after years of separation from friends or family that you have experienced. Imagine how comforting, validating and encouraging the Trinity’s reunion was for Jesus.
* Which of God’s means of declaring that Jesus was his Son - His voice declaring it so or the genealogy tree - are most impressive to you? Why?
Pray, thanking God for His perfect attention to detail in announcing Jesus’ credentials as his Son. Ask Him to give you faith to submit to Jesus’ position as lord and king in your life.
