Luke 3:15-17,21-22 (NRSV)
Read Luke 3:15-17,21-22 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, Verse 16John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Verse 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Verse 21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, Verse 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Devotion
When Jesus left the Jordan River there is a voice from heaven that says: “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” Now, that’s a blessing! Jesus lived his whole life in this blessing as the beloved one. People loved him, hated him, accepted him, rejected him and wanted him to be king. People crucified him. But in the midst of it all, he remained the beloved: the one on whom God’s favor rests. “You will all leave me,” Jesus said later, “but my father will never leave me” (John 16:32). This is what kept Jesus going … all the way to the Cross.
Jesus tells you and me that we are beloved of God. To pray means to hear that still, small voice that says: “You are my beloved. On you my favor rests. With you I am well pleased, always …”
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help us to realize that we are your beloved. That Jesus came into the world so that we might hear anew your claiming, unconditional word of grace that comes home to us in baptism: that we are your children—red and yellow, black and white, each one precious in your sight. Amen.