Because God was with him!

Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in to him. As soon as Jesus was baptised he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.’

Food for thought!

To all of us baptism of Jesus presents a problem. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, meant for those who were sorry for their sins and who wished to express their conversion to the Lord. What had such a baptism to do with Jesus? Was he not the sinless one, and was not such a baptism unnecessary and quite irrelevant as far as Jesus was concerned?

Well, for Jesus the baptism of John was the moment of decision. For thirty years Jesus had stayed in his home at Nazareth. Faithfully he had done his day's work and discharged his duties to his home and community. He knew that sooner or later be would have to leave Nazareth. He must have waited for a sign. The emergence of John was that sign. This, he saw, was the moment when he had to launch out upon his task.

In every life there come moments of decision which may be accepted or rejected. To accept them is to succeed; to reject them or to avoid them is to fail. Jesus knew when John emerged that the moment of decision had come. Nazareth was peaceful and home was sweet, but when the moment came, he left his dear ones, never to come home again.

For all of us, like Jesus, there's always a moment of decision; moment of departure and of leaving our dear ones and friends, a moment of dying to one life in order to rise for another life. C'est la vie!

Do you remember these words in the old school days, "Get on your marks, Get set, ... Go!"? Jesus' Baptism was a GO moment. In order to Go into action, after thirty years at Nazareth, Jesus received the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove. This Holy Spirit was Jesus' secret; Jesus was successful in life, Jesus did good things, Jesus performed miracles and taught the people because God was with him. (Act 10:38) "Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him."

The secret of success in life is still the same, being with God and God being with us. Whatever we do with God is good; whoever works with God is a success. You cannot fail in life if you work with God and God works with you.

May God be with you too.