You Bring Me Great Joy

Meditations for the Season of Christmas 

December 30, 2024

You Bring Me Great Joy

One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

Luke 3:21-22

Read: Luke 3:15-38

Our reading today tells us three things about the Messiah.  

First, the inclusion of Jesus’ ancestry all the way back to Adam reveals the Messiah is coming for the entire human race, not just Israel.

Secondly, John the Baptist’s preaching reveals the dual mission of the Messiah. The Messiah will judge the oppressors and set free the oppressed. God’s justice, which is the process of making us justified in His presence, will work into the world through the lives of the followers of the Messiah.

And thirdly, God’s message to Jesus, the Messiah, at his baptism is both endearing and chilling: “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” The endearing part is obvious.

The chilling part is in the similarity of the words to the witness of two other Biblical passages: Isaiah 42:1, “Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me.” Isaiah 42 reveals the Messiah of God as the suffering servant; and Genesis 20:2 says, “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much . . .” This is God’s call for Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Ultimately Abraham did not sacrifice Isaac; instead, God sacrificed his only son.

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save the world. When a person is reconciled to God through faith in the Messiah Jesus, God speaks into the life of the believer the same words He spoke to Jesus, ““You are my dearly loved son/daughter, and you bring me great joy.”

Could it be that God expects all his children to live sacrificial lives that proclaim God’s saving grace in the Messiah? 

Could it be that God expects all his children to live sacrificial lives that work God’s justice into the world?

My Takeaway: Yes!

Sē’lah                                                                                         

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.