Luke 3:21-22
A. INTRODUCTION
1. Pleasing People
One of the most gratifying things in life is when someone acknowledges or expresses pleasure in something that you’ve done. Indeed, it can be so gratifying that some people do things just to get such a response.
You see it in children, who try to please their parents. You see it in the workplace, with people who try to please the boss. And you see it with people, with the giving of a special present, or by putting themselves out in some way, in order to get a response.
Of course, not everyone who does these things is motivated by the expectation of a reward. Indeed, bringing pleasure to others is often a reward in itself. Nevertheless, there is something in being acknowledged as the one who brought that pleasure.
Having said that, however, it can seem, sometimes, that no matter what you do, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot please anyone at all.
2. Pleasing God
Now, trying to please others is one thing, but trying to please God is another thing altogether. And sometimes it can seem as if we can’t do anything right to please God either.
But whilst God is not someone we can manipulate, there is a key to pleasing God. And I believe the clue relates to the situation that Jesus found himself in at his baptism. Because at that time God called out to Jesus: ‘You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22b).
And, of course, if we can work out what it was that Jesus did to please God—and we need to note that God didn’t say that he was pleased, but he said that he was well pleased—then we can work out what we need to do to please God too.
And, I believe, that what Jesus did, to get the appreciation of God, can be divided neatly into three parts:
B. THE THINGS THAT JESUS HAD DONE
1. From Godhood To Birth
And the first part relates to the time when Jesus was still living with God, before his birth as the baby Jesus. Because it was his willingness to be the servant of all.
Now the Apostle John tells us that Jesus lived with God before the creation of the world (John 1:1-5, 14). He was separate from God (the creator), but at one with God. And, indeed, it was through Jesus that everything was created.
But John also said that this Jesus chose to involve himself directly in the life of God’s creation. He chose to be born and face the rigours of life, in the same way that you and I do. He chose to live with the people that his father had created. And, as the Apostle Paul spelt out, in doing so, in some way he put aside his godly nature (Philippians 2:5-8), so that he could live an earthly life as the servant of all.
2. From Birth to Baptism (Luke 2:41-52)
The second part relates to Jesus’s history between his birth and that of him turning about thirty years old, and his keenness to pursue a spiritual relationship with his Father.
Now during this part of his life we have only one story in the Bible. But what the story is about is about Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy spending time with others, in God’s Temple.
And what was Jesus doing there? Well, he was fulfilling his need to spend time in his Father’s house; he was joining in with others, learning about God; and he was joining in public worship too.
And the footnote to this story is that it didn’t finish there. But that, after that event, he continued to grow in faith. And that involved not only pursuing a relationship with the Father but pursuing a relationship with his fellow believers too, until he was ready to begin his public ministry.
3. The Baptism Itself (Luke 3:21-22)
And the third part relates to the actual baptism of Jesus himself, where Jesus clearly identifies himself with the people.
Now this wasn’t Christian baptism, but a baptism calling for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Which is quite strange, because on those grounds Jesus didn’t have to be baptised at all. He was without sin; he had nothing to repent about. Despite that, Jesus put himself forward in the same way that everyone else did.
And the reason for that? Well, it was part of his need to identify with other people. He wanted to go through the same things that everyone else did. And just as he had humbled himself to be born on earth in the first place, so he was prepared to humble himself, through the rite of baptism, in front of other people too.
However, for Jesus, it was also time for a public admission of his readiness for ministry. His preparation time was over, and he’d accepted his call. And it was now time for his public ministry to begin. And, in addition, the occasion of baptism was marked by the anointing with the Holy Spirit. Confirmation by God that his ministry would not be just a whim—here today, gone tomorrow, like so many other so-called Messiahs, but that he was serious about the job that God had given him to do.
And the task in hand? Nothing less than to reconcile God’s people with their creator; to encourage the people to enjoy the same relationship with the Father that he enjoyed himself.
4. Summary
And with those three things, then, is it any wonder that God could not just say, ‘You are my beloved son. In you I am pleased’ But he could say ‘You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased.’
And so he should have been. Because Jesus had not half-heartedly responded to the Father’s plan for the salvation of the world, but had embraced it whole-heartedly. And with little regard for the cost to himself.
C. IMPLICATIONS
So, if we want to know how to please God, then, we only need to look back at the life of Jesus, to see what he did to be rewarded with those words, ‘You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased.’
So, based on Jesus’s example then, what are some of the ways that we can respond to God, and earn his rightful praise as well?
Well, I believe the answers lies in the same three points that sum up Jesus’s life up to the point of his baptism.
1. Servanthood
And the first of these relates to servanthood.
Now, to me, it is abundantly clear that when Jesus came to earth—to be born as a baby—the one thing that he didn’t do was come and lord it over all of God’s creation. He didn’t order people about, and he didn’t use his supernatural powers for his own selfish purposes. No! Instead, Jesus came and took on the role of a servant.
Indeed, as we read through the gospels, regarding Jesus’s three years of ministry, we can note that he spent an awful lot of time with the ordinary people. Not the important people, or people with authority, but with everyday people. With people with lowly paid jobs; with those without social status; with people who were rejected; and with those in desperate need of help. And he came and helped them at their point of need by teaching, healing, or simply showing them their worth.
So, if we are to emulate the example of Jesus, then, lowering ourselves, being humble, and putting others first before ourselves has to be the order of the day. There is no room in the Christian faith for lording it over others. That wasn’t what Jesus was about, and it certainly isn’t what we should be about either.
2. Spirituality
The second thing of note relates to spirituality. And as we’ve already noted Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy, was highly developed in this regard. Indeed, an essential belief of Jesus was to spend time in the house of God. He needed to learn, to worship, and to spend time with others. Indeed, the implication of Luke’s words—that after his visit to the Temple that ‘Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and maturity, and he was looked on with favour by God and men’ (Luke 2:52)—is that between the ages of twelve and about thirty (when he was baptised), was that Jesus continued to spend time either in the Temple, or the local synagogue talking and learning with the scholars, joining in worship, building up his relationship with God, and taking his full role in the life of the worshipping community.
So, if we are to take Jesus’s example seriously, we need to do the same thing too. Being a Christian, having a saving faith in Jesus is one thing, but taking our place in the religious community so that not only can we learn and grow but so that we might encourage and build up one another too, is an essential part of living the Christian faith.
It was a point that was not lost on Jesus. And it shouldn’t be lost on us either.
3. Ministry
And the third thing of note relates to identifying ourselves with other people and with ministry.
Now Jesus was not a naïve teenager when he publicly accepted the call to ministry, he was about thirty years old. But at his baptism, Jesus, the man of faith, showed that he was willing to play his part in God’s call for all men and women to return to a relationship with him—even to the extent of being prepared to lose his own life to fulfil his part in God’s plan.
Now, Jesus didn’t need to be baptised, in the same way that you and I consider baptism. But nonetheless, he took seriously the opportunity to stand with his fellow believers, to stand up and be counted, and to receive God’s anointing for the task in hand.
And, of course, one of the first things that Jesus did was to appoint disciples and helpers to help him in his ministry—and far more than the twelve disciples that we hear about the most.
So, if we are to follow Jesus’s leading, then we too need to identify with the people. We need to stand up and be counted; to respond to God’s leading; to offer ourselves for God’s anointing for the tasks that he has prepared for us to do; and to take the opportunities that are open to us to, to minister in God’s name.
4. Summary
And if we do each of those three things, the three things that are the marks of what Jesus did—by which God was able to say: ‘You are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased’ then we too, may well hear from the lips of God similar sentiments said to us as well.
D. CONCLUSION
You know, pleasing others, and feeling people’s pleasure, or gratitude, or admiration, is one of the things that we can find immensely rewarding. In fact some people go out of their way to get such a response. However, what can be more gratifying still is the idea that what we have done has pleased no one less than God himself.
When Jesus heard those words from God it must have given him great heart. Particularly in the context of the journey he was about to undertake. They would also be very welcome words for us, on the journey of life that is set out for us as well.
The things that God had to be pleased about, regarding Jesus, were his servant hood, with his willingness to humble himself to be the servant of all; his spirituality, with him taking seriously the need for worship, opportunities for learning, and meeting together to encourage one another; and his identification with people and his willingness to take on a full role in the life of the religious community.
So, if we want to feel that God is pleased with us. Then those three things are not a bad place for us to start as well.
Posted: 1st March 2024
© 2024, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
