Intentional Living

Intentional Living

Matthew 3:13, NLT

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.

Setting the Scene

All three of the accounts from the Gospels that we will look at this week present Jesus as a grown adult. Mark’s Gospel doesn’t give any attention to the childhood events in Jesus’ life, but moves quickly into the action that begins Jesus’ public ministry—his baptism. In Luke, between the end of chapter 2 and the opening verses of chapter 3 a time gap of almost twenty years has passed—from the time Jesus visited the Temple as a youngster up to the beginning of his public ministry. For Matthew, the jump between the account of Jesus’ earliest years and his arrival on the scene of John the Baptist’s ministry covers almost thirty years.

Jesus was raised as an ordinary human child. Although there are certainly nonbiblical traditions about events in Jesus’ childhood, the writers of the Gospels were not prompted to report anything unusual about those years. Even the incident at the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve reads like a fairly typical exchange between an adolescent and his parents, except that Jesus demonstrated an awareness of his unique relationship with his Father (Luke 2:41-52). The summary statement in Luke 2:52 pictures Jesus as we meet him on the eve of his public ministry: “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people” (NLT). What parents wouldn’t want to describe their child as growing mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially?

By providing us few details about Jesus’ adolescence, God has prevented us from thinking, He didn’t experience what I experienced—how can he identify with me? But in speaking to this very point the book of Hebrews says about Jesus, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15, NLT). We need not know the specifics of Jesus’ development; God has given us enough to show us that Jesus was profoundly like us yet without sin. And like us, he was challenged to grow in all areas of life in order to become the man we can emulate and recognize as Master of our lives.

Based on Luke 2:52, we meet Jesus in Matthew 3:13 as a well-rounded adult making an intentional journey from Galilee south along the Jordan to the place where John the Baptist was performing baptisms of those who responded to his preaching. We know this was a familiar trip for Jesus. He had made it in the womb twice, and Luke 2:41 indicates that it was a family tradition to take a yearly trek from Nazareth to Jerusalem for Passover. This time, it appears that he made the trip alone. That forty-mile trip not only served to set Jesus’ ministry in motion, it also foreshadowed the lifestyle Jesus would assume over the next three years.

Getting Personal

What does it mean to you that Jesus was human?

What encouragement does his normal development give you as you continue to grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally?

At his every age and stage of development, we see Jesus active in doing his Father’s will. Before we excuse ourselves by saying that he knew more than we know, we must account for the way God has provided in Scripture an abundance of examples and commands regarding his will. Whatever our circumstances, we are always able to do something that God has told us he wants us to do.

Talking to God

Take the Lord Jesus as your example of one who deliberately seeks to do the Father’s will. Ask God to make you increasingly like him, ready and willing to obey.