Well Pleased

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

WELL PLEASED

Luke 3:19-22

19 But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done,   20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

NIV

Luke does not mess around with all the exact details about both these events as some of the others have. First we should note that the imprisonment of John did not happen at the moment Luke mentions it, at least in the chronological order of his recording it, but rather we could suppose it is mentioned as to put an end to recording about John and transition to Jesus. We should also note that Jesus had been baptized by John, so he was not in prison at the time of the Baptism of Jesus as well as Jesus came out of the water before the Spirit descended upon him, as recorded by the others. In some sense this is purely academic as any life lesson is not dependent on this form of transition from John to Jesus. What we do know or could learn here from John is that telling the truth about Godly living can bring hardship and even death in some cases. Of course this happened to be about a ruler with power to do that to John, but the point is some people may oppose the gospel and do so rather violently. But this also serves to show us we should not shrink away from speaking the truth. When we make this transition to Jesus, we see the event which somewhat transcends all events. This is the one moment in time when the whole of the trinity is present with man. This may have occurred before in Old Testament times, but it was not as plainly seen as this. Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father were all there. What a moment that must have been. Surely the words of the Father were not said for the benefit of Jesus as he already knew who he was and that the Father was well pleased with him. This was said for our benefit, so we would know the Trinity was real, and Jesus was being validated as the Son of God before men. Jesus was not just a man, he was the Son of God, and he was God. Yet it would be something if we could hear those words from God concerning ourselves. Not that we can compare ourselves to Jesus in any way, as he was perfect and we are not, but to hear the Father tell us that he is well pleased with us. It would seem it is absolutely impossible to please the Father based on our behavior. So how can we please him? How can we hear those words? Surely we know it is the Father’s will that none should perish as we are told through a letter Peter wrote in which he says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.  So then how do we please the Father? Certainly we cannot please God by all our good deeds, by being “Goody two shoes” so to speak, because it is not possible to be that good all the time, to be perfect, to be completely free of all sin. It is by faith in Jesus that we please the Father for we are told by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews that without faith it is impossible to please God. Because it is God’s desire that none should perish, so he is not pleased when men refuse to believe in Jesus because they will perish and that does not please him. But when we believe in Jesus, when we come in faith, believing, repenting of our sinful life, and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Father is well pleased with us. Just think of that, we have the right to be called children of God, and co-heirs with Christ, and thus the Father speaks those words into our hearts and minds, this is my child in whom I am well pleased.