January 4, 2015 · Matthew 3:13–17

The Hospitable, Missional, Discipling Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" And Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." And John consented.

“But the point is, where's your heart condition at with people? Do you have this loving state of mind with people? You are inherently interested, as creatures of God. You're welcoming them. Do you want to spend time with them? Or do you see a tax collector — aka a parking attendant — and say, I don't want to have coffee with that person? Because Jesus is having coffee with a parking attendant. Do you see what I'm saying? The people that aren't liked — that's how Jesus is doing this. And even people who might be really well liked, but are trying to rank themselves in the scale, Jesus is blowing the scale apart. Saying to John, would you do me this favour? And where's this coming from? Do you know where this is coming from? This is because Jesus is so intimately connected to the Father, that this is the love of the Father, the hospitality of the Father. This is the problem that Israel had, and the Pharisees had, and that we have, with God. Is that we think of God as up in the sky with a big stick going — every time you do the wrong thing, go to that wrong website, or you didn't pray enough, or you didn't do this enough. You see what the ruler is. Oh, sorry, God. That's often our picture of God. … And God is a gracious God. God is a loving God. He's a loving parent.”