Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptised you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
This man called John, described Jesus as really mighty and powerful. He explained that he was not worthy enough or pure enough even to act like a servant to Jesus because Jesus is so holy, pure and special. Jesus was going to come and give God’s Holy Spirit to the people who desired to be full of God. ‘Baptise’ means to be completely covered by something (inside and out).
It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus wasn’t a spirit or an angel; He grew up from a baby to a man in a place called Nazareth. Jesus knows what it is like to be human. He understands how we feel and the things we struggle with. God the Father in heaven, is telling us that Jesus is His special Son and that He is pleased with Him. This shows us that Jesus, who was about 30 years old at this point, had been perfect in all He had done during His years of growing up. If Jesus had done anything wrong, if He had sinned just once, then God the Father who is pure would not tell people He was pleased with Jesus in such a dramatic way. It was like a stamp of approval on Jesus.
Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
Jesus went where the Holy Spirit directed Him to go and did what the Holy Spirit wanted Him to do. Jesus was tempted by the cleverest professional tempter ever! If you have ever been tempted to do something wrong, Jesus has been even more tempted than you! In other places in the Bible, we read that Jesus never gave in to any of the temptations. Jesus has experienced temptation; He knows what it is like and He knows how to not give into it! He can help you to be strong with the things you are being tempted by. The 40 days of being tempted were so tiring that Jesus was helped back to full strength by angels! As well as being described as the Son of God, He was fully human too; He became tired and hungry like we do and He was tempted to do wrong, just like we are.
Prayer suggestions:
Each day we will give you some suggestions about what you could talk to Jesus about. Prayer is not about saying special words, it is about using your own words and meaning what you say…
- Ask Jesus to help you get to know Him as you begin to use this meetJ app
- Ask Jesus to help you to remember to look at this app every day for 40 days
- Ask Jesus to help you to not give in to temptations this week