Year 6, Day 177: Matthew 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Authority

• Authority: Our calling.  This comes from God as king.  Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.

One of the greatest things that I love about John the Baptizer is his humbleness.  Here is a man whose who calling was to point to someone else’s greatness.  He’s completely and totally okay with that calling.

I think the reason that he is okay with this fact is that he knows from where his authority comes. Look at how John talks about Jesus.  He knows that Jesus is greater than him and he is okay with it.  He knows that he isn’t worthy of untying the sandals on Jesus’ feet.  He has no trouble understanding his place because he knows where he resides with the Father.  He knows that if his authority comes from the Father, then he needs to invest in the will of the Lord.  His own ego has no place because his authority is coming from the Father.

If we look at how this plays out when they meet, we get an interesting perspective, too.  Jesus comes to be baptized.  At first, John doesn’t agree.  He knows his place.  Jesus is superior.  However, when Jesus explains the service that John would be doing to Jesus, John agrees.  Again, John gets his authority from God.  Even though John knows that Jesus is the superior, when God explains that His perspective is different that John’s, John concedes and abides by God’s will.  John not only displays that he can talk and teach about having an authority that comes from God, he can live it as well.

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