Who’s your doctor? We don’t take lightly where we would take our family with any health concerns. We need some recommendation from a good friend. Some positive feedback. Some “sign” that this is the right person to go to.
Where would you get your car fixed? Again, same thing. We want some level of confidence in the person repairing our vehicle and billing us fairly for those services.
Who would you follow to guide you in your faith and ultimately to the celestial kingdom of glory with the Lord? People spend a good amount of time . . . . looking for a place to worship, a church that is faithful to the Word and can lead them to God’s grace.
But I mean that question in even bigger terms. Who would you follow and entrust your soul to? More than the church and its leaders, the one who is able to give you the victory over sin, death and the devil.
People were asking that question for many centuries after God promised Adam and Eve that someone would be born to destroy the havoc the devil wreaked on the world by leading the first people into sin. They were waiting to see who would be the Messiah, the “Anointed One.”
Jesus probably didn’t appear to be the one who would shoulder this huge task. He went around in a humble way that hid his true identity and power. Until his baptism. We might ask why Jesus who is God would need to be baptized. It was to show he was the One, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Savior. Without any doubt.
At his baptism people witnessed the Spirit descending on him like a dove (Mark 4:10). And the voice of the Father from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 4:11)
It turns out Jesus is the only one who could be the Messiah. No one else was born as God and man in one person. No one else was perfect. The sacrifice for the sins of the world had to be made by a perfect substitute.
There are many opinions about Jesus out there. God the Spirit, God the Father, confirmed that day that Jesus was the Savior. No one else had that happen in the exact same way on their baptism. God wants to assure you: “My Son Jesus is the one who will save your soul and give your eternal life!”