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Jun 29, 2023 18:30pm

A Beautiful Commonality

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“What’s your favorite food?”, the Sunday School teacher asked.

Believe it or not, I was quiet and reserved then. I watched and listened as other kids raised their hands and told their answers. Amber raised her hand and said with a smile on her face, “macaroni and cheese!”

My eyes widened with amazement. I couldn’t believe it! She liked mac and cheese? But how? I thought that was a food only for poor people. And I knew she wasn’t poor. I had seen her house before. Her family had a peach orchard and we had traveled with my grandpa to buy a bushel one afternoon. Her house was nice, her clothes were nice, and she always smelled good.

I can’t tell you what a revelatory moment this was for me. No longer did the separation between she and I feel so big. We had something in common. She was like me in more ways than I realized. This one commonality was monumental for me.

I was proud to raise my hand and say “macaroni and cheese” too.

Luke 3:21-22

“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”

If baptism was for sinners, why then was Jesus, the sinless Son of God, baptized?

Remember, we’ve studied the purpose of baptism – to declare your obedience to God and serving Him, not for remission of sins. Baptism is a proclamation to others about the decision you have already made to follow God.

Here, we see Jesus choosing to show us that not only was He fully God, but fully man. As a man, He also had to choose to obey the will of our Heavenly Father. Jesus went into the water to proclaim His commitment to serving God.

He demonstrated His full humanity and our commonality in one action.

You have a Savior who knows the tough road of being a human. He knows what it’s like to be tempted, to be hated, to be mistreated, to suffer unfair and unjust treatment. In this moment, in His willingness to be baptized, we see a beautiful commonality between us and our own Lord and Savior, Jesus. And it makes us desire to come forward and make a profession of faith and choose to serve God with our lives.

Because of Jesus, I can boldly and confidently, say I choose to follow Christ and serve Him all of my life, no matter what comes. Will you?