When Jesus comes to be baptized by John the Baptist he is no longer a child but a young man of about thirty. As he is being baptized, with a group of other people, he is ‘anointed’ with the Holy Spirit and with power (Acts 10:38). And from heaven, the Father's voice declares that Jesus is ‘my Son’. In his gospel, Mark refers to this event as ‘the beginning of the Good News’—good news for the Jews because Jesus is the long awaited ‘Messiah’ (meaning ‘Anointed One’), and for all who believe in him. For in the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ he is now able: to act and speak with authority as the ‘Son of God’. On the ‘day’ being described above, one of the prophecies given to David is fulfilled: ‘This is what the Lord says: You are my Son, today I have become your Father’ (Ps.2:7 NIV, Med.#D). This is coming of age language. This is underscored by the ‘power’ Jesus receives in the Spirit, and by the two kinds of confrontations that follow—with the devil and with Jesus' former human guardians.

Yet the above texts also connect this event to another day—the day when we too will be baptized with the Spirit and with power (Med.#49), and hear another Davidic prophecy applied to us: ‘I will be a Father to YOU and YOU will be my sons and daughters’ (1 Cor.6:18, Med.#32). So if you love Jesus and have put your trust in him—by accepting his redemption and the gift of the Spirit—you can know that the Father's declaration to Jesus is also for you, since he loves you too (Med.#51). So I suggest that you read Luke 3:22 aloud, and then read it a second time, putting your own name in the text. ‘You, _______, are my beloved son (daughter); whom I love! In you, _________, I delight!’ Can you hear the Father speaking to you? One thing the Spirit desires to do is ‘testify with our spirit that we are God's children—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ’ (Rom.8:15-17, Med.#5).

Secondly, we learn from the above texts that the Holy Spirit is not just a power source, but a person who leads us through the same ‘power’ confrontations that Jesus faced. The devil, recognizing the new power in our lives, will tempt us to misuse it. To prepare Jesus for this encounter, the Spirit leads him away from people and into a time of fasting. We don’t fast to gain power. We fast, when led by the Spirit, to commune with our Father: so we too can stand in the power he has already given us, and so better work with him in what he is doing; for he is  just as ‘deeply fond’ [Gr. philei] of us as friends, as he is of Jesus (Med.#59). Looking at Jesus' responses to Satan, we can infer that the Spirit also led our Eldest Brother to meditate on the Scriptures during his time of fasting in the desert.

Thirdly, the above texts reveal some of the ways Satan tempts us as adult sons and daughters of the Father to misuse our ‘power’: like to satisfy our own physical desires, or to push ourselves past our natural human limitations or put on a public display of divine power. Many people in Christian ministry dangerously overwork themselves and then expect God to come to their rescue. Or they promote signs and wonders as the way to get skeptical modern people to put their faith in Jesus. Instead of demonstrating faith, this approach indicates more a lack of it and a need to ‘put God to the test’. And finally, in our desire to see the gospel impact society, we too can be tempted to take short cuts to gain authority over nations, without embracing the way of the cross.

Fourthly, the Spirit will lead us through confrontations with our parents. The wedding Jesus attended in Cana was most likely a family event, since his mother had authority over the servants. Running out of wine at such a public feast would have been a shame to the family, so Mary turns to her son. Jesus' response to her suggests that he has told her about his baptism in the Spirit; for she seems to be hinting that he now can use his new power as a family asset. But Jesus' first priority is now to his heavenly Father's plans and timetable, not to the wishes and concerns of his earthly family. His words, ‘Dear woman’ communicate a new relational distance as well as the affection he still feels for her. When Mary walks away, Jesus consults his Father, who shows him how to bless his family in a private way. Notice! Jesus does not ignore or reject his family. Instead, when he goes to scout out Capernaum as a new base for his Galilean ministry, he includes them. And later, from the cross, he makes sure that one of his disciples (John) will care for his mother (Jn.19:26-27).

Jesus' final confrontation, with the Judean leaders of his own nation, occurs in the temple courts. During earlier Passovers, when he was a child (Med.#25), he would have seen the market stalls and the moneychangers in the outer ‘Court of the Nations’.[ii] Even then he would have felt these to be an insult to his Father’s house, as he does now; for he knew it was supposed to be a ‘house of prayer for all the nations’ (Med.#21). Yet now that he has received authority as an adult Son through the Spirit, his Father directs him to challenge this practice. By taking time to make ‘a whip out of small cords’, Jesus shows that his ‘zeal’ is no sudden fit of passion. Nor is it a rejection of his own social and religious leaders, for he continues to teach respect for them and for the Scriptures from which they teach (Med.#12)—even if they don’t always practice what they preach (Med.#68).

Learning to navigate such confrontations in the context of your own culture first—with your Father and led by the Spirit—is important preparation for cross-cultural ministry, as we shall see in the next meditation.