“A FIRM AFFIRMATION”

MATTHEW 3:13-17

 

13  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.

14  John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

15  But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.

16  And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

17  And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

 

If we’re luckY, someone is going to ask Tom Brady a very important question in a few weeks.  It’s a question that every winning quarterback gets asked right after the Super Bowl is over.  After the game is over we’ll see a commercial and someone will say, “So Tom, you just won the Super Bowl.  Where are you going now?”  to which Tom will answer, “I’m going to Disney World!”

 

That question gets asked at a time when the quarterback is receiving all kinds of accolades.  People are cheering, flashbulbs are going off like it’s the 4^th of July and advertisers are climbing over each other to get the superstar to endorse their products.

 

Now you and I are never going to experience anything like that.  You and I and everyone else, however, need to feel wanted and worthy.  It’s called affirmation and it’s something that we all need.  You see, deep down we’re just like the little boy who went to his father one day and said, “Let’s play basketball.”  When the father agreed the little boy smiled and hollered, “Hooray. I’ll shoot while you clap and cheer.”

 

We all need to feel affirmed and there are two places you can find that affirmation.

There’s the affirmation that comes from the people around you and there the affirmation that comes from God.

 

When Jesus showed up that day at the Jordan River he had to choose which one was more important to him.  Was it more important for him to be affirmed by John the Baptist or was it more important for him to be affirmed by God?   John the Baptist affirmed Jesus when he said that he wasn’t good enough to baptize him.  “I need to be baptized by you,” John said, “and do you come to me?

 

Jesus may have been flattered, but he was adamant.  He insisted the John baptize him.  “Let us do so for now,” he said, “for in this way we shall do all that God requires.”  In allowing himself to be baptized Jesus was symbolically submitting himself to God’s will.  He symbolically submitted himself to God’s will even though he knew that it was going to lead him to the pain and suffering of the Cross. 

 

So Jesus was baptized and when he came up out of the water and he heard a voice from heaven say to him, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  Talk about affirmation!  “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

What makes this affirmation even more amazing is when you look at when it happened.

 

It happened before Jesus began his ministry.

He hadn’t performed a single miracle yet.

He hadn’t done a single good deed yet.

He hadn’t uttered a single word of wisdom yet.

Even so the words came down from the heavens.  “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

 

John could have gone with the affirmation that came from John the Baptist that day.  He could have done that by agreeing with him.  He could have turned things around and baptized John, but he didn’t.  He insisted that John baptize him because it was more important for him to be affirmed by God.

 

Now I’m going to invite you to think about what happened in and beside the Jordan river that day, and then ask yourself this question. Where does your affirmation come from?

Does it come from the paycheck you bring home each week?

Does it come from the awards you receive from time to time?

Does it come from the compliments that people give you?

 

The affirmation that comes from the people around you can’t be overlooked. A teacher saw that one day.  While she was explaining the different parts of the human body to her class she pointed to the middle of her chest and said, “This is where your heart is.”  Immediately a little boy raised his hand and said, “My heart is back here where I sit down.”  The little boy’s comment caught the teacher off guard.  “Where did you get that idea?” she asked.  “Well,” the little boy replied, “every time I do something good, my grandma pats me there and says, ‘Bless your little heart.’”

 

The affirmation that comes from the people around you is important.  Jesus know though that you have to be careful when it comes to the affirmation that comes from the people around. For one thing it can lead to little too much pride.  You take the compliments and you begin to thing you’re really something.  You begin to thing you’re someone special.  You may even begin to think that you’re better than everyone else. 

 

Jesus also knew that the affirmation that comes from the people around you can also be fleeting and fickle.  Just look at what happened to him over the last few days of his life.  When he rode in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the people were cheering.  Then while he was carrying his Cross through Jerusalem a few days later people were jeering.

 

You can’t always depend on the affirmation that comes from the people around you.  That’s especially true when you look at how negative people are these days. There’s a lot of crabby, cranky people out there who are quick to complain and slow to compliment; people who are always ready to assume the worst.  One man found that out while he was hiking up in Bethel Vermont.  While he was walking along he saw an old shack with a sign in the window.  The man figured the sign was a no trespassing sign but he wasn’t sure.  So, he walked over to take a closer look.  What he found quickly made him look over his shoulder.  You see the sign was either made by a person who was very funny or very serious.  Underneath the words “no trespassing” were the words, “Violators will be shot,” and then “Survivors will be shot again.”

 

Yes, there’s a lot of negativity out there these days. So, if you depend on the affirmation that comes from the people around you, you will be disappointed from time to time.