Matthew Chapter 3: Verses 13-15 (NIV)
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
What Jesus was asking John to do seemed strange to John, after all Jesus didn’t need to be baptised. John acknowledged in fact that he needed the baptism of Jesus, which was the Holy Spirit, as John himself had prophesied about, and what we read of in the earlier verses in this chapter. So he tried to deter Jesus from being baptised. Jesus told him to be obedient and do it anyway, as it was all part of God’s plan, and John obeyed Him.
We too may not always understand what God is doing in our lives, or why He is asking us to do a particular thing. We might try to rationalise it, or we may protest. We might even think we have a better idea. But we need to learn from John’s experience. He knew he could trust Jesus, so even although he didn’t understand why, he did as he was bid, and so must we. We can always trust that God knows what He is doing, even when we don’t understand why.
Dear Lord,
I know that Your ways are higher than mine, and I need to be obedient to what You ask, even when I don’t understand why. Help me to copy John’s obedience. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.