No Doubt About It – January 12, 2021

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Mark 1:10

No Doubt About It

A man named John baptized Jesus. He claimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. But people had to wonder if everything John said about Jesus was true. Was this man named Jesus really connected to the only true God?

John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. As Jesus was coming up out of the water onto the riverbank, an amazing thing happened in the sky. Heaven was torn open! There was clearly something special going on! People who wondered if Jesus had any real connection to God didn’t have to wonder any longer.

At that moment, the Holy Spirit descended onto Jesus. What did it look like? It looked like a supernatural dove coming down and landing on Jesus. If there had been any doubt about it before, there was none now. The connection of Jesus to the true God was visibly confirmed by the Holy Spirit. It must have been amazing and striking.

Now the people had proof that everything Jesus said was from God. The Holy Spirit gave them that proof!

You have that same proof today. The Holy Spirit is the one who uses that proof to work faith in your heart. You can have the confidence—no doubt about it—that your sins are forgiven because Jesus says so. He is the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for your sin, and not only for yours but for the sins of everyone in the world.

You might wish that everyone baptized today would have the same amazing and striking thing happen to them, but the Holy Spirit chooses to arrive invisibly instead through the power of the Word. His visible descent onto Jesus was to help you understand that the promises Jesus makes about baptism in his Word—forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—are entirely true, no doubt about it.

Prayer:
O Holy Spirit, keep my faith in Jesus strong all the way to eternal life. Amen.