Day 97: Matthew 3:16-17

The heavens suddenly opened up for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him (vv. 16–17).

Back in Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth, He separated the expanse from the waters, and He called that expanse the sky. I can’t help but think, then, “If He called it into being and put it in its place, He can open it if He wants to!” On the day when Jesus was baptized, the Father opened up the sky like a window, and showed Christ the vision through it.

This event makes me think of Stephen, the very first martyr, because heaven was opened to him and he saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God on his behalf. What I want you to understand is that heaven is right there. We look up at that sky at night and the expanse of the stars. He is literally just an open window away from us, sitting on His throne. His presence is in us and on us. God upon His throne is near. We just can’t quite see it yet.

On this special occasion God did something unusual. He opened up that window, and Christ looked straight into heaven. It had been a long time since He had seen that vision. I believe part of God’s purpose for sending Jesus here was to experience life as we do. That means I don’t believe He had X-ray vision every single second into the throne room of God. I believe that many times He prayed, meditated, and had relationship with His Father in the very same ways we do today. So what a time this must have been to capture that moment when He could see heaven open and the Holy Spirit descend.

And then to hear His Father’s blessing. Again, I don’t think God spoke audibly to His Son every day He was on earth. I think maybe Jesus was called here to sympathize with us and to take part in the kind of relationship we do. A whole lot of His prayer was spent talking to God, knowing only in His own Spirit and through God’s Word what the Father was answering Him. So the audible voice of His Father sounding forth at His baptism must have just fallen on Jesus with the dearest of familiarity. This was the love of His life. I want to think that through the night, He replayed that voice and blessing in His own mind a thousand times. “He loves Me. Life is hard here, but He’s proud of Me. I have the blessing. I have the blessing.”