Jesus lived in a wonderful time long, long ago. He had just started his life as a carpenter, but now it was time to do something very important. Jesus wanted to begin His great plan that God had for Him. But before He did this, Jesus wanted to be baptized. Being baptized means being immersed in water to show that you belong to God and start a new life.
There was a man named John the Baptist. John was a special man who lived in the wilderness and called people to turn from their wicked ways and be baptized in preparation for the coming of Jesus. He wore simple clothes made of camel hair and ate food he found in the wilderness, such as honey and wild locusts. Many people came to John to hear his sermons and to be baptized.
One day, Jesus came to John, on the Jordan River, to be baptized. When John saw Jesus, he immediately knew that Jesus was the Savior sent by God. John was amazed and said, “I was to be baptized by you, and you are coming to me?” John felt unworthy to baptize Jesus, because he knew that Jesus was completely pure and without sin.
But Jesus said to John, “Let it be now, for thus it is good to fulfill righteousness.” Jesus wanted to show everyone that He was following God’s plan and that this baptism was important. John understood that it was God’s will, so he baptized Jesus in the river.
When Jesus got out of the water, something miraculous happened. Heaven opened, and the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove. A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It was the voice of God that showed everyone how much He loved Jesus and that Jesus is the Savior.
All who were there saw and heard that God loved Jesus especially and that Jesus had a special plan to save people and show them God’s love.
Message of history
God shows us that Jesus is His beloved Son. Like Jesus, we too can obey God and show that we want to belong to Him.
Bible passage
The story of Jesus’ baptism is found in Matthew 3:13-17:
“At that time, Jesus came from Galilee to John on the Jordan River to be baptized by him. But John rebuked him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you are coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Let it be like this now.” For thus it behooves us to fulfill all justice. Then he allowed him to do so. And when Jesus was baptized, he immediately came out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And behold, a voice came down from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
