Affirmation

January 9, 2023

We don’t have to have the news on for five minutes before some politician or activist is ripping into somebody with whom they disagree. That in itself wouldn’t be so bad except that only rarely does the disagreement deal with the issues; the other person’s character is attacked. Granted, character is an issue, and those who seem to continually make the headlines often display a definite vacuum in the character department. I’ve noticed that there is an inverse relationship between the weakness a person’s arguments and the vehemence of his ad hominem attacks. It’s easier to attack the person than the idea because you don’t need any ideas of your own to attack another person.

All this comes to mind from comparing two Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism. In Matthew, as Jesus comes out of the water, those standing by hear “a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). I would imagine those standing by would have been quite impressed upon hearing these words. “I guess we better listen to this Jesus,” they might have said to each other. 

Mark records the incident a bit differently. As Jesus comes up out of the water, “a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (1:11). Did you catch the difference between Matthew’s account and Mark’s? In the latter, the Father is speaking not to the crowd, but to Jesus himself. It is a word of affirmation for him personally.

It is always nice to receive affirmation before others. I remember years ago receiving the Denman award for evangelism from our Annual Conference. It was humbling and affirming to be recognized before others, but that kind of recognition fades with time. People’s memories dim, or they change their minds about you, and the cheers quickly turn to jeers.

But God’s personal affirmation has a way of sticking with you. Immediately following his baptism, Mark tells us that the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. When you’re all alone in the wilderness, sweating through your spiritual battles, the opinion of the crowd fades. It’s in the dark loneliness of the trial that the only voice that matters is the whisper of your Heavenly Father saying, “You are my beloved child, and you bring me pleasure.” 

It’s in those times of harsh desert emptiness that all you’ve accomplished seems to evaporate into thin air, and all that matters is God saying, “I love and affirm you not because of what you can do, but because of who you are. You are mine, and that is enough.”

Have you experienced that affirmation lately? If not, maybe it’s because you haven’t received the forgiveness God offers through Jesus Christ. I am not naturally a child of God; the Bible says there was a time when I was a child of Satan. I became a child of God when I confessed my sins and turned from them to receive the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus and his death on the cross in my place. I became a child of God by virtue of being “in” Christ, as Paul puts it. And because the Father affirms Jesus, in Jesus he affirms me. That affirmation never fades, for which I am most grateful tonight.