“…and while He prayed,
the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit
descended…upon Him…and a voice came from heaven… ‘You are My beloved Son; in
You I am well pleased.’” Luke 3:21-22.
This scene is one of the most beautiful scenes in the Bible. I wish I could have been in that crowd to fully
appreciate what happened. On that day, the
region surrounding the Jordan River was crowded with people from all walks of
life, and different ethnic groups. They
had all come to be baptized in the river by John the Baptist. These people came looking for relief and hope
during a time in their culture that was filled with chaos and political
corruption. ‘John began his ministry during a time of political fracturing in Israel. While priests and procurators vied for power,
the people desperately longed for a leader.’ Charles Swindoll, Insights
on Luke: Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary (Carol Stream,
IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2017),
83. I can just see the people taking
their turn to be baptized, and suddenly one stranger’s experience also coming
out of the water is much different. As Jesus
breaks through the water and stands up, heaven opens up and God’s voice thunders
over the region. The Father speaks where
all can hear identifying that Jesus is His Son, with whom He is so pleased and
loved. It would be the first time God
spoke since the time of Malachi…400 years before. And as if those circumstances weren’t amazing
enough, the Holy Spirit descended from out of heaven and indwelled upon Jesus
in full view. That is quite an image to
behold in my imagination.
And yet, it is the very thing that happens daily when we open
our hearts to heaven. Because of Christ
we have the same authority to call on God’s presence. Because Christ descended and died, we have
the invitation to rise up out of the living waters and connect with God’s
Spirit. Because Christ died for us, we
have the position of co-heir with Him as God’s children. The event in our passage was when Jesus began
His life in ministry, while there is another event of heaven opening up after
prayer as Stephen was ending His life in ministry, ‘He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus
standing on his right side. Then Stephen
said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!’
As Stephen was being stoned to death, he
called out, ‘Lord Jesus, please welcome me!’…Then he died.’” Acts 7:55-56,
59.
Whether we are at the beginning of our lives as Christians, in the middle of our spiritual walk or at the end of our lives, prayer moves heaven and beckons our Father to commune with us. We have all lost precious family members and there is no doubt in my mind that as we saw their lives ebbing away, they saw heaven opening just like Stephen. As we committed our loved ones to the Father saying our goodbyes, they were hearing the Father say, ‘ Welcome home my beloved child with whom I am pleased.’ We can never underestimate the unseen communion between God and His children at any given moment. But we know this...God is with us always in life, in sickness and in our transistion from earth to heaven.
‘Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.’ 1 Co 13:12
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