The voice of the Saviour
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).
The harmony of the words the Lord says at the beginning and end of His ministry are so helpful to us as we seek to follow Him. In Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord’s first words are to John the Baptist when he hesitated to baptise Jesus. “Permit it to be so now,” Jesus said to him, “for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Straightaway, we see the Son of God acting in obedience to the Father’s will. In response, the Spirit of God descends and rests upon the Lord, and the Father declares, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We see the Spirit of God and we hear God the Father’s voice witnessing to their pleasure in and presence with the Son of God as He undertakes the work of God. The Lord’s final words in Matthew’s Gospel are, “I am with you always, always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The Father and the Spirit were always with the Son: the Lord promises always to be with us.
In Mark’s Gospel, the first words of Jesus are, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). Mark presents Jesus as the perfect Servant of God immediately proclaiming the Kingdom of God. His final words to the disciples begin, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The Lord preached, and the Lord encourages us to preach the Gospel. Mark’s Gospel ends with Jesus, the perfect Servant, being glorified and seated at God’s right hand, but from that glory still working with His people as they proclaim Him as the Saviour in this world (v. 20).
In Luke’s Gospel, the first words of Jesus are spoken as a child, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). His last words before He died were, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). And before ascending back to heaven, He said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you” (Luke 24:49). As the perfect Man on Earth, Jesus always walked in harmony with His Father in Heaven, and witnessed to Him. He promises the Holy Spirit who enables us to live in fellowship with the Saviour so that we can live and witness in the same way.
Jesus’ first words in John’s Gospel are to Andrew and his friend, “What do you seek?”, and they ask the Lord where He was staying, to which He replies, “Come and see” (John 1:38-39). The Lord was saying, “Follow me and I’ll show you.” His last recorded words in John’s Gospel are to Peter, “You follow me” (John 21:22). We often think of the difficulties and hardships of discipleship, and the Lord does not hide these from us. But what enables us to be disciples of Jesus Christ is responding to that wonderful invitation, “Come and see.” The power of discipleship comes from the presence of the Lord, obedience to the Lord, the abiding power of the Holy Spirit and our daily response in every situation to the Saviour’s word’s, “You follow Me.”
