What a gift!
Norah Summers
January 12, 2026
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Matthew 3: 13-17 (NIVUK)
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’
15 Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’
Is it more blessed to give than to receive? We attribute virtue to the giver, but what grace there is in receiving a gift!
In a recent carol-singing event I did a reading of John Betjeman’s poem which lists some Christmas gifts including the ‘hideous tie, so kindly meant’. What do we do with the unwelcome gift? Or indeed with the unexpected gift?
John the Baptist knows well that he is but the forerunner of someone greater – so when that person appears he is in respectful self-deprecating mode. But Jesus, starting as he means to go on to turn the usual order upside down, shows that this is not the moment for a display of his greatness, but the opportunity to receive with humility and grace — not only the baptism of John, it turns out, but the endorsement of the voice of God — ‘This is my own dear Son’ – what a gift!
When much later Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, Peter protests, and has to be made aware of the power of grace in receiving.
Because we are human, we need the tangible – the water – to touch us. But how much greater is the blessing that comes with it, as we receive the water of life.
What a gift!
Prayer:
God of extravagant generosity, we praise you.
God of grace and welcome, we praise you.
God of unexpected blessing, we praise you.
Give us, we pray, the water of life to renew and refresh us.
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