God in the Hands of Man

Scripture: Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. Matthew 3:13-15

Observation: Jesus is God on earth - he is manifested of the Holy Spirit, and an eternal entity of Yahweh - yet he declares that being baptized by a human is part of ... fulfilling all righteousness.

Only God is fully righteous, and certainly humans are not. John was a good man and a prophet, but he was not fully righteous. However, God himself places himself into John's hands, stating that doing so is part of fulfilling righteousness. This is likely true for a couple reasons, one of which is the fulfillment of earlier prophesy. It was clearly state that John would come declaring repentance in the wilderness, and that Messiah would come having had this preparation. As a result, John is able to transition his followers - which included James, John, and Andrew at least - to become Jesus' disciples.

Application: God does not need humans or mankind, but again uses us to advance his purposes. In this one example, by telling John "go ahead an baptize me", Jesus fulfills at least three prophesies, and commandeers the foundation of his ministry team.

God doesn't need me, but is there anything I am doing that God can use? Can he use my blog? Can he use my time at work? Can he use my ongoing desire to better connect in Bothell? Can he use my knowledge, personality, hobbies?

Prayer: Lord, I would love to be used in any way you like. You don't need me, but I know you enjoy working with mankind in fulfilling your purposes. Here I am. Use me. Amen.