By 2:00 a.m., as reports streamed in from the earthquake in Haiti, Craig Miller knew he had to go. Miller, director of the relief organization Thirst No More, had been able to have two Facebook chats with a medical contact working amid the rubble. The team’s news was dire: They had seen five children die, and they couldn’t provide adequate care for the survivors because they had no medical supplies.

Immediately, Miller went into action—leaving for Haiti within hours. He didn’t know if he would be able to get to them in time; but “If I didn’t try,” he said, “I knew for sure they wouldn’t have the supplies they needed.”

Often, the best we can do for others who are in distress is to simply be with them in their trouble. Jesus came to be present with us, to walk amidst our pain, and to experience the fear and sorrows we face. He “faced all the same testings we do, yet He did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

This truth jumps to the fore in Jesus’ baptism, a pivotal time in His public ministry. The other Gospels add details to the story, but Luke narrates with sparse prose. “When all the people were being baptized,” Luke writes, “Jesus was baptized too” (Luke 3:21 NIV). Jesus, who had no sin and needed no forgiveness, showed His identity with all people as He went into the water.

Yet Jesus did more than simply appear beside us. He came to heal us. At Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist proclaimed that He was the one who would baptize us “with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” symbols that promised total transformation (Luke 3:16). When Jesus has finished His work among us, we will be more than comforted. We will be changed.