Image is from sacredspace102.blogspot.com
What Does It Mean?
From Matthew 3: 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him 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, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
The River Jordan has been the sight of many a religious moment, encounters with God, and sacred decisions made with the Lord God; but none as sacred as the one Matthew shares as the gospel reading for this coming Sunday. Jesus came to the river where his cousin John was baptizing people. John was calling for people to come forward and be washed of their sin. And the people whom he was calling was a people known for their boastfulness of being clean for such was their birth, yet these very people were struck at the heart when they heard the cry from John that one word, repent. They knew that word was meant for them and they knew they were not right with God, themselves or their neighbors and so they lined up and into the waters of the Jordan they went. John would dunk them under the water as a symbol of dying and being reborn, for he knew that spiritually that was what was happening. Dying to self, being born to God as a new creature. So, when Jesus comes and joins the crowd the one most surprised by this decision is John. We don't know if he whispered loudly so not to distract others, or if he said it loudly, but it was said and Matthew recorded it, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" In other words, "Cuz, wait. This isn't for you!" But Matthew records what Jesus responded to John, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness."
Another version says, "This is God business." Jesus making a complete identification with all who had come with sin. We know and proclaim that Jesus was without sin, yet he came to relate to us to the point that he presented himself among all who needed the washing and blessing of God. So, under the baptismal waters went Jesus and as he came up, the heavens were opened to him and he was able to see the Spirit of God come down from Heaven like a dove that alighted on him. Then the voice that said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." The late Henri Nouwen wrote books where he developed more that word and the sense of that word applying it to you and me that when we are right with God and desire to be made right with one another, we become the Beloved. The object of God's love. As Matthew writes it, Jesus and those around him hear God's declaration of who Jesus is and has always been, and will always be, the Beloved. His willingness to receive the mission to come to the earth and live among us and die for us made him the Beloved of God and upon whose favor rested the blessing of God.
There would be another declaration of this magnitude in the gospel story, that of when Jesus was transfigured. Again, God would declare this is my Son, the Beloved, and would also add, "Listen to him." This is God's declaration for the whole of humanity; Jesus, Son of God, born for all the world. Whether the world knows it or not, it is Jesus who has come for us. Jesus loves us and identifies with us. And our call is to believe that and to become the Beloved for those who do not yet know. We should be people of love who risk comfort and security to go and be the people of God for the people of God. It is all about relationship and identification with God. Why? Because God identifies and knows us.
PRAYER: Thank You, Lord Jesus for being and allowing me to become the Beloved. May it be so in my thoughts, words and actions today. The world needs love and no greater love has the world ever known than that of You. This I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
