Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
“Beloved”! What do you think of when you hear that word? It sounds a little old fashioned, something our grandparents or great-grandparents might have said. “Poetical”, was the definition one of my friends used when I asked what they thought of when they heard it. All Merriam Webster has to say about it is, “dearly loved: dear to the heart”.
Think about it! We may say this is my husband, or wife, or partner, my brother or sister, my friend, even my pet – but if we add “beloved”, my beloved husband, my beloved wife, my beloved friend, there is a deeper meaning. Suddenly there is a warmth and caring and joy associated with that person.
But the word is a bit, well, antiquated. Outside of weddings, “Dearly beloved we are gathered here today”, in this century, we’re more likely to hear it at a funeral, or see it on a tombstone, than encounter it in everyday conversation.
It is a powerful word, so what does it mean when God uses it, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading? "You are my Son, the Beloved”.
What does it mean to be God’s Beloved? The four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ baptism a bit differently, but they all say one thing in common, which is that Jesus is God’s chosen one, God’s beloved Son. And we think how wonderful that there is such a strong bond of love between Father and Son, parent and child. But then, as they so often do, scholars disabuse us of our warm, cozy feelings, and tell us these words are not meant as an evidence of feelings. To be “beloved” is an act of will. And what does that mean?
Let us step back in time to Jesus’ baptismal day and be there in the crowd. Jesus comes forward, and the first thing that might strike us is the age of the man stepping into the water. We are told that Jesus was thirty years of age on this day when His ministry began. Life expectancy in ancient times was short, forty was considered a good long life, but all the Gospels agree that Jesus’ public ministry begins with this open and public baptism in the Jordan river, when He is already something of a senior citizen. Why did it take so long for Jesus to make this decision to become public with His understanding of the character of God?
In part, He needed time to prepare, to be ready to take on the work of the Beloved, because to be the Beloved of God means work, sacrifice, suffering, and calvary. We are taught that from the moment of His birth, Jesus was headed to that final sacrifice for our sins, where He would die in our place. Remember that Wise Man who brought myrrh as a gift? In ancient times, myrrh was used to treat wounds and as an embalming oil. For Jesus, suffering and death were foreordained, and it is likely He knew what lay ahead. Then finally the day comes when He is ready to begin His earthly ministry, to step into the Jordan and get on with it. And God speaks, “You are my Son, the Beloved.”
If we ask Jesus followers, standing near us in the crowd, who that older man is, they will enthusiastically tell us He is their Rabbi, and that they hope He is the Messiah. But they really have no idea what that means – not at that point in time. They expect the Messiah will model Himself on the great Jewish Kings of the past, on His ancestor David, or on the wise Solomon. And while that is far from what occurs, Jesus does, in fact, model Himself on a Biblical person – but not one of the great kings. Jesus lives into the model presented in Isaiah, that of the Suffering Servant.
As He goes into the waters of the Jordan to receive His baptism, Jesus is identifying Himself, not with the glorious leaders and kings of Jewish history, but with sinners, taking our sins upon Himself, and submerging Himself - in our place - into the waters of purification. This was a momentous decision on His part, one that would disappoint those who expected the Messiah to be a warrior king, and Jesus must have prayed about it for a very long time before appearing on the bank of the river and asking John to baptize Him. From here on in, He has set His feet on the way the leads to calvary.
Back to the present. It’s an interesting story, Jesus’ baptism, but did it really happen? We modern folks are, after all, always skeptical. And that’s an interesting question, because in this instance we know it did. For the early Church, the fact that Jesus chose to be baptized, an act that washes away sin that He never knew, was difficult to explain. Why would a sinless person choose baptism? It was an embarrassment to the early Church. But all four Gospel writers faithfully record it. Despite the contradictory implication of baptism, none of the Gospel writers dared to exclude it, which shows us that it did indeed happen
As Jesus rises from the water showing the new life that He will gain for us, God speaks, "You are my Son, the Beloved.
What does all this mean for us? In I John we hear, “Beloved, we are God’s children now.” Stop and think about that. We are the baptized, and thus we, too, are beloved children of God. In our society, many think that finding favour with God means material wealth and security, but the example of our God Incarnate, of Jesus, tells us otherwise. We may, in fact, have good lives and enjoy much comfort, but we are called to struggle against desiring these things, and even in some cases to give them up, and instead to desire God’s love above all else. This is what it means to be Beloved, and it is definitely, as scholars have pointed out, an act of the will, a choice each of us must make.
Right now, as we sit here today, there are people in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, who have lost everything. They are not bad people. They are devastated. Some will be very angry, and as they express their hurt and pain and rage, they will ask, “Why did God do this?”, or, “Why did God let this happen?”
Some of the people there will be too shocked and confused to feel much of anything right now. They are numb, dazed, and are searching for somewhere to turn emotionally, in a situation where nothing really seems to help.
And then, there are a few, who will see a chance to do something for God. Though it isn’t something we hear about often, we can unite our suffering with Jesus’ suffering. That is, we offer our pain to God, and somewhere in the world our offering, like any offering we make, will be of help spreading God’s love. It is a choice we can make. And, after all, it’s what we’re called to do in any situation – to love God and spread God’s love wherever we go. Those instructions sound simple, but they aren’t easy to follow.
Pray, beloved children, that in the best of times and even the worst of times, we may respond with love, following the example of God’s beloved Son. How do we do this? WE take a deep breath and say a prayer, and then, as Mother Teresa would tell us, we do it with a smile.
Let us pray: (from the hymn, God Himself Is With Us)
Dear God and Heavenly Father, help us gladly to surrender earth’s deceitful treasures, pride of life, and sinful pleasures: Gladly, Lord, let us offer Thine to be forever, soul and life and each endeavor. Thou alone shalt be known Lord of all our being, Life’s true way decreeing. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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